Friday 29 January 2010

Garden watch 26.01.10




A brief period keeping an eye on the garden feeders realised a good list of local birds along with a stranger. A male pheasant (shown here) was feeding on the wheat spilt from a feeder. Very pleased at this as it means I won't have a flowerbed resembling a wheat field in June. In all: great tit, blue tit, coal tit, blackbird, robin, jackdaw, collared dove, wood pigeon, goldfinch, greenfinch, chaffinch, dunnock, wren, house sparrow, redwing and fly over sparrow hawk, carrion crow and 3 black headed gulls. Not too bad for less than half an hour.

Ash Valley Golf course 23.01.10







A breezy and cold walk around the footpaths south west of The Ford. A reasonable selection of the resident winter birds were recorded with 8 lesser black backed gulls heading north. Several parties of long tailed tit were seen, good to see after the freeze. One party adjacent to the 2nd fairway numbered in excess of 15. A male bullfinch was also recorded in this area whilst 50 fieldfare and 35 redwings were discovered feeding on the par 3 course next to the club house. Distant photo here. Also depicted are a shot of the flooded footpath near the 2nd green and the River Ash, flowing with the recent melt water.

North of the A120 : 19.01.10


A walk to the lagoons around Hadham Hall gave little to view. A solitary grey heron in a field near Hadham Lodge was the best of a quiet wander. On the main lagoon, several canada geese had taken up residence along with 7 mallards, 1 mute swan and the 2 resident feral duck.
Several moorhens were on the ice free water in front of Hadham Hall. A common buzzard was observed, being mobbed by 2 carrion crows near the village hall. Poor light limited the photography, with a distant shot of the grey heron being shown here.

Sunday 10 January 2010

Strange garden visitor 10.01.10





































Spent a hour watching and photographing garden birds at and around the feeder. A good garden bird was discovering a moorhen on the garden fence and pecking around under the seed feeders. Looked very out of place. A good garden list with song thrush (photographed) blue tit (photo) blackbird(photo) starling (photo) great tit, jackdaw, goldfinch, chaffinch, house sparrow, collared dove, robin (photo) wood pigeon, dunnock, greenfinch and coal tit (photo)
After this, a walk to The Bull and back at Much Hadham gave views of kestrel, sparrow hawk and common buzzard as well as magpie, green woodpecker and a marsh tit was heard near the River Ash.
Also, very many thanks to Sandra and John for inviting me around to view their garden visiting woodpecker. Although I only managed a brief glimpse I did manage to get a shot of long tailed tits at their feeder (see above). In all, 6 were present and good to see such numbers during this very cold snap.

Thursday 7 January 2010

To Tescos and back 07.01.10
















A morning walk in good snow to the shops and back gave an opportunity to do a little cold weather birding. Nothing unusual was seen, but birds not seen were of interest. No sign of the redwing and fieldfare that have been prevalent for 6 weeks or so in large numbers (100+) Also, more worryingly, no long tailed tits. These tiny birds can be hit hard in cold weather and this prolonged spell may well have decreased the population markedly. Presumably the winter thrushes have moved south west in order to find better feeding grounds. I shall certainly keep an eye and ear open for local long tailed tit sightings. Green and great spotted woodpecker were seen, magpies, goldfinches and yellowhammers appeared to be everywhere.
I have received a report of a lesser spotted woodpecker visiting a village garden and hopefully shall get the opportunity to stake it out in the next few days.
Photos attached show a "Christmassy robin" (next year's Christmas card?), a female kestrel and views from around Brick Kiln Hill and Millfield Lane. The first view shows the village pub and Chapel Lane from the hill opposite.

Tuesday 5 January 2010

Frosty and cold: 05.01.10
















A first wander of the New Year, in minus temperatures, from Tesco's through Cradle End, Green Street, Millfield Lane and Hoecroft Lane. Usual bird sightings with highlights being 2 parties of bullfinches, both a male and female shown here near Cradle End. Also, plenty of goldfinch, greenfinch and yellowhammer activity near pheasant feeders. Jays and magpies argued along Hoecroft Lane and a great spotted woodpecker in Millennium Wood. The top photo shows a view from this wood, along with frost tinged oak leaves.A strutting cock pheasant also shown, along the footpath from Green Street to Millfield Lane.

This is me

This is me
At the end of another Norfolk Coastal footpath walk. 47 miles, 3 days 99 species of bird. September 2009

Caley Wood view

Caley Wood view
sunshine through the canopy 29.05.08

A walk along the Warta Valley, Poznan, Poland. Feb 2007

A walk along the Warta Valley, Poznan, Poland. Feb 2007
Best birds on this walk: black and middle spotted woodpecker and short toed treecreeper

About Me

My photo
A primary school teacher for 30 years, I retired from teaching in July 2009 to set up my own science enhancement and communication company. The Primary Works offers science clubs, workshops and staged science shows nationwide. I have always been interested in bird watching since my early years. Apparently my first tick was after inquiring about a chaffinch and then receiving the Observer book of birds. By the age of 9 I had moved on to Tory Peterson's collins guide and was now involved on YOC birding holidays to Northumbria, Essex coast, Slimbridge and Yorkshire. My twitching rule is that I will willingly travel 1km for each gram the bird weighs. However, I have had many rarities just by being in the right place. I have travelled widely throughout Europe and also visited Australia and Sri Lanka. In 2016 I spent time at Portland Bird Obs and two trips to Aviero, Portugal. 2017 found me back in Sri Lanka in Feb/March, then July and back for New Year's Eve celebrations in December. Also returned to The Camargue in May for a 4 day trip. Few plans for 2018, but nothing yet booked apart from a trip to the IOW.

