Chiltern Birder

A recent visit to Fishers Green didn't find anything exciting in the way of water fowl. There was a decent sized flock of wigeon at the far end of Holyfield Lake but nothing rare. Walking back on the other hand I was delighted to see a treecreeper on one of the bushes alongside the Flood Relief Channel. The pale grey chest caught my eye so easily. At home I am feeding but there isn't much being taken. Based on previous years I should have ordered some more fat bars for delivery before Christmas but it looks as if my existing supply will hold out for the rest of 2015. Visits to the feeders are brief with log gaps but we had a pair of goldfinches today and during the last month we have had long tailed tits and one visit observed by a coal tit. After a long absence we also had a goldcrest in the garden although its interest was in the Old Man's Beard growing through next door's leylandii hedge rather than anything I had done.

Garden feeding has settled down to a pretty standard pattern. The fat block on a tree in the front garden is being taken by blue and great tits. In the back starlings and blues and greats are taking fat and the tits are also taking sunflower seeds. I have been putting dried mealworms on the ground tray and have only seen wood pigeons take these so far. We had a visit from a party of long tailed tits on one day, I couldn't count accurately as they were in and out of the bushes but I would say between seven and a dozen. I had a glimpse of a marsh or willow tit, far too brief to be sure of any markings. One slight oddity was a dunnock perched on the feeder taking sunflower hearts, normally these are very reluctant to come to the feeders. I realised today that I hadn'twalked in the surrounding countryside for nearly two months, all my exercise being confined to walking into Chesham. Ignoring a reproachful bowl of washing up I went out for an hour this morning. It was fascinating

I have started putting fat bars out again. The starlings are making free with the one in the back garden. All I have seen in the front has been a few blue tits but something has eaten that one very quickly. I must spend more time looking out of the window. On Monday I took a short stop at Fishers Green as I was passing. There was one suprise as I saw a pair of Egyptian geese on one of the islands. There was a pair resident at Amwell over 20 years ago but these are the first that I have seen in the wild since then.

With the forecasts threatening stormy weather I decided to take advantage of a mild morning to fit in a visit to Stockers Lake before I needed to wear wellingtons. At first glance the lakes were much as normal with coot, morhen, tufted duck. mallards, mute swan, a pair of gadwall and the occasional cormorant. As I progressed round the lake it was clear that there were much larger numbers of black headed gulls than usual, which country lore would have as a predictor of storms. I didn't count them but there were a decent number of red-crested pochard with a few common pochard among them which was handy for comparison of field marks. The tits are starting to form into flocks and I could hear a decent sized party moving through the trees but there were just enough leaves still in place to make identification difficult. It is time to start looking out for birds returning to the garden after the usual quiet spell in September and October.

Finally I have seen a red kite in Essex. Well I am about 90% sure that it was a kite. I was driving on the M25 yesterday between Bell Common Tunnel and Waltham Abbey when a large bird of prey glided across my vision. There was no way that I could take my eyes off the traffic to get a better look but the whole "feel" of the sighting was of a kite rather than a buzzard and I think that I have seen enough of both in the past few years to trust my judgement on that.

A little birding at Fishers Green and Amwell wasn't particularly exciting in terms of water fowl apart from a handful of wigeon. The one puzzle being a large greyish white goose on Holywell Lake at Fishers Green. While I would love to put it down as a snow goose but from the size, much bigger than the greylags and canadas, I would guess a domestic escape. There was some interest among the birds of prey. Buzzards are becoming common in western Essex and I have seen them over the Roding valley several times this year but this was the first time that I have seen one in the Fishers Green reserve. Looking for somewhere for lunch I saw a pair of red kite circling abover the village of Standon in Hertfordshire, just east of the A10. This is by far the most easterly sighting that I have had.

I don't normally pay much attention to the various black corvids around here so it came as a bit of a shock yesterday to hear what was distinctly the croaking of a raven from the air above my garden. Not being a determined twitcher I wasn't aware that they had been spreading into this area but I heard it again this morning. Clearly I will have to pay more attention to the various large blackl birds in future.

I went to the Chelsea Flower Show on Tuesday and was puzzled by the strange calls in the trees. It was only when something green flashed across my sight line that I realised that they were ring necked parakeets. From the racket that they make I am sure that a lot of people with them in their gardens must think that their necks should be wrung! I seldom miss the flower show and this is the first time that I have been aware of parakeets in the Royal Hospital grounds.

