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Latest Sightings October 2012

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

31/10/12 It would appear that Richard Marsh,
Les Seward & Fraser Cottington were camped out in the Lavells Lake
car park field this morning at Sandford Lane in Area 10. Seen in around
and over were a Merlin , Song Thrush, Redwing, Green
Sandpiper, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Siskin and 2 Lesser Redpoll . The Merlin
is another first for the FOTEB list and brings this years bird
species to 77.

28/10/12 The extra hour from the clocks
going back was well used by the FOTEB bird watchers. In Area 4 a Green Woodpecker and a female Brambling were in Paul Bright Thomas's garden.
Flying over were 125 Redwing in several
flocks flying W, 3 Lesser Redpoll , 5 Siskin over W, 5 Linnet
moving S, and 100 Starling in a single
flock W. Thrushes were also in evidence in Area 5 with Redwing, Song Thrush & Mistle Thrush ,3 Fieldfare were sitting in the top of an Ash tree.
Finches including Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Siskin,
Chaffinch and 2 male Bullfinch were in
the Alders to the rear of Morrisons.Red Kite
and Sparrowhawk were also seen.

27/10/12 A very cold start to the day
produced good flocks of birds moving along the Emm. Finches and Thrushes
were very much in evidence. Paul Bright Thomas was again watching from
his garden with 545 Wood Pigeon over in
flocks of 20-40 in 45 mins. 4 Stock Doves at
least were in these flocks. A Grey Wagtail
was in the balancing pond in Area 4.

21/10/12 A busy day in Areas 4 & 5
today with 25 Jackdaw , 85 Starling in 2 groups of 45+40 heading W. 80 Wood Pigeon moving S. A single Swallow flying S. 2 Lesser
Redpoll E. 1 Linnet flying NW and a
Yellowhammer flying E. All seen by Paull
Bright Thomas. In Area 5, 2 Canada Geese flew
S . Siskins were again in the Alders with the
Finch flock to the rear of Morrisons. The picture above shows left to
right Starling, Wood
Pigeon,Collared Dove and Magpie all waiting for the bird table to be filled
in Area 5.

19/10/12 4 Lesser
Redpoll flew E over Area 4 seen by Paul Bright Thomas. A Lesser Redpoll flew low over the Emm Brook in Area
10 and a male Blackcap was in the car park
field on Sandford Lane both seen by Fraser Cottington.

17/10/12 2 Swallows
flew SE over the Lavells Lake car park field on Sandford Lane
seen by Fraser Cottington.A Tawny Owl was
heard calling near Morrisons in Area 5 at 06:15.

16/10/12 A Tawny Owl
was heard calling near Morrisons at 21:00 by Paul Bright Thomas.

14/10/12 Todays highlight for me was a
female Blackcap and a Siskin coming to garden feeders in Area 5. In Area
4 around Smiths Walk Paul Bright Thomas had a male Chiffchaff in song, a solitary Brambling heard calling flying NW with Chaffinch's . Also heard were Linnet, Lesser Redpoll & Meadow Pipit . 5 Skylark were also seen.

13/10/12 At 03:30 this morning a Tawny Owl was heard calling near Woosehill
roundabout in Area 5 by Pat Taylor. At a more reasonable hour in Area 5
a Finch flock was moving through the Alders to the rear of Morrisons,
this consisted of good numbers of Goldfinch,
Greenfinch and at least 1 Siskin . A
visit was also made to Area 2 along the footpaths to the rear of Tescos.
The open fields produced Rooks, Jackdaws &
Carrion Crows Green & Great spotted
Woodpecker .Area 4 and Paul Bright Thomas with his eyes to the
skies found a calling Chiffchaff , 5 Lesser Redpolls , 4 Redwing
flying W, a single Common Gull with 4
Black headed Gulls flying W, 3 Cormorrant flying SE, 18 Linnet
moving S and 2 Swallows heading SW at
dawn. The Sandford Lane car park field turned up a male and female Blackcap for Fraser Cottington.

11/10/12 In the skies over Area 4 this
morning around 07:30 ish were 25 Black headed Gulls
circling high before flying S. 6 Song Thrush
flying over. in 1's and 2's and 20 Redwing
with a group of 13 moving W all seen by Paul Bright Thomas..

07/10/12 In Area 4 before the mist came down
Paul Bright Thomas had 4 Pied Wagtail flew
low south and 2 Song Thrush flew over. A
Siskin flew SE. In Area 10, in the Car Park
field 2 Blackcap and 75 Redwing were seen in two groups of 40 and 35 by
Fraser Cottington. In Area 5, seen early were 2 Mistle Thrush. A Cormorrant
flew W, and 15 Redwing flew W.

