Saturday 25 May 2013

Roller at Broxhead Common today

I twitched this afternoon for a Roller. Rollers are stunning birds and quite rare in Britain. This about the 300th record for Britain and the first twitchable bird for Hampshire since 1985 ( I think).
The bird showed well but very distant when I went at about 6:30 it had been showing the whole day after the news being released in the morning, though it was actually first seen on Thursday.
The bird showed about from 100 meters away, so scopes were a good idea therefore photos were very hard. Here are some awful recordshots



A much better shot of a Roller courtesy of Google

Monday 13 May 2013

Patch bird race

I did the patch bird race yesterday (12/5/13), and got some nice species as well as having a great time. In the end i got an impressive 74 species.
Here is a complete list of bird species, in the order i saw them.

1. Blackbird
2. Feral pigeon
3. Robin
4. Wren
5. Mallard
6. Pheasant
7. Jackdaw
8. Crow
9. Song thrush
10. Great tit
11. Woodpigeon
12. Goldcrest
13. Chiffchaff
14. Dunnock
15. Moorhen
16. Chaffinch
17. Whitethroat
18. Magpie
19. Kestrel
20. Blue tit
21. Goldfinch
22. Herring gull
23. Yellowhamer
24. Swallow
25. Cuckoo - Singing close to the sewage farm, the same place I saw one about a week ago. Seen briefly. for me the 2nd time I have ever seen one on patch.
26. Rook
27. Jay
28. Stock dove
29. Reed warbler -  One singing in reeds in the sewage farm, quite a scarce bird for the Sewage farm.
30. Coot
31. Canada goose
32. Shelduck -  The long staying bird. A female. They are probably breeding somewhere on patch.
33. Teal -  male, not usually found here at this time.
34. Gadwall
35. Tufted duck
36. Lapwing
37. Pied wagtail
38. Skylark
39. Grey heron
40. Black-headed gull
41. Meadow pipit
42. Mistle thrush
43. Lesser-black backed gull
44. Willow warbler
45. Lesser whitethroat - One singing in farmland
46. Red-legged partridge
47. Stonechat -  Fem, in farmland
48. Greenfinch
49. House martin
50. Buzzard
51. House sparrow
52. Collared dove
53. Great-spotted woodpecker
54. Spotted flycatcher - one flycatching in a beech, a year tick.
55. Firecrest - Singing in conifers. A patch record!
56. Green woodpecker
57. Blackcap
58. Grey wagtail
59. Swift
60. Long-tailed tit
61. Sedge warbler
62. Starling
63. Reed bunting - a stunning male
64. Kingfisher
65. Nuthatch
66. Peregrine -  I saw the pair which are nesting.
67. Linnet
68. Marsh tit - Saw a couple in Crab wood very well, calling and singing.
69. Garden warbler - Singing in crab wood
70. Treecreeper -  I spent about an hour and a half looking for one in Crab wood, where I finally saw a pair.
71. Cettis warbler
72. Sand martin
73. Pochard  - Male, an irregular species for here in the summer
74. Little grebe - I thought i would actually miss it!

So I had a great time, and saw some nice species. The biggest miss was a Sprarrowhawk. But apart from that I got most of the other common species. Sadly the Great-crested grebe which I saw on the 11th in the evening had gone by the morning.

Will try to do it next year.






 

Tuesday 7 May 2013

This week at patch

I have had a great week at patch, with three patch records ( Egyptian goose and Cuckoo and Yellow wagtail). Also a a garden warbler was new for the year.
Swifts have become common again, and its a joy to hear them again. A flyby Hobby was also new for the year.
May the great patch birding continue.....