Brackenhurst and Clifton, 26th march

To celebrate handing in my dissertation this morning i decided to go for a walk around brackenhurst in the morning, and then clifton later in the afternoon.

I was a bit dubious about going round brack, as i'd only walked round it last week, but it was a great walk nonetheless. The weather was reasonably good, fairly windy with sunny spells.
There were a lot of Goldfinch about today, i only see a couple here and there usually, but there were loads around the hall, and i saw plenty across the fields too. Walking across the sheepfields (1st +2nd park) was a very windy experience with little to see bird-wise, although a Sparrowhawk was heard calling from the copse in the SW corner. A Kestrel was seen feeding over Halloughton field, the first of 4 which would be seen today.

I altered my route a little, going down gypsy lane to eventually come out at the bottom of sheepwalks west, which was rewarded with a number of skylark being sighted. some were feeding at the end of the track in the field margins, and soon scattered as i approached, while a few were seen singing high in the sky. Walking towards sheepwalks, several more were seen flitting in and out of the grass, a lovely sight indeed.

As i entered sheepwalks, the first thing i noticed was 3 Brown Hare, boxing in the middle of the field, a sight i have not seen previously. walking round, a total of 5 hares was seen and i got to watch them for a while, which made a change from just seeing them run off as usual. got some pics but they were too far away for my 200mm lens! (must get a 500mm!!!) While watching the hares i was treated to the sound of singing Dunnocks, as well as my first singing Chiffchaff of the year! The hare's lives looked in danger for a short while, as two Buzzard flew overhead, but they lost interest and soon glided off northwards. the hares didn't seem to notice! Also notable was the number of wrens heard singing, showing that the population here is doing particularly well, i usually see one or two, but there seemed to be a good number about.













A Hare in the Distance














Chiffchaff!

Two Tufted duck and a single male
Mallard were on sheepwalks pond, and a Coot was heard calling from the reeds. A Grey Heron was seen flying off and gliding round the fields too, possibly flying off its latest meal, as there was a lot of Common Frogs in the pond. My first Peacock Butterfly of the year was also seen, sunning itself on some reeds.

In the ringing area and the track which runs back to the campus, there were a lot of birds about as usual, as not only do they get supplementary feeding, but the fields around here are farmed sympathetically and there is lots of food around for them, as well as extensive and high quality hedgerows. There was mainly Yellowhammer, Chaffinch and Blue tit, but 4 female Bullfinch were sighted as well as my first Greater spotted woodpecker for the area.

On the way back i walked through the equestrian centre, where i saw 2 Pied Wagtail, along with about 400 Starling, feeding and resting at the tops of trees, with a small number of Redwing and Fieldfare remaining, though these can't be around for long!

So a good walk this morning, with 30 bird species, with c700 individuals counted. plenty of signs of spring, (chiffchaff, butterfly, frogs and flowers). now off to clifton to see if there are any migrants about!!!

I got back into town around 2pm, and the weather had turned cloudy and a lot windier. this didn't bode well for a walk around the fields, but i still got on the bus with my friend amy, optimistic as ever.

got to clifton around 3pm, and made our way down through the village, and the weather brightened up a little. There were plenty of birds singing in the gardens, mostly House Sparrows, Greenfinch and Blackbirds. Lots of flowers about too. In the car park at the top of the grove there were a couple of Nuthatch singing, and one was seen high up in a tree, a new species for me at this area.

There were loads of birds singing in the grove, mainly Tit species and Robins, although a Chiffchaff was singing loudly too. A Common Toad was nearly stepped on by amy, and was carried to safety by me, which was great as i have never seen one before, so it was pretty cool to have one in my hands! A GS Woodpecker was seen in the trees, drumming away, and while locating it, a Buzzard was seen flying above the trees.

Holme pit had a few birds on it, nothing special just the usual Mallards, swans, tufties, coots and a Cormorant. There was a 1st-winter Swan and two Canada geese feeding in the field to the north of the pit. Another Buzzard flew over, calling as it went, and there were plenty of corvids flying about, mainly Rooks and Crows, but a couple of Jackdaws were also seen (first for the area!) Amy counted 16 Frogs in the shallows near the landing stage on the pit.

After this i made my way to branshill wood, to look at the recently ploughed field in front of the pond to look for migrants, as some have been seen here of late, unfortunately, none were seen, and there was just one Heron feeding here. In between clifton wood and branshill wood, there were many Tit species about, a few Song thrush singing, Chaffinches and Goldfinches. 3 Greylag geese were feeding in the distance, and another heron was seen. On the way back 2 Mistle thrush were seen feeding in the field next to foxcovet lane and clifton wood.

I think more could have been seen today, but both me and amy were quite tired, and the weather wasn't great, so we headed back without venturing into the fields. 31 species were seen today, which is about average, but i feel more could have been seen with more time and energy!