04/10/12 In Area 5 a calling male Chiffchaff was heard and a Sparrowhawk was hunting and being mobbed by Starlings for its trouble. In Area 4 a calling
Skylark a Coal Tit
and 25 Meadow Pipits were seen by Paul
Bright Thomas. Also seen were 2 House Martin
a Cormorrant ,
Siskin and Pied Wagtail . At 07:15 a
Hobby flew steady SW then stooped .

03/10/12 A early start this morning in Area
5 with a Tawny Owl calling to the rear of
Morrisons at 06:10. 20 House Martins were
heading South and a Cormorrant flew West. A
Kingfisher was by Meadow Road bridge, and a
Sparrowhawk was hunting over Brookside at
17:15. In Area 10, Richard Marsh was in the Lavells Lake car park field
off Sandford Lane and so was the Kestrel .
Later in the day a mobile 6 Blackcaps 5m
& 1f were seen by Fraser Cottington.

02/10/12 40 mins spent watching this morning
between 07:00 & 07:40 in Area 5 produced some signs of "visible
migration". 45 House Martins and 3 Swallows were heading South. 5 Meadow Pipits were also heading in the same
direction. Meadow PipitsAnthus pratensis migrate south in autumn
through Britain. The origins and destinations of these birds are unclear
but they may well comprise a mixture of populations from Iceland, the
Faeroes, Norway and northern Britain, with many of them moving on to
winter in France, Iberia and northern Africa (Tom Dougall, ‘Meadow
Pipit’, The Migration Atlas: movements of the birds of Britain and
Ireland, (Wernham, C V, Toms, M P, Marchant J H, Clark J A, Siriwardena
G M and Baillie S R, eds) T & A D Poyser, London (2002) pp.470-473).
A Coal Tit and Red Kite
were also seen. In Area 10, Richard Marsh was in the Lavells Lake
car park field off Sandford Lane between 08:40 &09:30 . The regular
Kestrel was seen . Another first for the
FOTEB list a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker the
98th species for the list flew across the field . 3 Song Thrush , 9 Meadow Pipits
over the field and 12 Fieldfare were
also seen.

Insects & Spiders

Click on any picture to see a larger image

14/10/12 With a warm afternoon Butterflies
were on the wing, a Comma and Small White were seen in Area's 5 and 6
respectively.

04/10/12 A Red Admiral
Butterfly was around Dragonfly Bridge in Area 5.

02/10/12 What are believed to be the exit
holes of the Hornet Moth Sesia apifarmis
were seen at the base of Poplar trees in Area 7. The emergence of
the moths in June and July will need to be checked. Emergence is usually
early to mid morning and if found will be another first for the FOTEB
Moth List.

Plants/Trees

13/10/12 Now is the time to be collecting
your Sweet chestnuts . As the October winds
get going, there will plenty more of them to collect from under the
trees. Don’t confuse them with Horse chestnuts (conkers), which are
inedible. The hedgehog-like cases are covered in long, pliable, green
spikes. Split open, they contain 2-3 shiny, roughly triangular nuts with
a distinctive tuft on the end. The European sweet chestnut originated in
Greece, and is therefore not strictly speaking native to this country.
These were in Area 2 (Gorrick Woods).

06/10/12 Ivy Hedera
helix is in flower at this time of year and is a good source
of nectar.Wasps,Flies and Bees can all be seen visiting the flowers.

01/10/12

Why do leaves change colour in the Autumn?

Find out here Autumn
Leaves

Other Wildlife

Click on any picture to see a larger image

Fish

Molluscs

Fungi

20/10/12 Tarspot fungi appear on the
leaves of various kinds of trees, including eucalypts and willows, but
the one that we see most often - in fact it's almost impossible to find
leaves without this fungal infection from midsummer onwards - is Sycamore Tarspot.Rhytisma acerinum .
Although the presence of these black areas must reduce the
photosynthetic capacity of a tree, there is little visible evidence that
the tree's health and vigour are significantly affected by tarspot
fungi. Fly Agaric Amanita muscaria are
back.Fly Agaric Amanita muscaria are
back.

20/10/12 In Area 5 under the Silver Birch
tree the Fly Agaric Amanita muscaria
are back.

03/10/12 In the open space near Meadow Road
bridge in Area 4 were 2 Field Mushrooms Agaricus
campestris . Still didn't try to eat them though.

02/10/12 In Area 7 what is believed to be
Beefsteak Fungus Fistulina hepatica
can be seen on a tree stump on Emmbrook Road by the bridge
opp the entrance to Emmbrook School.

Mammals

Reptiles & Amphibians

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