November ( bit of October) in pictures

SF 10/11/13

13:30- 14:09 


3 Coot 
2 Stock Dove 
73 Teal 
14 Gadwall 
108 BHG's 
1 Buzzard 
9 Herrings gulls 
1 Common Gull 
1 LBB Gull 






Week by pictures:

Greylags- domestic ( i think)

Red Admiral

Little Egret - after a quick heart race due to a reported Cattle egret close to patch

Male Chaffinch

Flooding

Two Stock Doves

Wren - Damm branch!

Heron

Red Admiral

SF

Nice variety of sp on the SF

Wichester News

Since last friday (1/11/13) a fem Black Redstart has been reported in a private garden of Sarum Road. It has been seen on several occasions since, though it is not there all the time, so where is it spending most of its time? Hopefully i can pin it dow, after all this is a very rare patch bird.

2/11/13

SF

11:20-12:15 



3 Red admiral 
1 Mipit over 
7 Canada Geese 
1 Buzzard 
3 Snipe 
3 Coot 
6 Common gull 
58 Teal 
93 Herring gulls!! - Highest count I have ever had here. 
1 Stock dove 
1 Pochard (fem) 
16 Gadwall 
5 Moorhen 
109 Lapwing 
76 BHG's 
2 Shoveler ( pair) 
1 Tufted duck ( fem) 
4 Yellowhammers over 
1 JACK SNIPE - Flew up at about 12 circled 3 times lagoon , went in reeds again. 


Water Meadows


One Chiffchaff calling

26/10/13

SF

13 Starlings over 
6(4,2) Redwings over 
52 Stock doves 
2 Herons 
2 Mute Swans 
1 Chiifchaff 
7 Canada Geese 
135 Lapwing 
47 Teal 
1 Snipe 
19 Gadwall 
1 Pochard ( male) 
4 Moorhen 
2 Coot 
89 BHG's 
1 Little Grebe 
1 Common Gull - flew in at 16:40 
12 Pheasants (10 fems, 2 male) 
1 Stonechat 
3 Herring Gull ( 2 ads, 1 imm ) 
10(8,2) Mipits flew over 
1 GBB Gull ( 2nd winter) - flew over SF at 17:05 
1 GSW over 




St. Cats


6(4,1) Mipits over
1 Fieldfare over ( first for this winter)
3(2,1) Redwing over 



Water Meadows

1 Kingfisher
1 Grey wag
11 Redwings over
1 Little grebe

25/10/13

SF



15:12- 16:00 


1 Mipit over 
3 Herons 
4 Canada Geese 
166 Lapwing 
194 BHG's 
7 Herring Gulls 
8 Moorhen 
2 Buzzard 
42 Teal 
1 Redwing over 
11 Gadwalls 
1 GS woodpecker over lagoon 
1 Snipe 
1 LBB Gull (imm) 
3 Mistle thrushes over 
4 Song thrush along fence 
1 Tufted Duck ( fem/imm) 
1 Pied Wag 
5 Chaffinchs over 
3 Yellowhammer along fence

Keyhaven - Semi-palmated sandpiper 7/9/13

The semi-p showed very well today, showing very close to the path. In the lagoon was also a fair few Curlew Sands, a Little Stint and 2 Sanderling.

There was also 2 Black tern and a Water Rail.

water rail

Curlew Sand ( jug)

Semi-P

Close Dunlin

The Semi-P's there somewhere!

8/8/13

There were 5 Spotted Flys on St. Cats this morning, a sign of the coming migration. Redstarts, Winchats, Wheatear and other scarcer migrants cant be far behind!

late July and early August

Waders have now started dropping down at the SF on there migration. Turnstone, Dunlin, Wood Sand, and plenty of Common Sands and Green Sands. It wont be long till the Ruffs will hopefully pass through. Also Black-Tailed Godwhits  and Greenshanks.  There were also reports of a Turtle Dove  on two days.

I had a Wood Sand fly over the SF on the 1st of August.

11/7/13

There was a Red Kite soaring above Chilcomb, seen from Magdelen  Hill Down.
Magdelen Hill Down held some nice butterflies including Speckled Wood, Ringlets, lesser  Tortoiseshell , Marbeled Whites and meadow Browns. There were no Chalkhill Blues which are common here.
I also heard a Reed Warbler singing, which is a very weird place for it. But probably a migrant resting there ?

Meadow Brown

Ringlet

Speckled Wood

Lesser Tortoiseshell

Red kite

6/7/13

LNY
I had one Little owl in Chilicombe. A patch record, it was mobile but faithful to one small area. I sa it at about 9 pm.
It leads to the question, is it just a visitor or does it live here ? there have been a few possible reports for it here, but i have not heard of one proven one. So i will continue to check it out and see if it stays.

2/7/13

At 3:00 I had one Ad. Med Gull flying over, and circling the SF. There was a flock of about 20 Black-Headed Gulls and one very tatty juv.I had a flyover Redshank, a new year bird. It was flying very high over the SF and I did not see it but i heard it calling. One Reed Bunting was singing from the SF, six Whitethroats were also singing on the fence by the SF.

