Garden
animals
I have had the
trail camera out for the past two nights on the patio
in the back garden with a small amount of mealworms
and a bit of chopped up fat ball. Each night I had
just one Hedgehog visiting several times during
the night, first at about 10.30pm and last time at
about 3am. I did not see a second one as on May 14th.
The food was eaten, though I shall be cautious about
using mealworms as too much is said to be bad for
Hedgehogs, even though they love it. A bit like
chocolate with kids I suppose.
Joyce Sawyer had the
pleasure of a visit from this beautiful young
Fox to her garden in North Emsworth.
Brook
Meadow
It was a fine
warm morning for today's work session on Brook Meadow
attended by 8 volunteers and led by Colin
Brotherston.
The main task was to
cut and remove the grasses in the round experimental
areas on the north meadow. This is to encourage the
more delicate flowers. Paths were also cut and
trimmed.
A full report with
more photos will appear on . . . https://www.brookmeadow.org.uk/conservation-news/
Wildlife
observations
A second
Whitethroat was singing on the west side of the
north meadow in addition to the regular one by the
causeway. A Song Thrush was singing
magnificently on the west side of the north meadow
behind the Gwynne Johnson Rowan plantation. I spotted
one of our resident Carrion Crows wandering
through the buttercups in almost Wordsworthian
fashion.
I discovered the first
Southern Marsh Orchid flowers, three on the
main orchid area and one on the Lumley area. They are
a few days earlier than last year. I have marked all
with sticks. The orchids will now be emerging over the
next week or so, so please go carefully to avoid
treading on them.
The first Stream
Water-crowfoot flowers are open in the river on
the north bend. Marsh Foxtail is now out in the
Lumley puddle area with its distinctive bent stem.
Also out for the first time this year is False Fox
Sedge on the Lumley area.
I did another count of
the number of Ragged Robin flowering plants
which now stands at 48. There is a long way to catch
up with the total of 433 of last year.
The large Ash tree on the railway embankment
that I have been concerned about is now in leaf,
though the tree has a number of dead branches. I am
still not entirely happy with this tree.
The Rowans on the east side of the north meadow
are full of white blossom. There should be a good crop
of berries for the birds to feast on this autumn.
The large Horse
Chestnut tree which died quite suddenly has been
removed from the northern edge of the garden of
Gooseberry Cottage.
TUESDAY
MAY 14 - 2019
Hedgehogs
mating in garden
Having seen
what looked like Hedgehog droppings on the patio over
the past few days, I decided to put the trail camera
out last night along with a few mealworms to see what
I could catch. Well, it was a great success. By the
morning the mealworms had gone and there were no less
than 192 images on the camera! I have never had this
many in one night before.
The first Hedgehog arrived at 22.43 and stayed for
about 10 mins. Two Hedgehogs turned up at 23.10 and
proceeded to hang around for the next couple of hours
until 01.40.
What I assume was the
male spent a considerable time sniffing around the
female and mounted on her back on several occasions.
They came close to the camera in the encounter shown
on the right and actually knocked the camera sideways.
I gather the actual
process of mating is a delicate operation requiring
the female to adopt a special body position with her
spines flattened as the male mounts from behind. Radio
tracking show that both males and females often have
several mates in a single season.
Magpie
kills Blackbird
Robin
Pottinger witnessed a rather dramatic natural
encounter in his Southbourne garden when a Magpie
attacked and killed male blackbird. Robin knew Magpies
took eggs and nestlings from nests, but he didn't
imagine they would attack an adult blackbird. Magpies
are highly skilled predators and often work in pairs
to attack and kill smaller birds. Magpies are less
effective on their own, but if the prey is weakened in
any way, which I suspect was the case in Robin's
garden, then there is no stopping them.
Magpies have a bad reputation among garden
birdwatchers, but they are just doing what comes
naturally. There are lots of videos on YouTube of
Magpies attacking other birds, but they do no lasting
harm to bird populations. They are beautiful birds and
we have to learn to accept them as they are. After all
they have been on this earth a lot longer than we
have! We live in a world where predators and prey are
in balance, otherwise there would be none of either
left!
