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Latest Sightings January 2011

Click on the link to send in your sightings [email-masked]

For previous months sightings see Archive

The"Area Seen" refers to the 10 sections that the Brook has been
split into for monitoring purposes (see Wildlife page). .

All sightings unless stated by Eddie Napper

Birds

Click on any picture to see a larger image

30/01/11 Two trips along the brook today in
Area 4 & 5. Early morning turned up all the usual birds,whilst the
lunch time amble turned up 2 Little Egrets in
the brook before being flushed to perch in nearby trees. A Sparrowhawk, Red Kite, Nuthatch & Grey Wagtail
were also seen.

29/01/11 Todays walk along the Brook
produced a pair of Great spotted Woodpeckers
. A Snipe was flushed from the balancing pond
in Area 4. Bird song was everywhere with singing Song Thrush, Robin, & Blackbird.

28/01/11 Seen in Area 5 on my walk to work
at 08:00 a Sparrowhawk flying near the bird
feeders. The LittleEgret was also seen flying
over the brook and again at 16:00 on the return trip.

27/01/11 25
Waxwings were seen in Old Woosehill Lane before flying N.
Sighting by Paul Bright Thomas.

26/01/11 ACormorant were seen flying high S over Area 4.
Sighting by Paul Bright Thomas.

24/01/11 30 +
Waxwings were seen flying NW over Area 4 towards Morissons.Also
seen were Siskin, Fieldfare &Long tailed Tit
sightings by Paul Bright Thomas

22/01/11

The LittleEgret was back this
morning flying up and down the river in Area's 4 & 5. This Robin fluffed up against the cold was singing in
Area 5. Also seen was a Brambling at the
feeding station and a Buzzard flew over
south.

20/01/11 A Gull fest for Paul Bright Thomas
this morning in Area 4 produced 2 Common Gulls,
. Also 2 Herring Gulls, and 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

18/01/11 The trip to replenish the bird
tables at 13:00 was better than expected. It was wet underfoot so I
decided to top up and then stand and watch. Approx 30 mins at the
feeding station in Area 5 produced a good 19 species which included,
Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long tailed Tit , Coal Tit,
Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Brambling, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Collared Dove,
Wood Pigeon. Jay, Nuthatch, Dunnock, & Great spotted Woodpecker
. Also seen were 70+ Redwing, Green
Woodpecker,Siskin & Mistle Thrush.. Not a bad way to spend
lunch time.

16/01/11 With 2 Canada
Geese flying over Area 4 this morning this brings the years total
to 45 species.

15/01/11 Seen today at 13:00 in an Oak tree
to the rear of Arthur Road at least 10 Waxwing's and the male Brambling was again at the bird feeders at Area 5.
In Area 4 Paul Bright Thomas saw a fly over Buzzard
and the Little Egret was feeding in
the Emm.

14/01/11

On the visit to top up the bird tables at lunch time,
approx 70 Redwings were in the treetops, also
seen & heard were Green Woodpecker, Blackbird,
Chaffinch, Greenfinch & Goldfinch. The highlight was a male
Brambling feeding on the bird table as I
walked back along the river. A Grey Heron was
seen by Paul Bright Thomas. This brings the Bird list for the Brook this
year to 43 species .

11/01/11

Woken at 03:45 this morning a Tawny
Owl was calling in Area 5 . On my walk to work the Little Egret was in a puddle in the open space and
a Buzzard flew over being mobbed by Carrion
Crows. It was also seen again at 13:30

In Area 2 this afternoon a Blue Tit, Great Tit,
Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Siskin, Robin, Wren, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove,
Sparrowhawk, Blackbird, & these delightfull Long tailed Tits were seen.

09/01/11

A frosty start to this morning and with the rain of the
last few days having swollen the brook I was suprised to see a Little Egret in the brook under the footbridge onto
the spine road. Also seen were Great spotted
Woodpecker approx 20+ Redwings and
Song Thrush, Nuthatch Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long
tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Siskin, Robin, Wren, Wood Pigeon,
Collared Dove, Blackbird, Magpie & Jay

In Area 6 (Emmbrook Walk), Paul Goulbourn saw Redwings feeding on apples and sent in this
picture.

01/01/11

05/01/11 A Little
Egret was seen again at 08:15 near Dragonfly Bridge.

04/01/11 A male Tawny
Owl was heard calling in Area 4 at 01:45 by Paul Bright Thomas.

03/01/11 At 08:30 this morning in Area 5, 2
Little Egrets were feeding in the Brook under
Dragonfly Bridge, before flying up stream.Aso seen was a Grey Wagtail. Nearby 50 + Siskins were feeding on Alders. A female
Bullfinch was seen in Area 4 and a male Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard drummng in an
Oak tree near the Balancing Pond. This is fairly early occurrence but
maybe a sign that spring is on its way . There are usually two reasons
for this. Firstly to attract a mate (done by males) and also they will
drum as a territorial signal to warn off potential intruders. A female
Blackcap was seen at feeders in Area 5. This
brings the year's bird total to 38 species in only 3 days.

02/01/11

Highlights from this morning's walk along the brook in
Areas 4 & 5 included,this Red Kite that
was perched in the trees near the balancing pond. a Little Egret near Morrisons, Green Woodpecker, Great spotted Woodpecker approx
15 + Redwings also Mistle
Thrush, Song Thrush, Nuthatch ,Moorhen, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long tailed
Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Siskin, Robin, Wren, Wood Pigeon, Collared
Dove, Sparrowhawk, Blackbird, House Sparrow & Jay.

In Area 7 at the bottom of his garden Paul Goulbourne had
a Kingfisher feeding on a Dace caught from
the brook.

01/01/11

Seen this morning on the brook at 08:15 in Riverside Walk,
a Kingfisher . In the afternoon approx 60 +
Redwings & 2 Fieldfares were feeding on the grassed area near
the feeding station. At the feeding station were Nuthatches, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch,
Greenfinch, Blackbird & Jay.

Dec 2010 A couple of reports from Dec that I
missed as I haven't been cheking emails regularly over Christmas.

Seen on the
22nd Dec by Les Steele this Little
Egret was on the brook to the rear of Morrisons.

On 29th Dec 20-30 Waxwings
were seen in a silver birch tree in the rear garden of 2 Arthur
Road ( Area 5) between 9.30 - 9.45 am by Wendy & Tony Hayward.

Insects

Click on any picture to see a larger image

05/01/11 With just the porch light left on I
attracted 2 Winter Moths Operophtera brumata
& a Mottled Umber

01/01/11

With a mild night forecast the moth trap was left out.
Only 2 moths, both Winter Moth Operophtera
brumata .

Other Wildlife

Click on any picture to see a larger image

Coarse Fish

02/01/11

In Area 6 at the bottom of his garden Paul Goulbourn
caught a Roach & Perch in the Brook and
also saw a Dace that was firmly in the beak
of a Kingfisher.

Mammals

Plants/Trees

29/01/11

One of the first obvious signs of spring along the Brook
are Hazel Catkins . When hazel and its
companion deciduous trees are all leafless the catkins which are the
male flowers are clearly visible,they are pale yellow in colour and up
to 5 cm. long. The female flowers are tiny red tufts, growing out of
what look like swollen buds, and are visible on the same branches as the
male catkins. Pollination is by wind, and hazel is self-incompatible -
successful pollination only occurs between different trees, as a single
tree cannot pollinate itself. Fertilised female flowers grow into nuts
which are up to 2 cm. in size and occur in clusters of 1 to 4..

Why do the leaves change colour ?

Autumn
Leaves click on the link to find out why.