On the golf course today

Foul weather has limited the club to 4 brave souls going out to play a round. All 4 didn't finish the 18 due to a drop in temperature combined with a rise in wind speed and horizontal drizzle.
Consequently, spending time viewing the course from the club house. Good numbers of birds;
On the feeders:
5 Great tits
4 blue tits
2 coal tits
1 greenfinch
2 chaffinches
8+ starlings
Viewed from the club house
1 great spotted woodpecker
3 green woodpecker
2 jays
50+ fieldfares
20+ redwings
100+ starlings
1 pheasant
12 goldfinch
2 dunnock
1 robin
2 carrion crows
250+ wood pigeons
1 skylark over.

New Species (sort of!)

A harvest mouse was found this morning at Ash Valley Golf Course, near the 4th tee. Unfortunately the creature was dead, but upon inspection there appeared to be no puncture marks from a predator. This may give some credence to the fact that there is a population of them here. A humane trap is being sought. The smallest British rodent and the only Old World mammal with a prehensile tail. Need to check on the numbers of these creatures within Hertfordshire. Few photos to follow.

Illustrated Talk. All welcome

I shall be giving an illustrated talk on: a,) Little Hadham natural history update 2010 b.) The Camargue and c.) the bio diversity action plan that I have written for the parish.

All welcome: Little Hadham VillageHall 7.45pm Tuesday 9th November and afterwards (9.30ish) at the Nag's Head.

Admission £1.50 including refreshments. We would be most grateful for any raffle prizes handed in at the door. All proceeds to the village Social Club. Hope a few can make it to boost numbers. Photo of a white plume moth in flight, a most fortuitous shot!

Autumnal Colours 1st Nov.

A morning walk on the 1st November gave 32 species of birds, with, yet again, quantity prevailing over quality.
Many fieldfares (100+) and redwings (300+) were observed in the sky over Ash Valley Golf Course, along with several blackbirds and a solitary song thrush.
Birds of prey came in the shape of 1 common buzzard, 1 female sparrow hawk, 1 male kestrel and, most pleasingly, fleeting sights of the male merlin that appears to have taken up winter residence in the parish. This particular bird was observed on two occasions in fields between the River Ash and New Road. Flying low over the ploughed field before rising into an oak tree and then 10 minutes later being chased by 2 jackdaws towards South Cottages.
3 bullfinches were heard and then witnessed near Chapel Lane whilst a single meadow pipit fed in the grass of the 4th fairway.
However, the highlight of the whole 2 hour wander was the colours in the leaves, as shown in the attached photos.

27th October. Morning wander

A morning walk along the ridge footpath and then round to Acremore Street and down Hoecroft Lane. A morning of quantity rather than quality with 171 gulls, mostly lesser black backed, with some herring and black headed along with a feeding party of 150+ starlings at the polo fields. The large majority of the starlings were first year birds.

Also of note: 3 bullfinches, good numbers of skylark overhead, several yellowhammers and linnets and over 500 jackdaws in the sheep field south of The Ford.

Pheasants have recently been let out of their pens ready for the first shoot of the season on 6th Nov. The attached photo shows a female roosting in a tree along Hoecroft Lane. The rest are an attempt to capture the wonderful colours that can be found around Little Hadham at present.

Sun Rise 26th October

Lovely sky on Tuesday 26th at 6.55am. These were taken looking east over the chapel at the bottom of the garden.

Grey heron

This grey heron was found perching near the river Ash, Sunday 24th October. Also, in an adjacent ploughed field 25+ pied wagtails. Also, the usual suspects as I wandered over the golf course and along the Ash valley: yellowhammers, gold, green and chaffinches and a solitary kestrel.

The full moon was photographed from the back garden.

Butterflies will be finished for the year following two nights of frost, the first being severe enough to finish the dahlias and fuscias in the garden.

Fieldfares arrive

After several reports of fieldfares in neighbouring parishes, I eventuallyrecorded these Scandinavian migrants this morning. A party of 12 rose from local hedgerows around Ash Valley Golf Course, before heading off west at 7.45am.

Redwings arrive 13th Oct

After yesterday's good birds I was out early, visiting Hadham Hall lagoons, hoping for some waders. No such luck, but a party of 11 redwings flew west overhead, the first for autumn. Green and great spotted woodpeckers, 1 goldcrest and good numbers of goldfinches were observed. No birds at all on the large lagoon, first time it has been empty, but plenty of evidence of ploughing and harrowing in adjacent fields.
A buzzard was flushed from an oak, flying off south and several lesser black backed gulls headed north.
A field near Clintons, Bury Green is holding good numbers of gulls at present and a trip there this afternoon is planned. From drive by viewing, I suspect 45 LBBG's and about 3 GBBG's but worth a check for anything more unusual.

Surprise sighting

Following on from the ring ouzel, another good bird. Driving along Acremore Street ~(Bury Green to Little Hadham war memorial, I witnessed a merlin. It appeared from an oak and flew low to the ground in front of the car for 100 yards before banking over a hedge.
The flight pattern of flap and glide plus the fact that it stayed very low gave me the impression of merlin over male sparrowhawk. The earliest merlin for Hadham.