PATCH WATCH 2009

1st May

The forecast for dry, sunny conditions was promising and, as I parked my car by the reservoir, it was still and starry. The noise from my car obviously disturbed a Little Owl, which called as I got out, and a Tawny Owl hooted from the direction of Bishop’s Wood in response – just single calls from both. A Coot also called. I settled down beside a badger sett at 3.40am and two Tawny Owls hooted from within the Deer Park and at least three different Little Owls also made their presence known. Moorhen and Mallard called from the lake, where Marsh Frogs were vociferous. It was disappointing not to see any signs of badgers. A Woodpigeon cooed and I walked back to the barn to the sound of Blackbirds singing and found no Barn Owls at home, but the first Robin sang. 

A Common Whitethroat sang as I walked back down to the reservoir, where three fisherman had already parked. A Song Thrush(number 10 at 4.50am) song was almost deafening, as I passed close by and Wrens sang from close to the car park. One Canada Goose was visible, a Pheasant and both Carrion Crow and Great Tit also call, as I walk round the reservoir for the first time. Herring Gulls call as they fly S from Parkwood, but on this occasion the flock of 15 was well to the east of the patch. It was interesting to see that three pairs of Tufted Duck were not disturbed by the presence of fishermen and they didn’t fly to the lake for some time. A Blackcap sang from the alder coppice and a Dunnock also sang nearby. A Blue Tit called and a lone BH Gull (number 20 at 5.25am) flew low SW. A GS Woodpecker drummed, a Green Woodpecker yaffled, a Chaffinch sang from the edge of the poplar wood, 12 Herring Gulls flew S overhead. Four Greylag Geese flew N, another BH Gull S and a male Sparrowhawk flew ENE from the poplar wood and alighted in an oak beside Wierton Lane. A Magpie fed on the new paddock, as I walked round the reservoir for a second time, before stopping for breakfast. The first Chiffchaff sang from the alder coppice, as the sun rose over the horizon and a Bullfinch called. A Long-tailed Tit (number 30 at 6.03am) called from by the reedbed, a BH Gull flew around the reservoir and a Grey Heron flew E as I stopped for breakfast at 6.15am.

Meanwhile, Bob had spent just over ninety minutes listening and observing from the churchyard and totalled 30 species by 5.48, when he walked towards the northwest corner of the patch. By watching from one spot, he had seen increased numbers of species like Grey Heron and Cormorant, as well as a total of 66 Herring Gulls, but also two LBB Gulls and a Goldcrest – a species that proved extremely difficult to see throughout April. He drove passed the fisherman’s car park at about the time I started my first circuit of the patch, choosing to park by the barn. As he arrived there, a Lesser Whitethroat sang from the damson hedge, but wasn’t singing when I arrived there about thirty minutes later.

While enjoying breakfast, apart from the continual arrival of fishermen anxious to be there on the opening day of the new season, I was able to see a few interesting species. A Collared Dove flew S, another male Sparrowhawk flew towards Bishop’s Wood and a lone Cormorant flew N at 6.30am. Ten minutes later I commenced the first main circuit, as mist drifted off the Weald. A Great Tit called and a cock Bullfinch flew over, as I started to appreciate the warmth from the sun, just below Tanyard. A Stock Dove flew towards the Deer Park and a LS Woodpecker commenced quite a long spell of drumming. It was a relief to see the Barn Owl still perched beside the nestbox just after 7am. A Jackdaw flew over and a few House Sparrows were present, as expected by Spindlewood, where a Greenfinch sang (number 40 at 7.12am).

Three more Herring Gulls flew NE, as I walked around the old orchard and a Rook flew SW. I could see a Swallow perched on a power line, where I was hoping to see a Turtle Dove and there is still no song from one of last year’s Garden Warbler territories. There were no additions while I walked round the northern part of the study area until my first Starling, carrying food, was seen at 8.22am! A Mistle Thrush was also carrying food, as it rested on the Boughton Place fence and a Jay – the only one of the day – flew across the garden into the Holm oaks. A Coal Tit called from the larches, as I walked east, north of the Deer Park fence. I’d walked back west within the Deer Park before I added another species, hearing a Goldfinch singing from the top of an ash by the graveyard. The first fledgling Mistle Thrush was being fed by both parents, just north of the spruce copse, where I was still unable to locate a Goldcrest.

