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Latest Sightings October 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 under Monitoring ). .

All sightings unless stated are from personal observations by Eddie Napper

Birds

Click on any picture to see a larger image

27/10/11 Even with the dark and wet mornings
I was able to pick out 2 Goldcrests feeding
in the Ivy clad trees in Area 4 .

24/10/11 Todys highlights in Area 5 were a
Grey Heron flying E over my garden. This is
the first for some while. Singles of Sparrowhawk
& Red Kite were also seen.

23/10/11 6 of the Ring-necked Parakeet's flew back SE over Area 5
this morning. At the feeding station approx 30 Collared Doves flew from the trees and floor when I
approached to refill the feeders. A single Skylark
flew N and approx 100+ Wood Pigeons
were seen flying S.

22/10/11 This morning 7 Ring-necked Parakeet were seen flying south over
Area 5 .However 14 were seen in 3 groups by Paul Bright Thomas. These
birds must be flying to and from a roost. A group of 9 Fieldfare were seen on top of Alders behind
Morrissons.

20/10/11 At 17:35 13 Ring-necked Parakeet were seen flying north over my
Area 5 garden

1910/11 A wet walk home was brightened by a
Kingfisher flying downstream towards
Dragonfly Bridge.

18/10/11 The Kingfisher
was seen again today perched at RippleStream Bridge, before it
flew upstream out of sight.

16/10/11 A bit of an anti climax today with
the only birds of note a Kingfisher flying
downstream of Dragonfly Bridge and a Grey Wagtail
flying upstream.

15/10/11 A visit into Area 8 today was very
rewarding. In a recently ploughed field a minimum of 60 Black-headed Gulls were searching the soil for food
with 6 Jackdaws & 1 Herring Gull . Overhead Skylarks and Pied Wagtails
were calling . Soaring on the thermals were 6 Buzzards . Meanwhile in Area 5 a couple of Canada Geese flew south , and the Sparrowhawk seems to have taken up residence, with
its allmost daily sightings. Highlight of the day once again goes to
Paul Bright-Thomas with a male Crossbill
flying low North over his Area 4 garden calling. Also seen were 2
Fieldfares flying SW and a Lesser Redpoll . This brings this years FOTEB bird
list to a total of 82 species .

14/10/11 Despite the warm weather, Winter is
on its way . Seen today 10 Siskins in with
the Finch flock in the Alders. Winter Thrushes are back with 11 Redwings perched atop the trees in Area 5 seen by
me , but 30 and 35 Redwings seen by Paul
Bright Thomas flying west over Area 4.

13/10/11 With the mornings getting darker
the birds seen on the walk to work are getting less and I am having to
rely on hearing them as well. So this mornings 3 Mistle Thrush with their rattling call were
welcome. The first bird heard singing most mornings is the Robin The robin is one of the few birds in the UK
that sing all year round. This is due to the importance of holding
winter territories. Only for a short period in late summer while they
are moulting and inconspicuous do robins stop singing. Both sexes sing.
However it was a stark contrast in the afternoon when the sun came out
whilst visiting the balancing pond in Area 4. In a surreal moment
drinking and bathing side by side in the channel that runs through the
middle were 3 Blue Tits , a Great Tit , Chaffinch ,
Greenfinch & a male Blackcap . This was followed by fly over Green & Great spotted Woodpeckers . Later a
soaring Red Kite and a calling Sky Lark were seen. Grey
Wagtail

10/10/11 Todays highlights in Area 5
included fly over Herring & Lesser black-Backed
Gulls , Red Kite & Grey Wagtail

09/10/11 The birds along the Brook can now
be seen to gathering in larger flocks. 15 Collared
Doves were seen around the feeding station in Area 5. The finch
flock has risen to approx 40 birds mainly Goldfinch
& Greenfinch . Thrushes included 5 Mistle
Thrush , 4 Blackbirds & 2 Song Thrush. All 4 Tits (Blue,
Great & Coal inclding small flock of 7 Long tailed Titswere seen. A Sparrowhawk was seen looking for breakfast, while .
4 Canada Goose flew north at 07:45.

