It is holiday this week and, as usual, my week has been screwed up. I always start my holidays with high anticipation that I will get a lot of birding in, but things continually crop up to prevent my aspirations becoming reality. A drunken neighbour woke me up in the early hours of Monday morning and kept me awake for some time, so by the time I woke up for the first day of my holiday, I was just too tired to go out. A meeting on Tuesday morning prevented an early start, and just to make it more frustrating, the person didn’t turn up and I ended up waiting in for no reason. Thursday will be screwed up now because this meeting has now been rescheduled for then, so I won’t be able to get out early once again.
So after waiting in for no reason, I eventually got out and headed off down Gayton Road just after 11:00AM. I was dressed for the cold, but the temperature wasn’t too bad. It is still below average as winter reluctantly gives up its grip, but there was some warmth in the air and the ENE wind was only very light. This was enough to encourage plenty of bird activity and I managed to record 45 species for the day. But it was too cold for anything else and I only recorded one grey squirrel, one rabbit, and three muntjacs.
Now is the time that snakes and amphibians come out of hibernation, but there has been no sign of anything so far. I checked the usual spots in Half Wood and Reffley Wood for grass snakes and adders and the dykes and reservoir for amphibians to no avail. Spring is definitely arriving late this year and, just to confirm this, a couple of flocks of siskins and lesser redpolls were present in Half Wood and Reffley Wood – both the first winter records for this season.
There was some encouraging signs, however, with a single flowering daffodil close to the Reffley Reservoir and a couple of primrose basal leaves in Reffley Wood. There were also plenty of lords-and-ladies leaves present in Reffley Wood and looks like it could be a good year for this superb species.
After last week’s fantastic count of five, the short-eared owls were a bit of a let-down today. I arrived at the watch point a little after 3:00PM and was immediately treated to a brief glimpse of a single bird. I set myself up with my camera and settled back to conceal myself in a stunted tree growing on the edge of one of their regular haunts. But I have been having trouble with my camera, and after taking some test shots to make sure it was working, found that it suddenly decided to stop working again.
I think it is a problem with the lens rather than the camera and I found if I reduced the zoom a touch, everything worked ok. But there was no sign of any owls by this time and I pondered on the fact that they always seem to do this whenever I bring my camera. They must have a hit rate of 95% for not showing when I bring it along! The only other time I got a glimpse of an owl was when I was checking a text from a friend and one showed way over on the far side and out of range.
I was going up mums a little later on and had to leave earlier than I would have liked to. On my way back, I spotted a couple of birders also looking out for the owls. There have been a number of people down the Gaywood Valley this winter and it is encouraging that all of the hard work I have been putting in is beginning to work. I have been sending in my records to the County Recorder and spreading the word with as many other birders as I can. The valley might not be up to the standards of a full blown nature reserve, but it is still a superb place for wildlife and the more people who know about it, the more likely it is to be protected.
Whilst the short-eared owls had been a disappointment, my spirits were lifted when the little owl was present in its regular spot. Its appearance can be very sporadic and it can be absent for months at a time, so it is always great when it decides to grace us with its presence.
Little Egret
Mute Swan
Mallard
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Common Buzzard
Common Kestrel
Red Fox (Droppings)
Red-legged Partridge
Grey Partridge
Common Pheasant
Common Moorhen
Eurasian Curlew
Black-headed Gull
Mew Gull
Stock Pigeon
Common Wood Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
Little Owl
Short-eared Owl
Chinese Muntjac
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Grey Squirrel
Winter Wren
Hedge Accentor
European Robin
RabbitCommon Blackbird
Song Thrush
Redwing
Mistle Thrush
Goldcrest
Daffodil (Flowering)
Long-tailed Tit
Coal Tit
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Eurasian Treecreeper
Eurasian Jay
Black-billed Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Carrion Crow
Common Starling
House Sparrow
Primrose (Basal leaves)
Chaffinch
European Greenfinch
European Goldfinch
Eurasian Siskin
Lesser Redpoll
Reed Bunting
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