Here's a shot of
one taken by Malcolm Phillips on Brook Meadow a few
years ago
Swifts
over Emsworth
Following my
report of Swifts being seen over Westbourne Neill
Foster has been looking for them over Emsworth for the
past three evenings from 20.00 to 20.30. On Sunday he
saw two together. On Monday he saw four, giving the
impression of two pairs. On Tuesday there were three,
two together and a single. Excellent news. Keep
looking upwards and listen for any screaming, though
it may be a bit early for youngsters.
Here is a
solitary Swift flying over my house in Bridge Road a
few years ago
MONDAY
MAY 13 - 2019
Brook
Meadow
There was a
lot of activity at the end of Seagull Lane when I
arrived from my regular meadow walk this morning.
Cedar Tree Surgeons were at work removing a tree that
had fallen across the path leading from the end of
Seagull Lane. The leader explained that regretfully
they would also have to take down a tall Maple tree
which had been damaged in the fall.
One of the tree
surgeons cutting down the Maple
In addition to the
tree work three Keltbray Rail vans were parked inside
the entrance gate with chaps loading house bricks into
barrows. They explained they would be repairing the
rail bridge over the culvert in the north-east corner
of the meadow. The work is entirely on railway
property and not on Brook Meadow.
A Whitethroat
was singing strongly from the patch of Brambles north
of the causeway and today I managed to get a distant
shot of it singing from the tall Ash tree near the
seat. Although four Whitethroats have been heard on
the meadow this spring, this is the only one I have
heard for the past week or so. The others may well
have been passing through.
It was still rather
cool for butterflies, though I saw several Orange Tips
in flight and one Peacock came to rest in the
grasses on the Lumley area
Grasses are now
growing well on the meadow with lots of Meadow
Foxtail, Tall Fescue and Cocksfoot plus a few tufts of
False Oat-grass. Photo shows a tuft of Tall Fescue.
Insects noted included
several bright red and black Froghoppers. These
are the bugs that produce the familiar 'cuckoo-spit'
on stems of plants containing their nymphs. They also
live up to their name by jumping well.
Newly flowering plants
included some Lesser Stitchwort just north of
the Whitethroat brambles near the causeway - the same
place as in previous years, but a couple of weeks
earlier. The tiny white flowers of Cleavers are
now out on the main river path. This photo shows
nicely the hooked hairs which enables the plant to
stick to clothing and animal fur.
The first Yellow
Flag of the year is out in the river bank near the
S-bend. Exactly the same date as the first ones last
year!
The avenue of Cow
Parsley is now showing well along the main river
path.
There is a fine
display of Meadow Buttercups on the orchid area.
I was particularly
pleased to come across a small patch of Hairy
Sedge on the centre meadow. This is a very scarce
sedge on the meadow and one which I always have
difficulty finding and sometime don't. This is
distinguished from the similar Distant Sedge from the
hairy stems and leaves.
Finally, someone has
been dumping what is clearly bathroom rubbish in the
litter bin by the seat.
Swifts
Sue Thomas had two Swifts flying over Westbourne last
evening. I have not seen any over Emsworth as yet. Has
anyone else?
SUNDAY
MAY 12 - 2019
Brook
Meadow
Jean and I had
a gentle stroll through Brook Meadow on this sunny
morning with a slight chill in the air, but very
pleasant for walking. We spotted several flowers newly
open this year including Cut-leaved
Crane's-bill, Germander Speedwell and
Hemlock Water-dropwort.
I took photos of
various insects resting on leaves. These included what
I think were two 14-spot Ladybirds with
markedly different patterns on their wing cases.
Also an unidentified
Shieldbug,
Coming back via Bridge
Road car park I asked Jean to take a shot of me among
the abundant Cow Parsley on the wayside. It has
been a wonderful display this year.
Garden
birds
The first of
the young Starlings were in the garden this
morning being fed by their parents. The nesting must
have been nearby as the parents have been regular
visitors to my feeding station for several weeks.
Delightful birds and always good to see.
SATURDAY
MAY 11 - 2019
Brook
Meadow
This morning I
walked through Brook Meadow on the way to Peter Pond.
