Migrant check

After the 5 of us enjoyed a breakfast back at ours, I headed off to the north of the parish for a brief check for arriving migrants. 2 more whitethroats were singing around Hadham Hall and the coot were still present. A check on the barn owls gave the impression that she is on eggs at the moment, as only one owl was at the entrance to the hole, whereas they usually both move up the hollow tree trunk as I wander by. Need to see if the male leaves the nest and returns with food for her.
A splendid male reed bunting was at the edge of the pond as linnets, 2 swallows, skylarks and yellowhammers called.
Back at the Hall a check around the grounds gave up a female pheasant, plenty of green and goldfinch and several blackcap.
As I headed back to the car a grass snake slithered off into the verge. I hadn't noticed it on the warm soil until too late as it was gone before I could get my camera ready. First one of the year.

coot away from the nest

reed bunting

barn owl on sentry duty

peacock

Dawn Chorus wander 13.04.14

Little Hadham sunrise

 5 of us met up at the village hall at 4.45  for a 6 mile dawn chorus walk through the south and west side of the parish. Setting off with no birds calling meant we were alert to the first sounds. A skylark was the first to begin, soon followed by chaffinch, wren, robin, dunnock, blackbird and song thrush. Pheasants, green and great spotted woodpeckers could all be heard with the great spot also heard drumming.
As we approached Bush Wood near Much Hadham a red kite appeared, heading south. This is the regular local bird, a 2nd year bird, identifiable by the cuts on the primary feathers.

pre dawn red kite

note cuts on right wing primary feathers.

looking east over rape field

sky beginning to show colour.

From here we headed down towards Ash Valley golf club  but not before hearing a lapwing calling from a field. Need to return to check this out as a rare record for the parish and be great news if they were breeding on the earthy field. Only 3rd time since 2008 that I have come across lapwing in the parish.
Great tits, blue tits and chiffchaffs abounded before a coffee at AVGC. From here, over the golf course where linnets and goldfinches were seen and heard and a lone skylark on the ground. New Lane gave views of more yellowhammers and the first whitethroat of the year. A pair of canada geese flew over as dunnocks, wrens and other song birds competed with each other. Rooks and carrion crows were on the golf course, but no sign of the local barn owl.

As yet: unidentified fungus

pair of yellowhammers

flyover canada geese

skylark

Species list;
canada goose, mallard, red kite, red legged partridge (heard), pheasant, moorhen (heard), lapwing (heard), wood pigeon, collared dove, green woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker, skylark, wren, dunnock, robin, song thrush, blackbird, blackcap, whitethroat, great tit, blue tit, long tailed tit, magpie, jackdaw, carrion crow, house sparrow, chaffinch, linnet, goldfinch, greenfinch, yellowhammer. 31 species

Migrants arriving

An early evening wander around Hadham Hall gave views of what I had hoped to find: swallows on the move. In total 6 were observed heading north over the rape fields east of the Hall. 2 mallards and 2 coot were present on the small pond where a reed bunting called and several yellowhammers were noted along the hedge tops.
I suspect the pair of barn owls here are now, at least on eggs as there was no movement from their tree hole. Normally they move about if you pass, but today, no activity at all. A dusk visit to see if one, or both emerge to feed is required.
Chiffchaffs appeared to be everywhere, with at least 7 seen but no other migrants were noted. Whitethroats, sedge, reed and grasshopper warblers are now arriving, so, as is usual at this time of the year, it pays to be out as much as possible as almost anything can be seen moving overhead or resting in low branches.

blue tit: Hadham Hall conifers

Coot

2 drake mallards

coltsfoot seed heads

Early evening moon

Mallard reflection

chiffchaff in blackthorn

2 of the first batch of swallows.

New Nature Survey

I have landed a plum job, surveying all the natural history of a local estate with a view to helping set up nature studies for a local primary school, the landowner being a governor of this particular school. After a visit with the head and deputy to meet the landowner on Monday, I spent a few hours in one specific wood on the estate on Tuesday afternoon. Wonderfully diverse habitat with the majority of trees being hornbeam and oak, with several conifers, hazel and some elder.
A really good find was a small colony of wood sorrel growing on a fallen bough. A rare plant for Hertfordshire, but one that the county recorder, Trevor James, is already aware of. Other spring plants were in flower: wood anemone, bluebell, primrose, bugle, and lesser celandine.
Overhead, a red kite soared and a common buzzard was being mobbed by the carrion crows. In the wood itself, the expected deciduous birds were both seen and heard. Nuthatch and treecreeper were noted along with great, blue and long tailed tits, pheasants, chaffinches, wrens, robins and chiffchaffs.
Another area on the farm that should be good for the children is a man made lake, now well established and populated by tufted duck, grey heron, moorhen, coot, canada goose and mute swan. The goat willows all around the water should be excellent for warblers later this spring, so a dawn wander is on the cards along with several nights mothing. Exciting times ahead and I'm looking forward to putting a plan together so the school can benefit from this wonderful opportunity to get out, study nature, look at conservation at work and become familiar with how farming can help encourage wildlife whilst still going about its business of producing food.

pheasant diving for cover

goldfinch

red kite

wood sorrel

wood anemone

greater stitchwort

bugle just coming into bloom

Good moth night 10.04.14

After the frosts of the last few nights, a warmer night last night brought 4 new for the year moths to the trap. A purple thorn was roosting on the fence adjacent to the trap as was a waved umber and muslin moth. Another muslin moth and a micro, either Emmelina monodactyla (Common plume) or Stenoptilia pterodactyla (Brown plume moth) were in the trap and then later this morning I came across the 4th new species for the day, a streamer on the shed wall near the trap. I shall get round to identifying the micro later, but plumes are notoriously difficult to identify just by sight. Really need dissection of the genitalia to be 100% on naming to species. This one will not have such done to it, as it legged it soon after I got the photograph.
These take my yearly total to 23 macro species so far this year and, in total, 104 moths taken.
Edit: Plume now considered to be a dark common plume (Emmelina monodactyla)

muslin moth (male)

purple thorn (male

waved umber

Common plume

streamer

Hadham Hall and Amwell Visits

A morning wander to check if any migrants were about in the north of the parish. None were seen, but a breeding coot was found on the hall pond.

Around the little nature plot at the hall were some new plants for the year, mainly field forget me not, cuckooflower and honesty. Lesser celandine and primroses were also in bloom

field forget me not

cuckooflower

Honesty

Birdwise, a chiffchaff and blackcap were busy advertising their territory as well as dunnock, robin, wood pigeon and great and blue tits.

chiffchaff

blackcap

dunnock

peacock

All in all, a wonderful little site and this fine peacock butterfly was also fl
Following this I headed off to Amwell, where I was pleased to come across a first year little gull. This is an uncommon inland bird and it showed well, before departing to the west with a few black headed gulls. However, it has done this before, only to return so it may well be seen again.
Also present, a new for the year for me, was a pair of little ringed plovers. These were feeding on the mud near the viewing point. Other birds, noted were more blackcaps and chiffchaffs, cormorants, common buzzards, shoveler, mallard, redshank, gadwall, little egrets, grey heron black headed, herring, lesser black backed gulls etc, but again, no migrants apart from the lrp and warblers.

little ringed plover

little gull

little gull (right hand bird)

mallard and redshank

redshanks

gadwall pair

little ringed plover