Friday 27 May 2011

Notable Absence

I spent a few hours at my window today to see how many species I could see from the house in a day, my record is 36 species in 24 hours which shouldn't be too difficult to beat in the autumn. Today I managed 29 species in total but with some notable absences such as Black Headed Gull (I get flocks of 200+ sometimes in the autumn and winter feeding in the fields) as they have all moved off to their breeding sites now. The full list from today with the highlights (in garden terms) in bold:
Grey Heron - 1 over south
Shelduck - 1 over river
Mallard - several over the fields
Sparrowhawk - female hunting over fields
Buzzard - 1 distantly over river
Pheasant - resident male calling from fields
Lesser Black Back Gull - lots in the area and over the river
Herring Gull - same as above but smaller numbers
Feral Pigeon - several around estate and 1 in garden
Woodpigeon - lots in area
Collared Dove - several pairs around the estate
Swift - 2 singletons over fields north
Swallows - 20+ around fields and over road
House Martin - 1 north
Wren - pair in garden
Dunnock - several in garden and bushes
Robin - resident pair still going to the nest occasionally
Blackbird - several in garden and neighbours gardens
Sedge Warbler - male still singing in bushes
Blue Tit - at least 3 in the garden
Great Tit - pair collecting food for young somewhere
Magpie - several birds briefly in garden including 1 juvenile
Jackdaw - a few around during the day and then a flock of c30 south east in the evening (daily occurrence)
Rook - 2 birds north at midday
Carrion Crow - at least 4 birds in the fields
Starling - at least 20 around the garden with several young birds present
House Sparrow - at least 25 in garden and bushes, including the partially leucistic female ane male from last years brood, and a new young bird also showing the white patches on wings and tail
Goldfinch - 2 adults with the juvenile again
Greenfinch - 1 calling from bushes

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