I stopped briefly to admire the spikelets of Meadow
Foxtail which are particularly prominent on the
centre meadow.
Of more interest I
found the first Ragged Robin flowers of the
year on the Lumley area. I counted 5 flowering plants
with more to come no doubt.
We had a final total
of 433 flowering plants last year which was the second
best count ever.
See count data at . . . https://www.brookmeadow.org.uk/wildlife-lists/plant-counts/
I found another
Cuckooflower in flower on the south meadow
making a grand total of just 17 flowering plants for
the meadow as a whole: 6 on Lumley area, 6 on centre
meadow, 4 on orchid area and 1 south meadow. This is
way short of the regular Cuckooflower counts for the
Bridge Road Wayside which this year was 102, but well
short of the record for this wayside of 694 in 2012.
Swan
family
I was a little
concerned when I got to Peter Pond as I could only
find a single Mute Swan feeding on the east
side of the pond, but no sign of the family which were
here yesterday. I had a close look at the knob on the
base of the swan's bill which I thought looked large
enough for the cob, but one can never be really
certain without having the pen for
comparison.
However, I did find
the Mute Swan family with mum tending to 4 tiny
cygnets all intact and looking good in the low
water channel in the upper part of Dolphin Lake close
to the garden wall of the Lord Raglan pub. The pen and
cygnets must have clambered over the embankment from
Slipper Millpond at high water and will have to wait
for high water to return to the pond. This was an
interesting choice for the pen swan to make as it
would appear to my eyes to be a more dangerous place
to be with the Great Black-backed Gulls just across
the way on the main pond.
FRIDAY
MAY 10 - 2019
Hermitage
Millponds
I went down to
Peter Pond to have a look at the Mute Swan
family that Dan reported were on the pond
yesterday. The pen and her brood were back at the nest
site in the reedbeds when I got there, but they
quickly came onto to the pond (when they saw I had got
there!) and sailed across the pond with the cygnets
staying close to mum, giving me a nice photo
opportunity.
There was no sign of
the Canada Geese that have been hanging around on
Peter Pond. The Canada Goose family had also gone from
Slipper Millpond, so, there is no longer any hassle
between these two nesting species. I have noticed in
previous years the Canada Goose pair take their brood
off the pond as soon as the goslings are reasonably
mobile to avoid the attentions of the Great
Black-backed Gulls. The two Great Black-backed
Gulls were just changing over nest sitting duties
as I arrived. I have seen them doing this on several
occasions over the years.
Langstone
Mill Pond
Peter
Milinets-Raby spent 50 minutes down Langstone Mill
Pond this morning from 9am. Extremely low tide, with
barely a trickle in the middle.
The bird of the morning was a handsome male
Gadwall that flew in and swam about into every
corner of the pond calling very gently, a short, deep
sounding single "Quack".
Other birds of note included 3 male Tufted Duck with
just 2 females, Mallard female with 4 ducklings,
singing Chiffchaff, Blackcap, male Reed Bunting and
three Reed Warblers. Off shore were 7 Shelduck, a
single Great Crested Grebe and a Common Tern.
The Little Egret colony was quiet with birds
sitting. My final numbers are 28 to 33 nests made up
of Main Holm Oak 8 confirmed nests with possibly 4/5
more within: Other Holm Oak has 6 nests; Ivy clad Oak
Tree has 7 nests; Elsewhere 4 to the south and 3 to
the west 40 metres to the rear of the main
colony).
There was some noise and action from the Grey
Herons this morning with two tiny chicks making a
din as they were fed in Nest 14 by an adult. Nest 13
at the rear of the Holm Oak (only viewable from the
Horse paddock gate) held two half grown young. Nest 11
and Nest 4 both have single fully grown juveniles
standing on the nests.
Apart from a calling Buzzard at the rear of the horse
paddock (almost certainly breeding) there was little
else on view - poor!