On St. Catherines hill there was a kestrel hovering above the Dongas. A flock of five Linnets were feeding in the scrub. A mixed flock of 36 Goldfinches and Greenfinches were also feeding on some scrubs.

1/7/13

There was a massive report of 39 Med gulls on the SF at 12:00. By 1:15 there was only 12.
This surely must be the most ever recorded on patch ? The SF water levels continue to drop, soon there might not be any water left. This is promising for the upcoming passage of some wader, hopefully some will pass through. Black Tailed Godwhits are a possibility ( mainly August), Greenshanks and Redshanks will hopefully also pass through later on in the year

25/6/17

There was a report of 2 Red Kites flying over the SF this afternoon. This is a rare patch bird, and one i need for my year list. But one I need to get, though it breeds in the farmland to the east of the SF, it is a rare bird close to Winchester.

19/6/13

Winnal Moor held about two singing Reed Warblers and 1 Sedge warbler also singing. One Cettis Warbler was heard. One male and female Reed Bunting were seen. A Garden Warbler and a Blackcap were all sighted. The best bird was a male House Sparrow, despite being relatively common throughout the city, this is the first sighting of a House Sparrow for Winnal Moor. A Song Thrush was also heard singing.

18/6/13

St.Catherines Hill had a fly over Herring Gull as well as 5 fly over Black Headed Gulls. Four Yellowhammers were singing from scrubs on the south side. Three Green Woodpeckers (a juvenile and a pair) were flushed from the top of the hill. A Greenfinch was singing in the valley, which is a surprisingly scarce bird for the hill.

The Sewage Farm had the pair of Shelducks still and this time I saw the one baby. About 30 Lapwings were present. The Heron was still there from yesterday. But there was no sign of the Green Sandpiper. The lone Canada Goose was also there. It has now been there for about a month. Two Black Headed Gulls were on the SF ( an adult and an juvenile).  There was good numbers of Gadwall present (c.15) and the first few males starting to go into eclipse plumage.

17/6/13

St. Catherines hill had 2 Bullfinches ( a pair), which were flushed on the north side. This is an unusual summer visitor to the hill. About 30 Starlings were feeding on scrubs in the south side of the hill. A Stock Dove was flushed from the valley. And 3 Lesser Whitethroats were singing on the dongas on the south east side of the hill. Several Common Whitethroats were also singing. Two Buzzards were circling the hill also.

The Sewage farm held a Green Sandpiper which seems to have been present a week now. A flock of about 30 Lapwings were roosting on the bank of the SF. A Heron was standing on the edge also. Two Shelduck were also roosting on the SF, though I could not see the chick any more, so sadly it might have died. There has also been a report of a  Little Ringed Plover on the SF on and off this week along with several reports of a Cuckoo.

The patch

My patch consists of many different habitats.
Here is a list of some of the habitats and regular birds I see there.

Winnal moor - A semi large area of reeedbed, Cettis warbler are found there throughout the year. A small wintering population can also be seen. Siskins are sporadic winter visitors to the alders close by. Reed and sedge warblers are common birds here in the summer. Blackcap, whitethroat, chiffchaf and willow warblers are also found here.

Crab wood - A pristine well kept ancient woodland.  Marsh tits are common here. Treecreepers and Great spotted woodpecker are common birds here also. Lesser spotted woodpeckers were once breeders but are no longer found here.

St.Catherines hill - Chalk downland. Yellowhammers breed in summer. Lesser whitehroat are occasional visors to what is known as the dongas on the hill.Willow warbler breeds here.It gets exciting in Autumn when many Autumn migs can be found in scrubs. Common Redstart, Winchat, Wheatear, Spotted flycatcher, ( also a spring mig), and some other scarcer birds.

Winchester Sewage farm - The place where I get the largest number of bird species and it produces the rarest. It is a closed reservoir which I view from the side. There is often mud around the edges. Teal, Shoveler and Snipe are common winter visitors. Lapwing are found throughout the year but large flocks ( c. 500) form in winter. Passage is good for waders getting Little ringed plover, Green and Common Sandpipers. Rarer passage waders include Black tailed Godwhit and Greenshank. A large gull flock can be found in winter containing Common, Hering, Lesser Black Backed, Black headed and sometimes Great black backed gull. This attracts a normally yearly Iceland gull. Goosander is a scarce visitor here in winter months. A Barn Owl can be seen hunting in the meadows above the SF in late winter evenings. Spring can get passage Sand Martin as well as Lesser Whitethroat. House Martins and Swallows are common throughout the summer. Whitethroats breed on the fence by the SF.  Shelduck are rare breeders.

Farmland - Meadow pipits breed here, along with Skylarks. Red-legged Partridges are found here also. Woodcocks winter in dense but small woodland by Farmland.

East part of patch -  Firecrest breed here, as well as not confirmed Spotted flycatcher.

Water Meadows - Little egrets winter here, Kingfishers breed here and Grey Wagtails also.