Chiltern Birder

There are times when parts of Cowcroft Wood feel more like the Buckinghamshire Bayou although a rather chilly one today.. When I stopped to look at this fallen tree I disturbed a large bird of prey. It was difficult to get a clear id through the branches but I think a buzzard rather than a kite. There wasn't much visible in the way of birds otherwise apart from some corvids on the fields but I did disturb a roe deer. I have seen them in fields by Bunn's Lane and several times in Codmore Wood but this was actually the first time that I had seen one in Cowcroft. What was striking was how quietly she ran. I don't know if landfull has started at Meadham's Farm but  landscaping of the surrounds has been done:   I still think that the old clay pits, cut into the side of the hill, would have been a better site for new housing than on green fields behind Hilltop. 

You don't really think about "pregnancy" in egg laying animals but for the last few days it has been striking that there are some very plump hen birds around. I first noticed a greenfinch but there has been a particularly gravid looking chaffinch that has been sitting underneath the feeders eating bits that fall rather than trying to perch. The greenfinch was the first that I have seen for quite a while but apart from the regulars the only other bird of note has been the great spotted woodpecker who has perched in the garden on a couple of occasions but hasn't come to the feeders. Badgers have been visiting fairly regularly. On one night I put out a choice of raisins and fat pellets and found that the badger only took the fruit while a field mouse came out to take the fat. I have seen badgers take tallow based fat products and the pellets were suet based so I tried two fat balls, one of suet and one of tallow. Naturally the badgers stayed away that night! I have...

On Sunday I stopped off at Fishers Green in the Lea Valley Park. From a birding point of view it wasn't particularly fruitful. The footbridge over the Lea was closed so I couldn't get to the hide facing the reed bed on Forty Acres Lake. Following the Flood Relief Channel up to Holyfield Lake gave a nice view of a flock of lapwing in the air. When I used to visit the park regularly this lake was usually good for a sight of a goosander in the winter but my necessarily brief visits in recent years haven't resulted in a sighting. The Grebe Hide gave me a nice view of some common pochard, something that was curiously absent on my last visit to the Colne Valley. Many years ago I saw a smew from this hide and I always go there full of hope in the winter and am always disappointed. Holyfield Lake  The real highlight was a nice view of a goldcrest in the bushes adjacent to the Flood Relief Channel. At first I assumed that it was a wren but realised my mistake when I could see t...

I have been putting the camera trap out on the patio and the most regular films are of a field mouse clearing up any spillage from filling up the sunflower seed feeder. The badgers are also coming in pretty regularly. Having containers along the edge of the patio seems to have been mistake, luckily the "long tom" knocked over in the film was undamaged.

With a nice clear brisk day it seemed like a good idea to go for a walk around the lakes at Rickmansworth. Bury Lake by the car park had its usual collection of mute swan, mallard, tufties and gadwall. At a distance away in the trees was what sounded like a ring necked parakeet but it was heading away so I didn't get a view. Moving onto the north side of Stockers Lake the low sun and clear sky made visibility difficult. The open water seemed pretty clear anyway but I couldn't make out any details although from the calls it was clear that there were no wigeon present this time. Once I reached the west side things became clearer. Come of the smnaller islands had been cleared of trees and undergrowth to make them suitable for ground nesting birds. A flock of around 30 lapwing were well hidden until they suddenly took to the air and spent several minutes wheeling around the lake before returning to land swooping past an inpurtbable heron. This more than made up for the lack of...

The species count in the garden for the winter is slowly increasing. We have had a couple of brief visits by a nuthatch and one by a blackcap. There are at least 3 bullfinches visting regularly as we have seen a pair of males and a mixed pair at different times. I spent a couple of days in Bristol over the holiday. This wasn't a birding trip but I was lucky to see a grey wagtail on an ashfelt roof at the MShed in the harbour area. I have only ever seen greys by running water before so this came as a surprise. Sadly we have not had any more visits from the pied wagtail in the garden recently. There is not much chance of wagtails by running water in Chesham at the moment as the Chess is dry at the Town Bridge again. House sparrows are a great rarity in my garden but the area's entire population seems to have colonised one garden hedge in Ley Hill. Walking past the other day the birds were very loud but in the thick hedge there was not one to be seen.

After a sudden drop in activity before Christmas things seem to be back to normal now. Both sunflower heart and fat levels are falling rapidly in the feeders again and the flock of goldfinches is back. A pair of bullfinches have been regulars for the last week or two and a nuthatch drops by occasionally. A brief visit to the back garden by a great spotted woodpecker has added to the species count. In the front garden we are seeing far less activity and the fat feeder on the quince tree has only been replenished once this season. I suspect that for some reason we aren't getting the woodpeckers at the front of the houses at the moment as they have been heavy consumers of fat in the past.