THURSDAY
MAY 9 - 2019
Windy
walk on Hayling
This morning Jean and I had a very windy walk along
the coast path from Eastoke towards Sandy Point on
Hayling Island. Going one way was OK, but coming back
was a struggle against the wind. The walk itself is a
bit boring with mostly boarded up summer dwellings on
the land side and a high shingle embankment on the
other side hiding the sea from view. However, we did
enjoy the colourful gardens, some laden with beautiful
flowering Thrift
Also in flower were
Red Valerian, Bird's-foot Trefoil and Sea Campion
Clumps of Sea
Kale were in flower on the shingle embankment.
Tufts of grass at the
edge of the shingle look like a rather worn Barren
Brome.
There were several
substantial plants with fleshy leaves and bright red
flowers the edge of sea-facing gardens which I think
were Hottentot-fig. My only previous experience
of this plant was on the Isles of Scilly.
Hottentot-fig is
described as a creeping perennial to 3m with densely
matted woody stems which may drape whole cliffs. It is
perceived as a serious threat to native species on
Cornish cliffs and much effort is spent on its
attempted eradication. The flowers have a yellow
centre when fully open. Native of S. Africa it is
widely naturalised in Mediterranean-Atlantic regions
of Europe. It was in cultivation here by the late
17thC but not recorded in the wild until 1886.
Established only on south and west coastal areas as it
is vulnerable to frost. It has spread since the 1962
BSBI Atlas but is limited by climate.
Peter
Pond cygnets
Dan Mortimer
e-mailed to say 4 swan cygnets were born yesterday and
were already swimming on Peter Pond today. That's
about a week earlier than I predicted. I would
appreciate a photo.
TUESDAY
MAY 7 - 2019
Emsworth
news
Peter Pond -
the swan sits on its nest and the pair of Canada Geese
swim around.
Slipper Millpond - the swan cob chases the family of
Canada Geese which is now down to 3 goslings from the
original 5.
The Great Black-backed
Gull is still sitting.
Brook Meadow -
Wild Angelica and Common Mouse-ear are flowering on
the Lumley area. Gipsywort leaves are visible on the
river bank below the observation fence.
Hoverfly
Helophilus pendulus feeding on a
Dandelion flower
I am fairly sure of this one.
I met Dan Mortimer who
tells me he and Terry Lay will have another go at
planting Common Reed rhizomes, this time down by the
river's edge. The ones they planted before have not
taken due to dryness of soil.
Harbour
images
James
Collings-Wells has been trying out a new camera lens
and has been lucky with it this past weekend while out
sailing with several cracking shots. Keep up the good
work James.
Peregrine was at the entrance to Mill Rythe in
Chichester harbour sitting on a marker post.
Sandwich terns were probably at Beaulieu.
Harbour Seals were a little shy at first, then
inquisitive.
Red squirrel was at Hamstead, near Shalfleet
(Newtown river).
Tern
raft
Christopher
Evans reports that the tern raft has been launched on
the lagoon at Hayling Oysterbeds and there are already
Common Terns on it along with 3 nesting Black Headed
Gulls.
MONDAY
MAY 6 - 2019
Swans
and Geese friends
Today Susan
Kelly cycled along Chidham Lane, past the big pond by
the road, south of the intersection with Steels Lane.
On the island in the middle of the pond there were
pairs of Canada geese and swans nesting quite
peacefully, within eight feet of each other. This as
Susan says is in sharp contrast to the aggression
between these species on Peter Pond. The goose was on
the nest with 3+ goslings perched on her back, while
the gander was taking a bath. Both swans were
snoozing, one on and one off the nest, in identical
poses. Also on the pond was a moorhen with two chicks,
a cormorant and a little egret, with swallows and
martins overhead. Don¹t we live in a wonderful
place? I agree Susan, exactly!
Bee
ID correction
I have heard
from Bryan Pinchen about the bee feeding on White
Dead-nettle that I was trying to identify in
yesterday's blog.
Well, I got it wrong
which is not entirely surprising! Bryan says it is not
an Anthophora solitary bee as I thought, but a
Bumblebee - Bombus pascuorum queen.
Bryan adds all bumblebee females (workers and queens)
have a shiny outer surface to the hind tibia, as can
be seen on the photo, this is where pollen is carried
as a distinct ball or lump. In the Anthophoras the
hind legs are completely covered with quite a dense
pile of hairs which pollen adheres to (and also
between the legs). There's also a different jizz about
a bumble to an Anthophora. My excuse is that the
illustration of B. pascuorum in Bryan's
Bumblebee guide looks nothing like the bee in my
photo!
