October Sightings

October 2011

After our late Indian summer the windy days came. The acorns and conkers started to fall, later they will rot and be eaten by squirrels, mice and other creatures. The golden leaves of autumn were everyone.

There was some activity on site. At heron corner, a lesser spotted woodpecker was clinging on to the feeder nut cage. The tube swung about in the strong, blustery autumn winds on the last of the warm days of our Indian summer. The surrounding willow gave the feeders some wind protection.  Lesser spottie held on until a big gust of wind came and it was just too much for our brave clinger.  It's strange but the winds seem to be much stronger when you are in this valley. We are told it's the Tame Valley effect. The lesser spotted woodie was seen on the feeders on most of the sunny days.

Some of our visitors took the opportunity to go water beetle watching at the heron corner pool. "I've seen one".  "Where?".  "Over there", they called. Great fun, even if the beetles disappeared under the submerged leaves and reeds.

One of our great spotted woodpeckers was moving between the feeder and the top of the old oak tree in the farm's grazing field. The other finches and tits were not perturbed.

Later in the month, there were views of 4 short-eared owls moving between Fishers Mill Lake and Dosthill.

OTHER BIRDS:  Moving to and fro between the the feeders, trees and hedgerows were: blue tit, chaffinch, coal tit, goldfinch, great spotted woodpecker, great tit, greenfinch, marsh tit, nuthatch, siskin.

Birds of prey were hunting above the site: buzzard, hen harrier, hobby (early in the month), kestrel, merlin, peregrine, sparrowhawk.

Waders found plenty of muddy edges to search for food: common sandpiper, dunlin, green sandpiper, greenshank, heron, lapwing, little egret, little stint (earlier in the month), ringed and little ringed plover (early in the month), siskin, snipe (common and jack).

Flocks seen: 60 plus cormorants were seen flying south along the river.  There were groups of grey and golden plover overhead.  Fieldfare, redwing and redpoll flocks flying over the site and even over the carpark area.

 A single great egret was sighted flying over the site.

Autumn-winter water-bird visitors were building up.

Our all-weather, valiant winter Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) surveyors  counted (included RSPB Dosthill) : black-headed gull (26), canada goose (51), coot (409), cormorant (32), gadwall (239), golden plover (76), goldeneye (7), great crested grebe (18), jack snipe (1), lapwing (25), little egret (2), little grebe (2), mallard (121), moorhen (21), mute swan (34), pochard (7), shoveler (24), teal (58), tufted duck (115), wigeon (247) and some goosander.

Meadow trail had green and great spotted woodpecker, jay, redpoll and stonechat.

Wetland trail had the whistle of wigeon and we had an occasional sighting of grey and pied wagtail. There was also greylag goose, kingfisher, linnet, meadow pipit, pheasant, redpoll, reed bunting, shelduck, short-eared owl, stonechat, wheatear, yellowhammer, and lots of the winter waterbird visitors. There were still a few house martin and swallow early in the month.

Woodland trail had the twinkling sounds of long-tailed tit, the autumn calls of chiffchaff, robin and tits, and the occasional sightings of cetti's warbler, goldcrest and wren.

BUTTERFLIES: comma, peacock, red admiral (around the ivy), speckled wood.

DRAGONFLIES: migrant hawker, common darter, ruddy darter.

WILD FLOWERS (in flower): There were still occasional flashes of yellow - dandelion, hawk's-beard, ragwort, and toadflax. Some red - campion and  poppy; and some white - bindweed, dead-nettle, and water chickweed.

MAMMALS:   fox (one was seen along the meadow trail), roe deer (a pair were seen feeding in the play meadow early one morning), stoat and weasel.

The month overall  was windy and wet as the spring-summer migrants finally left us to make their journeys south.

With a great thank you to everyone for your nature sightings – keep them coming in.

Nigel Palmer