Grey heron

Grey heron
Over the allotment 28.09.08

Southern Hawker

Southern Hawker
Ridge footpath 27.08.08

Juvenile green woodpecker (17.08.08)

Juvenile green woodpecker (17.08.08)
Note the stripes, denoting a bird fledged this year.

common blue

common blue
Ash Valley G.C. 15.08.08

Indian balsam (impatiens glandulifera)

Indian balsam (impatiens glandulifera)
River Ash

azure damselfly

azure damselfly
River Ash 28.07.08

marbled white

marbled white
Discovered at Westland Green 22.07.08

ruddy darter

ruddy darter
Bush Wood 21.07.08

honeysuckle 19.07.08

honeysuckle 19.07.08
growing in hedgerow in Chapel Lane

cinnabar moth caterpillar

cinnabar moth caterpillar
Photographed on ragwort 19.07.08

Bittersweet

Bittersweet
Study of petals 11.06.08

male yellowhammer

male yellowhammer
08.06.08

common blue butterfly

common blue butterfly
06.06.08

River Ash

River Ash
looking south from the bridge at Hadham Ford

Common poppy (papaver rhoeas)

Common poppy (papaver rhoeas)
in rape field 29.05.08

Caley Wood sunshine

Caley Wood sunshine
29.05.08

Millenium Wood fox

Millenium Wood fox
24.05.08

common comfrey (symphytum officinale)

common comfrey (symphytum officinale)
06.05.08 banks of the River Ash

Garlic Mustard or Jack by the Hedge,(Alliara petiolata)

Garlic Mustard or Jack by the Hedge,(Alliara petiolata)
flowers, leaves and fruit edible . Good in salad and pesto

April showers

April showers
Double rainbow 30.04.08

Caley Wood bluebells

Caley Wood bluebells
22.04.08

Yellow Archangel

Yellow Archangel
Chapel Lane (20.04.08)

sunlight 16.04.08

sunlight 16.04.08
looking south west from Bush Wood

snowy buds

snowy buds
06.04.08 in Bush Wood

Looking north west

Looking north west
05.04.08 evening shower approaching

Back Garden

Back Garden
Easter Sunday (23.03.08)

Brick Kiln Hill

Brick Kiln Hill
Looking east (23.03.08)

No play today

No play today
The 2nd hole at Ash Valley golf course

Teasel head

Teasel head
Bush Wood (21.03.08)

Reflections

Reflections
daffodils at Bush Wood pond (21.03.08)

Swollen River Ash

Swollen River Ash
The river at the bottom of Winding Hill 16.03.08

Daybreak over the chapel

Daybreak over the chapel
Thursday 13th March

Wild daffodils (narcissus pseudonarcissus)

Wild daffodils (narcissus pseudonarcissus)
growing in Bush Wood

January snowdrops

January snowdrops
Banks of River Ash, north of Much Hadham

Good Moon

Good Moon
From garden 24.01.08

Village Green

Village Green
Looking east towards Acremore Street

Looking south before Hadham Ford

Looking south before Hadham Ford
rare January blue sky

Useful sites

The following are some useful websites that may interest readers of this blog.
Firstly, Bishop's Stortford Natural History Society http://bsnhs.webplus.net/

Fellow birder, Gary Whelan's blog. Gives reports from our trips out together plus reports from his trips abroad. http://hairybirders.blogspot.co.uk
http://www.hertsbirdclub.org.uk/ The official herts bird club website. Frequently updated, listing bird sightings around the county. Offers links to many other websites. Both of these sites also offer links to yahoo discussion groups.
http://www.birdforum.net/ An international site. You can enter as a guest but become a member( free) to post comments, bird sightings and just about anything to do with wild birds. Good news updates, classified section for binoculars, cameras etc.
http://www.guidedbirdwatching.com/ A new site set up where you can contact people worldwide who will help you find good birds in their country. UK section being set up presently.
http://www.britainsbirder.co.uk/
Fellow birders blog. Strtford resident, Graeme Smith regulary birds the area south of Stortford as well as around Spellbrook and the River Stort from Spellbrook to Twyford Locks. Some superb bird photography: Graeme uses a digital camera attached to his powerful telescope to get detailled images of the birds he sees. Well worth a browse.
Two local sites that may be of interest can be found at
http://www.thehadhams.com/ www.thepelhams.net/content/section/12/139/

South Easterly walk

South Easterly walk
black, normal, red extended walk

South Westerly route.

South Westerly route.
Black usual, red extended

North Easterly walk

North Easterly walk
black short, walk. Red, extended

North West Patch

North West Patch
black route regular. Red route the extended wander