SUNDAY
MAY 5 - 2019
Brook
Meadow
Eight
volunteers turned up for this morning's work session
on Brook Meadow led by Maurice Lillie.
The bonfire was
already ablaze by the time I arrived and volunteers
kept it going all morning with a constant supply of
twigs and small branches from earlier work sessions.
Video clip of bonfire
. . . https://youtu.be/IV16CidKp-w
The deadwood fence on
the river bank near the S-bend was reinforced and
extended with new stakes and twigs.
]
Video clip of the
hedge work . . . https://youtu.be/MNtqOI8DX1s
For a full report and
more photos go to . . . https://www.brookmeadow.org.uk/conservation-news/
Wildlife
A
Whitethroat was singing well near the causeway,
but I could not find it for a photo. A Song
Thrush was singing loudly from trees near the
Lumley gate. This was the bird that Ruth Roberts
reported to me earlier.
I got a shot of
Maurice walking through the avenue of Cow Parsley
along the main river path. This flower is likely to
get better in coming weeks.
What looked like a
Bumblebee was feeding on the flowers of White
Dead-nettle along the main river path. However, after
consulting several guides I think the insect was more
likely to be a solitary bee, possibly of the
Anthophora family. I will ask Bumblebee expert Bryan
Pinchen for his view.
I always have a good
look at the nettles along the main path and today I
noted a Dock Leaf Bug and two Ladybirds,
one a native 7-spot and the other an alien Harlequin.
Leaves and now
sprouting on the large Ash tree on the railway
embankment, so maybe my concern over the tree's health
was unjustified. In fact, looking at the other Ash
trees near the seat all are very late coming into leaf
this year, whereas the Oaks have been out for some
time. Some we are likely to get just a splash this
summer!
The large Horse
Chestnut tree in the garden of Gooseberry Cottage
behind the signcase at the Lumley gate is completely
dead. That is sad as it was a beautiful tree with fine
candle-like flowers and a fine crop of conkers every
year. Last year the had a severe infestation of leaf
miner grubs on the leaves which might have been the
cause.
Peter
Pond
The Mute
Swan appears to be snug on her nest in the reeds.
My predicted hatching for cygnets date is May 17th.
The pair of Canada Geese are still 'hanging around' on
the pond.
A Reed Warbler
was singing in the reeds in the north west corner of
the pond close to where the swan is nesting.
I stopped to chat with
David Gattrell who was continuing to dig out
channels through the reedbeds on the west side of the
pond. These new channels will improve the flow of
water though the pond as well as providing valuable
habitat for wildlife.
David tells me that
Elisabeth Kinloch, the owner of Peter Pond, is 95
years old and very poorly, but he assured me that the
future of this valuable wildlife pond is secure as he
will assume 50% ownership of the pond when Elisabeth
passes on. That's good.
Talking of wildlife,
David told me that during the past week he and Sarah
Hughes (Sussex Conservation Officer) both saw a
Water Vole swim under the footbridge at the
northern end of Peter Pond and into the small pool
into which the Lumley Stream runs. This is excellent
news and shows these much loved creatures are still in
the area and hopefully will eventually make their way
back to the River Ems on Brook Meadow.
David tells me that there has been no sign of Minks in
his traps on the pond which is good news.
While I was chatting to David Gattrell the resident
Cetti's Warbler blasted out its song several
times, though neither of us could see it.
Hedgehog
news
Caroline
French is still seeing two or three hedgehogs in her
garden most nights.
She reports . . . "On
22nd April at around lunchtime I was sitting in the
garden with a cup of coffee when I heard some strange
noises coming from one of my hedgehog boxes. After a
few minutes of listening to the sounds, a hedgehog
appeared briefly in the entrance of the box. After a
short time it turned around and went back again, and
the noises started up again. I strongly suspect the
sounds to be that of the hedgehog giving birth. It had
only taken up residence a few days previously,
presumably because it needed to make a
nest.
Caroline added . . .
