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Latest Sightings May 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

28/05/11 The last 3 or 4 days have all been
very similar with Red Kite, Buzzard & Grey Heron
see daily over Area's 4 & 5. The big suprise however has been
only 1 & 2's of Swifts . This years
numbers seem to be significantly down. Male Chiffchaff & Blackcaps are still singing.
Juvenile Mistle Thrush, Blue Tit & Great Tit
can be seen and a flock of 15 + young Starlings can regularly be observed noisly feeding
on the area near the play area. A pair of Goldcrests
have sucessfuly raised a family in a Leylandi tree in my Area 5
garden and have been noisly chirping for the last two days .

24/05/11 A singing male Whitethroat in Area 5 between Dragonfly &
Ripple Stream Bridge at 07:45 this morning was the first I have seen in
this area.

21/05/11 The bird breeding season is
gathering pace with this mornings walk in Area's 4 & 5 revealing
evidence of great success. Seen feeding young away from the nest were
Mistle Thrush, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long tailed Tit,
Starling & Moorhen . Feeding at the nest were Great spotted Woodpecker & Nuthatch. Seen with
beaks full of grubs (so probably feeding young) were Chiffchaff & House Sparrow . Juvenile's of
Wood Pigeon, Robin & Rook were also seen.
A solitary Swallow was feeding low near the
Wildflower meadow. A total of 32 species were seen.

17/05/11 I should have known that it was
going to be a busy day in Area 5 when woken from my slumber this morning
at 05:00 by calling Canada Geese flying over.
A solitary Swift and Great spotted & Green Woodpecker were seen
along with another 22 species..

16/05/11 A good walk to work today through
Areas 4 & 5 with Red Kite, Bullfinch, Blackcap,
Bullfinch and Grey Wagtail seen. Highlight was however evidence
of another breeding success with this mother and 5 young Mallard on the brook just downstream of Meadow Rd
bridge .

13/05/11 At 07:00 a Cuckoo was was heard calling in Area 5 to the rear
of Morrisons. Male Bullfinch, Blackcap &
Chiffchaff were also seen.

11/05/11 In Area 5 a pair of Bullfinch were seen along with 3 Swifts and a Goldcrest .

08/05/11 A female Kestrel was seen flying over Area 4 by Paul Bright
Thomas.

06/05/11 6 Swifts
were seen together in Area 5 at lunchtime.

05/05/11 2 Mute Swans
were seen flying low east over Area 4 by Paul Bright Thomas at
06:30. In my Area 5 garden today both pairs of nesting FONT
color=#ff0000> Blue Tits & Great Tits were frantically
feeding young. .

01/05/11 In Area 4 & 5 (Riverside Walk
) this morning 27 species of birds were seen and heard. Highlights were
2 returning Swifts who flew over at 07:45
with a single Swallow . Singing summer
migrants included Chiffchaff & Blackcap .
The rest were Nuthatch, Blackbird, Song Thrush,
Mistle Thrush,Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Stock Dove, Goldfinch,
Greenfinch, Mallard, Blut Tit, Great Tit, Long tailed Tit, House
Sparrow, Moorhen, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, Black headed Gull,
Dunnock, Wren & Red Kite

Insects/ Spiders

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29/05/11

A good day for Insects along the brook today with this
Black & red froghopper - Cercopis vulnerata
. The micro moth Nemphora degeerella
was also seen. This is just one of several longhorn moths found
in Britain, so called because of their long antennae. the moth is
approximately 10mms long whilst the antennae of the males are around
30mms long. They can sometimes be seen in
groups, performing what looks like a dance in the sunlight. They go up
in the air about 60cms, then drop back down to rest.

14/05/11 A new moth for the FOTEB list was
found this morning in Area 5 adjacent to the Acorn Centre. The micro
moth Crambus lathoniellus is one of
the earliest Crambids to be seen during the year, with the adults flying
from May through to August. Like several similar species, the moth is to
be found in grassy areas, where the larvae feed on various types of
grass stem. It flies naturally at night, though it is easily disturbed
in the daytime

02/05/11 The moth trap was out overnight
with little success. Only 11 moths of 3 species were caught. The best
was this Angle Shades . Also the first Hornet Vespa crabro was found in the trap.

01/05/11 In late summer or early autumn
many spiders mature mate and produce eggs. The common Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus) lays from
three to eight hundred yellow eggs that she cements together and covers
in a dense layer of coarse protective yellow silk and detritus. When
spring comes the following year, bundles of tiny yellow spiderlings with
a black spot on their rear end can be found. If disturbed, the bundle of
babies will 'explode', with individual spiderlings dispersing away from
each other on tiny silken safety lines. Once the danger has passed they
climb back up the web and form a clump again. Before emerging from their
egg sac, the spiderlings moulted once. Once emerged, they remain
together until they have moulted yet again and grown big enough to be
independent. these were seen in Area 5.

Other Wildlife

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Amphibians

Coarse Fish

14/05/11 The small fish by the middle bridge
to the rear of Morrisons are getting bigger, but I am still not able to
identify them. If anyone can please let me know.

Mammals

13/05/11 A Hedgehog
was investigating gardens in Area 5 today

Plants/Trees

26/05/11

Whilst walking home from work I bumped into Mike Saynor
and his wife by Kingfisher Bridge who showed me the gall of the aphid
Pemphigus spyrothecae . This gall causes a
spiral in the stem of the leaves of the Lombardy
Poplar Populus nigra Italica .The Lombardy Poplar can grow
to 30 m high.

12/05/11 All along the Brook Cow Parsley Anthriscus sylvestris &
Red Campion Silene diocia can be seen.

02/05/11 In the Wildflower Meadow in Area
5 Cowslips Primula veris can now be
seen along with Meadow Buttercup Ranunculus acris
. This photo was sent in by Sue Farrington.

01/05/11 In the balancing pond near Smiths
Walk in Area 4 Yellow Flag Iris Iris pseudacorus
are just starting to appear. These magnificent plants can
grow as much as 6 feet tall.