Red kites don't normally warrant a mention in my part of the Chilterns any more but today I travelled over to Thame by bus. Going through Studley Green near High Wycombe on the A40 there were a huge number circling in a small area. I kept trying to count and found that there were at least seven in my line of sight at any moment with at least as many again circling just out of my vision. I have never seen so many in one place and can only imagine that somebody in the village is putting food out for them. Feeding carnivores always brings the risk that once habituated they will take things that they shouldn't including pets. In Thame there was yet another sign of summer as swifts were making a lot of noise. I saw some decent sized parties chasing each other above the shops.

Heard my first cuckoo of the year today. I was walking along the edge of Cowcroft Wood and could hear the bird calling, probably from the thickets on the other side of the brickworks. In the woods the display of bluebells was magnificent and other woodland plants were making nice displays elsewhere. Earlier this month I had half a sighting of a badger. Driving late at night towards Missenden I just glimpsed the animals hind quarters as it scuttled into the hedge.

This morning had some very interesting moments. I went down to Rickmansworth to take a walk around Stockers Lake. Making my way up from the car park I saw that the black swan was still in residence, this time on Bury Lake with a group of mute swans. The songsters were in fine voice and  I was lucky to see a garden warbler singing. On the water were the usual selection but I only saw chicks with the coots. The common terns are returning and in a wooded area a wren managed to beat the warblers on volume. When the flags come into flower the display around the lake edge will be magnificent. Driving home I stopped at Codmore Wood to take a look at the bluebells which are now fully out. Walking in the wood I saw a group of three roe does. They were wary but I stood still and they did not run, giving me the best view of the species that I have ever had. The large mobile ears were very striking giving, for a moment, the imression of a very elegant donkey. They kept a wary eye on me, they c

I have commented previously on how buzzards are becoming more common. It hasn't been numbers recently but just unexpected sightings. Last week I was on the Cotswolds and saw two, one between Enstone and Chipping Norton over the A44 and one east of Northleach over the A40. Kites didn't dissapoint me either as I saw one low over the field behind the wonderfully named Ramping Cat House just outside Burford. The big suprise was this week when I saw another buzzard over the M11 at Debden which is only the third that I have definitely seen in Essex. At home the goldfinches seem to have established themselves as residents and chaffinches have just started visiting again while starlings are also reappearing although only in ones and twos at the moment. On the other hand the long tailed tits seem to have moved on although I did see a small party along White Hill when walking in to Chesham this morning. The nature notes in The Times today referred to wood pigeons as being "almos

Around here it's the transition from winter to spring that tends to bring some of the more interesting visitors back to the garden. This morning I stopped preparing breakfast to watch a male great spotted woodpecker on the fat feeder in the front garden. I could almost imagine that it was drumming with the way that the beak was driving into the fat block with as much flying off to fall to the ground as was being taken. Those pieces will probably be found by the dunnocks soon enough. The green woodpeckers have been calling regularly for the last few weeks but I have yet to see one this year.

I was in the Botanic Gardents in Oxford today and noticed a large brown mustelid among the cold frames. It seemed quite unconcerned about my presence nearby looking over the fence and because of this my first thought was that somebody had brought a pet ferret to work. However, I asked one of the gardeners and she confirmed there were no tame ferrets in the gardens that American Mink to come out of the Cherwell from time to time. Driving home the weather seemed to have forced kites to fly very low and there were quite a few between Thame and Longwick at or below tree height including one that I nearly ran over when he tried to snatch some road kill from almost under my wheels.

I was thinking at the weekend that I hadn't seen a coal tit in the garden for a long time so yesterday one decided to remind me that they were still around with a brief visit to the feeders. Today I had decided that I was getting a bit flabby and, with the winter weather, had been taking shorter walks. What was striking was the buzzard that seemed to be following me around. I saw it over Cowcroft wood as I crossed the fields from Bottom Lane to Tylers Hill. I saw it again over White End Park as I followed the path beside the claypits and a third time as I made my way back it flew from over Cowcroft Wood across the fields towards Waterside. A pair of kites were busy over the Botley end of Tylers Hill Road and I did wonder if they were nesting in one of the tall trees flanking the gardens and paddocks around there. At the back of Meadhams Farm a muntjac stopped and looked at me and then quietly walked away without any fuss or sign of panic. It makes a change to get a chance to

Perhaps I should spend more time just looking out of the window. This morning I had two goldfinces taking sunflower seeds. When I fetched the camera one flew off and the other resolutely stayed on the other side of the feeder. These are the first that I have seen for a month. This afternoon I walked past the window just in time to see a nuthatch fly off. This was the first that I have seen in the garden since last May. Apart from that it has all been pretty routine. The long tailed tits are still around, the pigeons are still fattening themselves from the ground feeder and the starlings are regular visitors.