I
have just heard the same sounds coming from the box.
Maybe it has a chest infection. Not such good
news.
Over
the past few nights I have had a trail camera in the
garden, and have managed to get a few photos. There
are several sequences of the hog taking more nesting
material into the box, on various nights. For about
three nights I had no positive photos at all and I was
really worried that something had happened to the
mother but happily last night produced photos showing
plenty of activity - what a relief! Although it's
always tempting to lift the lid off the box to have a
look, especially if you think there might be orphaned
hoglets, apparently this is very dangerous to do as
the mother is likely to abandon the nest or even eat
her hoglets!
Thankfully
I didn't disturb the box in any way. I can't explain
the lack of photos for a few days - perhaps a camera
fault. Anyway, I'm hoping to see hoglets in the garden
in a couple of weeks' time, all being well.
Another
pleasing piece of garden news is that, six or seven
years after I built a nest box for Starlings, a pair
have finally decided to nest in it this year. In
previous years, a nest has often been made in the box,
only for it later be abandoned and every last scrap of
nesting material removed and taken elsewhere! This
year though, a brood was hatched on around 20th April
and is now in full voice, with both parents making
very regular visits with meals for the
chicks".
Other
news
Christopher
Evans had a short walk taking in the lagoon at the
rear of Budds Farm (the local sewage works), the
adjacent foreshore and Brockhampton Millstream and got
some nice photos of our three most common summer
warblers plus a passage Whimbrel on the shore.
Yesterday, Christopher
was at Ivy Lake Chichester Gravel Pits where he saw
20 + Swifts plus smaller numbers of Swallows
and both House and Sand Martins.
FRIDAY
MAY 3 - 2019
Langstone
Mill Pond
Peter
Milinets-Raby briefly visited Langstone Mill Pond from
9am to 9:45am on a bright, but chilly morning with a
useless (migrant wise) northerly wind blowing - tide
slowly pushing in.
On the mud was a single Bar-tailed Godwit and a
Whimbrel - there was virtually nothing else, even the
Oystercatchers have gone!
On the water was one Great Crested Grebe and 2 Common
and 1 Sandwich Terns were hawking along the
channel.
On the pond the Little Egret colony was a
little busier this morning with 29+ birds present and
a few new nests being constructed. I now have a
minimum count of 23 confirmed nests and a possible
extra five to six out of sight, so nearly 30
pairs!
Amazingly this morning I discovered a new Grey
Heron nest, tucked about 40+ metres to the rear
and west of the main Holm Oak and only viewable from
the last bit of reed bed to the north of the pond by
the horse paddock. This is being labelled as Nest
15.
Other birds of note on the pond were a female Mallard
with 5 "day old" tiny and ridiculously cute ducklings,
3 singing Reed Warblers, one Blackcap, one Chiffchaff,
2 Stock Doves, 1 Swallow over and a Kestrel.
After many days of searching I discovered that the
Mute Swan pen was on a nest (in the reeds behind the
"Tower") and almost impossible to view. She was
shifting reeds onto the nest, she was barely visible.
So there is hope that this pair will get their act
together this year after last years
failure.
Joe
wins photo
competition
A few weeks
ago, my 10 year old grandson Joe and I went out
together for him to take photos for this year's
Maurice Broomfield Schools Photography Competition. He
borrowed my simple point-and-shoot Sony camera as he
has done before, but apart from that I left him to
take what he fancied. Here are a couple of snaps I
took of Joe at work on Brook Meadow.
Joe took over 150
images mostly on Brook Meadow and Peter Pond which we
whittled down to just 15 when we got home. From these
Joe chose four to enter the competition; two for each
category: local wildlife and a subject of your choice.
This year the
competition attracted a record entry with 35 pupils
from six local schools submitting a total of 126
photos. I am delighted to say that Joe was the overall
winner in the local wildlife category with his
'Ladybird on Nettles' photo. He also had two photos
highly commended. He actually won the same competition
two years ago, though did not enter last year.
Chairman of the judging panel Jeff Thatcher assured me
that the judging was done completely anonomously!