06/10/11 Seen this morning in Area 5 on my
walk to work a Kingfisher flying upstream
between Ripple Stream and Dragonfly Bridge. Approx 5 mins later a
possible 2nd Kingfisher was seen again flying
upstream of Kingfisher bridge in Area 4.

05/10/11 Today in Area 4 seen by Paul
Bright-Thomas all flying south 1 Lesser
Redpoll, 10 Meadow Pipits, 2 Swallows and 4 Golden Plover
. In Area 5, 11 Canada Geese flew
West, also a Red Kite was seen being mobbed
by Herring Gulls and a Grey Wagtail was around Riple Stream Bridge.

02/10/11 A walk around Area 4 & 5
today before it got to hot produced 29 species. These were Robin singing in the dark before 06:00, Magpie, Jay , Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wood Pigeon, Wren &
Starling. . The Finch flock of Goldfinch,
Greenfinch & Chaffinch were again spooked by a fly through
Sparrowhawk . Thrushes were represented by
Blackbird, Mistle & Song Thrush . Fly
overs included 1 Cormorrant fllying West, 7
Skylarks flying East , 8 Herring Gulls flying South, 9 Mallard flying East & a Red
Kite flying all over the place. Other birds seen were Green Woodpecker, Great spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch,
House Sparrow, Dunnock, Chiffchaff, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove &
Grey Wagtail. In Area 2 more flyovers with 11 Canada Geese flying South calling in 2 seperate
waves, 2 Swallows flying South a single Skylark and numerous Rooks
& Jackdaws .. This brings todays total to 33 species.

01/10/11 A visit to Area 2 today produced
all the Corvids with Rooks, Carrion Crow &
Jackdaws . A Black headed Gull was
also seen. In Area 5 a Sparrowhawk flushed
about 30 Greenfinchs from a Poplar tree. The
first Lesser Redpolls of the Autumn were seen
in Area 4 by Paul Bright-Thomas.

Insects/ Spiders

Click on any picture to see a larger image

15/10/11 Despite the cold start to the
moning it soon warmed up and in Area 8 ( Old Forest Road ) butterflies
were still on the wing. 2 Red Admrals wee
seen and a single Small Copper was feeding on
the flowers of Ragwort. Stridulating Roesel's Bush
Crickets were also heard and seen . Resting on riverside
vegetation was a male Banded Demoiselle

13/10/11 Whilst running the risk of picking
Blackberries after St Michaelmas Day. I found a Green Shield Bug and a Red
Admiral butterfly in the bush.

09/10/11 Following an afternoons gardening
in Area 5 this Lesser Stag Beetle (Dorcus
parallelopipedus) was found in the house. This is a new
addittion to the FOTEB Insect list. Whilst running the risk of picking
Blackberries after St Michaelmas Day. I also found a Green Shield Bug and a Red
Admiral butterfly in the bush.

02/10/11 The warm weather continues and a
Red Admiral butterfly was feeding on Ivy with
Honey Bees Apis mellifera in Area 1.
In Area 10 2 Comma butterflies were seen.

01/10/11 A Speckled Wood
butterfly was seen this afternoon in Area 5.

Other Wildlife

Click on any picture to see a larger image

Mammals

01/10/11 A Pipistrelle
Bat was seen flying through gardens in Area 5 this morning at
06:45

Plants/Trees

Why do leaves change colour in the Autumn?

Find out here Autumn
Leaves

06/10/11 With carpets of Acorns eveywhere it seems that 2011 is a mast year
for Oaks along the Brook and Southern
Britain. Oak trees produce acorns every year but every four to seven
years they produce an extra heavy crop. These are called mast years.
There is still plenty of debate as to why trees behave in this way: it
could be to do with water availability, temperature (in winter or
spring), lack of frost during flowering or other reasons . We know that
the extra effort put into producing so much seed can reduce the amount
that a tree grows that year.

Fungi

04/10/11 After being scalped by the
Council lawn mowers the Fly Agaric fungi are
making a comeback. This one was seen under the usual Silver Birch in Area 5 this morning.

Amphibians

Coarse Fish