Driving down the Chess valley on Monday the sight of yet another little egret started me thinking that they were becoming more  ubiquitous that herons. That seemed to be the key to several unusual sightings. On Monday I saw a juvenile heron standing in the middle of the tarmac path between Bury and Stockers Lakes. Then on Tuesday I went to Thame by public transport. Walking down White Hill in Chesham one flew low overhead and landed on top of a tree in one of the gardens between White Hill and Esksdale Avenue. The branch was barely strong enough leading to the huge bird gently bouncing up and down. Later on the bus from Aylesbury to Thame there was another standing in the middle of a ploughed field near Dinton. This morning walking along Botley Road a redwing landed on the path in front of me as if it was posing for a picture in a field guide. I was able to have by best ever look at the the colour and markings before it finally flew into Codmore Field. On Monday the cold snap f

Driving home just after midnight last night I had just passed through Latimer when a badger suddenlty emerged from the hedgerow and turned its head to face me. Luckily I was anticipating wildlife at that time of night and slowed down promptly otherwise it might have been yet another ex badger on the tarmac. What was a surprise was to get the full face in the headlights, it is unusual to get a good look at the mask as they are usually crossing at right angles or running away. At the edge of the little orchard in Codmore Wood Road there was a muntjac eating windfalls. As the lights startled it we could see pieces of apple falling from its mouth. In the garden the birds seem to be thinking about nesting with a pair of robins not only not fighting but collecting dead leaves and taking them into the honeysuckle on the side fence.

The selection of birds in the garden is becoming more varied. This morning I saw two tits on the feeder in the front garden, one a blue and the other with a black crown. The fine distinctions between marsh and willow tits are not somethat that I have committed to memory and the view wasn't cler anyway but the crown seemed sooty rather than glossy so I am guessing a willow. Long tailed tits are pretty active and redwings are still around in the nearby countryside. Finches seem to have abandoned the garden entirely.

It was nice to see a pair of goldfinches on the sunflower seeds on Thursday. I then went away for a couple of days and found very little reduction in the amount of food taken from any of the hanging feeders. The long tailed tits have been active on the feeder in the front garden but the main beneficiary of my largesse seems to be a very fat wood pigeon who dominates the ground feeder.

With the comparatively warm, wet and windy weather there is less activity on the feeders than I would expect at this time of year but the long tailed tits have finally started coming into the garden. One thing that I have noticed is the difference that feeder position makes. In the back garden there are two feeders on poles, one with a fat bar and one with sunflower seeds. The blue tits will fly to one of the bushes, look around, fly to the feeder and grab a seed or piece of fat and return to the bush to eat it. In the front there is a fat block hung in one of the quince trees. Here the blue and great tits will sit on the feeder and and eat what they take on the spot.

I put some food out on the ground feeder this morning and the resident cock blackbird was straight there as usual. Not quite as tame as a robin but he is sometimes on the feeder before I can get back into the house. Today, however, a second male came down to the feeder a minute or two later. Normally this would involve a bit of flapping and one would fly off but not this morning. They really went for each other trying to peck and grapple and one ended up on his back with the other pecking at him. It looked as if a small black bird of prey had pounced. After some struggling one of the birds flew off. There had been so much rolling around that I couldn't tell which one. In the front garden blue and great tits are regulars on the fat feeder but so far there has been nothing of special interest.

The seaside seemed like a good place to blow away the cobwebs on New Year's Day so a drive down to the Thames Estuary seemed to be in order. The tide was at its lowest ebb so most birds were a long way out where the food was nearer the surface but there were a few old friends and one surprise. A few redshank were foraging in the creeks and out on the mud there were several groups of brent geese. Singletons included a greater black backed gull and a grey plover. I haven't been down to the estuary since last winter and not for several years before that visit so I was not sure what is common there now. It was striking that there were no turnstones around the cockle sheds, these used to be very common. While walking something white at the corner of my eye didn't look quite right for a gull and turned out to be the first little egret that I have seen on the Thames. It was active, moving frequently so I am not sure if I saw the same bird several times or different individuals