This
was Joe's overall winning photo in the local wildlife
category
The judge commented on the contrast in colours and the
sharpness of the image
Joe's
'Swan on nest' photo was highly
commended
as was
his 'Reinforcing the river bank'
The prize giving took
place today in the Emsworth Community Centre at 4pm
with a good attendance of parents, teachers and
children. The photos will continue to be on display in
the Community Centre during the Arts Weekend Trail.
Well worth a visit as there are some cracking images
from talented young people.
Here
are the overall winning photos in the two
categories.
Joe
receiving his award from the judge (including a
princely £30)
THURSDAY
MAY 2 - 2019
Slipper
Millpond
Jean and I
walked down to Slipper Millpond this morning mainly to
have a look at the new Canada Goose family that
Peter Milinets-Raby first saw yesterday. The Canada
Goose pair was on the pond with the little troupe of 5
goslings following in a line behind their parents. If
previous years are anything to go by they will not
stay for long on the pond which is a dangerous place
with Great Black-backed Gulls lurking.
A Great
Black-backed Gull was sitting on the nest on the
south raft. I suspect hatching is fairly imminent.
I received an e-mail
from Keith Betton of HOS this morning asking for
information about nesting gulls in our area, so I sent
him a link to my special web page which has records
and photos of the Great Black-backed Gulls which have
been nesting on Slipper Millpond for the past 8 years.
See . . . Great
Black-backed Gulls on Slipper Millpond
Keith would like to
hear from anyone with gull breeding records. Please
contact him at . . .
keithbetton@hotmail.com
We carried on to the
Deck Cafe for coffees and on the way back stopped near
the entrance to the marina to admire the abundant
flowering of Tamarisk.
WEDNESDAY
MAY 1 - 2019
Emsworth
Peter
Milinets-Raby had a stroll around Brook Meadow this
morning, taking in the two ponds as well (9:10am to
10:50am). Then later a 30 minute wander around
Warblington from 11am.
On Brook Meadow:
4 singing Whitethroat, 3 singing Chiffchaff, 3 singing
Blackcap, 2 Song Thrush and a singing Cetti's
Warbler by the cute cottage by the pond -
Gooseberry Cottage. See record photo - amazing how
this thing can blow your head off when it bursts into
song when you are less than a metre away!!
Peter Pond:
2 Canada Geese on the platform just hanging around.
Coot with 4 chicks. Reed Warbler singing.
Slipper Mill
Pond:
The Canada Geese pair have five goslings on the
raft and after ten minutes they went for a swim south
and around the pond before eventually returning to
their raft. The adult pair were very wary and I was
lucky to get some photos.
The Great
Black-backed Gull pair were loitering with intent.
4 Swallow seen hawking for insects briefly over the
pond. 1 Grey Wagtail and 1 Med Gull flew
over.
Warblington:
2 Linnets, 2 Little Tern, 2 Common Tern and 1 Great
Crested Grebe (three Grebes the other day and 2
Sandwich Tern, as well as 16 Shelduck).
Nightingales
at Marlpit Lane
Having read my
piece on the Nightingales on last night's blog, John
Curtin and his wife decided to cycle to Marlpit Lane
from their home at the Deckhouses Estate and were
rewarded by two males singing well between 10.30 and
10.45am. Well done both. Hope you enjoyed the
experience. Hearing the first tones of a Nightingale
is such a magical experience - it sends a shiver up my
spine.
Marlpit Lane has been
the most regular local site for singing Nightingales
for many years, though, in line with national trends,
numbers have declined over the past 20 years or so. I
have recorded Nightingales singing in Marlpit Lane for
over 20 years. On the last BTO survey in May 2012 I
recorded 5 Nightingales along the lane, but generally
only one or two, at the best, have been heard since
then. The extensive reconstruction work on the old
gravel pits area and the developments on the landfill
site certainly have not helped. But they are
determined creatures.
The best place nearby
to hear these wonderful songsters is Pulborough Brooks
RSPB Reserve where you can also get a good view of
them. I have never managed to get a photo at Marlpit
Lane. Has anyone? Here is a nice photo of one that
Tony Wootton got a few years ago of one at Pulborough
Brooks.
For
the previous entries go to . . April
16-31