A Nuthatch responded to my whistle, as I sat looking at its nest hole, anticipating that the Treecreepers would visit their nearby nest, as they did yesterday, and right on cue a Treecreeper appeared. Is it a Kestrel perched in a distant oak, I asked myself and I had to halve the distance before I was happy to put Kestrel on the list – the female of the Deer Park pair. As I approached the lake I could see a Little Grebe (number 50 at 10.18am) and it called, as an Orange Tip butterfly flew by. At long last, I heard a male Cuckoo calling from the direction of Bishop’s Wood and I could see a cock Yellowhammer, which was singing by the paddock gate along Peens Lane. As I approached the reservoir again, I heard the welcome sound of a Turtle Dove ‘purring’, but I'm not allowed to add Bar-headed Goose to the list, back on the reservoir but without his Barnacle Goose companion for the last week or so, which would have been a useful addition. 

I was taking some refreshments by my car when Bob joined me at about 11am. I was on 53 species but he’d amassed 55, including the three additional ones mentioned previously (I’d seen Yellowhammer, which he’d yet to add). We decided to walk around the southern fields, back along Peens Lane to the lake, up to Spindlewood, where Bob had his car, and I’d return south along the damson hedge back to my car for lunch.

By now a southerly wind was increasing in strength and high cumulus clouds were moving quickly across the sky and we felt there should be a good opportunity to see species like Common Buzzard, maybe a Hobby, a House Martin or a Swift. However, up until lunch we’d just seen a female Sparrowhawk fly high SE, what were presumably the Gravitt’s Cottage Swallows and a Yellowhammer for Bob’s list. The Lesser Whitethroat certainly didn’t perform for me and no large gulls flew over. With knowledge that a Goldcrest might be seen in the yew, in which a pair had nested in the past, I decided to eat my lunch in the churchyard, particularly as there is so much sky to scan. It was shortly before one o’clock when a Herring Gull flew E – I would really have appreciated a Lesser Black-backed. However, my luck changed as I picked up three smallish gulls flying rapidly southwest along the Greensand Ridge. Two that I saw clearly, before they disappeared behind the church, were attractive, summer-plumaged Mediterranean Gulls.

I had to leave around 1.30pm for an eye appointment, but would see Bob back at the reservoir, where he’d be keeping an eye on the sky for a Common Buzzard – he’d seen three flying over on the 29th. I returned soon after 2.30pm but he’d seen very little, certainly no new species and he decided to call it a day with the total on 57. Sadly, that is where it remained in spite of spending another four hours searching for additions.

As he left I could hear a Lesser Whitethroat singing from the reservoir island, increasing my total to 55, still one behind Bob’s. I walked round the reservoir, with hopes of finding a Reed Bunting, as I thought I might have heard one calling early in the day, but neither the male nor the female would oblige. Did I hear a burst of Garden Warbler song from the alder coppice? There was certainly a second Sylvia warbler singing, close to the regular Blackcap but they both stopped before I was convinced. A little later they both uttered short bursts of song again and I thought I also heard a Garden Warbler-like call but again it was too short-lived for me to be 100% sure. It is almost as if one needs to relearn the songs each spring!  The reservoir circuit took about an hour and I pondered over the options available to me. It would be nice to see the two species Bob had already seen, the Goldcrest and LBB Gull, but it was more important to add new ones and there seemed to be a number of possibilities: Common Buzzard, Hobby, Swift, House Martin, the Garden Warbler, Linnet and possibly Reed Bunting.

Cloud cover, advancing rapidly from the southwest, looked almost threatening and the wind was now moderate in strength. However, it remained dry and the cloud broke again from time to time but virtually nothing could be seen flying over. I decided on a route that should offer the best options, commencing in the Spindlewood orchard, onto the ridge, round the edge of the Deer Park again then back to the alder coppice. But I considered visiting the alder coppice first to see if the Garden Warbler would oblige. The Lesser Whitethroat sang almost continually but not the Garden Warbler. A flock of about 20 Yellowhammers suddenly appeared – the cause was the presence of a male Sparrowhawk again.

Around 4pm I started my walk up the slope again towards the orchard and by now my dilated pupils were almost back to normal and within half-an-hour I dispensed with my sun-glasses and felt I could see rather better, though none of the ‘high-flying’ optional species came into my field of vision – maybe a second pair of eyes might have helped? Sadly, since the orchard was most recently sprayed we have had no sign of the few Linnets that had been present. I reached the churchyard again around 5pm and searched there and in the spruce copse for a Goldcrest, but without success.

On reaching the Peens Lane arable again the Yellowhammer flock seemed even larger but I searched in vain for a Reed Bunting among them. I heard what sounded like the Garden Warbler singing again, but if it was, it was also using some mimicry and I remained less than 100% sure. Even when it seemed to be attracted by my ‘pishing’ sounds, it never showed itself sufficiently well and it remained a tantalising battle, which I called an end to around 6.30pm.