New Years Day Twitch 2021 - Part II

 Before reaching 18-Acre we had clocked up

JACKDAW

followed by
BLUE TIT
but then, on nothing more than a whim, returned to the north bank of the river Stour to flush c2

EGYPTIAN GEESE
which preceeded us to the farm yard horse paddocks where they were

Clicked and Videoed in the gloom. A

GREAT TIT
followed its smaller cousin above as the list put on a bit of a spurt with

ROOK

COLLARED DOVE

MUTE SWAN
and

PIED WAGTAIL
following in quick succession before happening on the most obliging birds of the day.
Previously the 2 to 300 strong flock of

LAPWING
had move about a quarter of a mile closer to home base, time to head north.

PHEASANT
was added en-route and with restrictions now eased on entering the
Business Park at Bournemouth International Airport there was more than an even chance of

STOCK DOVE
which was duly logged but almost unbelievably there was also a

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL
with all such creatures thought to have flown off to the coast early winter!

HOUSE SPARROW
which has colonised the Park in recent years was no suprise but the 'hit or miss'

KESTREL
was a welcome addition while at the root of Chapel Lane the 'additions' were clambering out of the Pines. First up a number of

COAL TIT
followed by a singing

NUTHATCH
a lone

GOLDCREST
along with a foraging party of

LONG-TAILED TIT
Before turning into the mostly frozen ponds a

COMMON BUZZARD
had conveniently parked itself on the solar panels but after something of a vigil at the

IRRIGATION POND
there was nothing heard from the very much hoped for Water Rail. Continuing to the Gravel Pit things were much the same except for the presence of just c2

LITTLE GREBE
feeding in the narrow strip of open water at the far end, but had the cold put paid the the third bird?

New Years Day Twitch 2021 - Part I

For the sake of brevity, most images have been lifted from the archive!

Not a single peep throughout the night on several visits to a -5°C doorstep (which made it the coldest night of the year) but the occasional glimpses of a

 95% waning gibbous Moon was something of a bonus

followed by a White Out (frost only) at dawn.

The first signs of any kind of birdlife came as late as 06:32 when at least one, but maybe 2, 

TAWNY OWL

started knocking it out but maybe not this juvenile. Remembering an addition to the list may include eith a sight or sound record there were a few vocalists to get the show on the road including:-

BLACKBIRD

HERRING GULL

WOOD PIGEON

thankfully there was a reprise from the local

CETTI'S WARBLER

while the 'chacking calls' from the Ash Trees at the stables, which have become a roost, indicated

FIELDFARE

Apart from the Owl and the Warbler all others were 'seen' subsequently but first on view was a

ROBIN
followed in quick successionby

CARRION CROW

DUNNOCK
and

MAGPIE
but then followed by something not even thought of let alone expected.........
On the near ice covered surface of the main pond there was but one small break in the freeze occupied by c2 pairs of 'fighting'? 'displaying'?

MOORHEN

A bit of nonsense to kick a New Year off is harmless enough but the conditions
got us to thinking that these might just be the only Waterfowl of the day.
Bringing up the rearguard, before heading for the ploughed fields to the west, came

WREN
a small party of vocal

GREENFINCH
with a much larger flock of

STARLINGs
to close the first chapter of what should be 3 instalments!

That Was the Year That Was!

 Well, having survived 2020 it just remains to wish all our Valued Readers a

Happy, Healthy, Safe and Prosperous New Year

before getting into reflective mode. Confined to our recording area alone we recorded a reduced 122 species of Birds, another shortfall below the +400 mark of the previous 3 years of 390 Moths and having covered the Mammals on a previous post we can leave it at that. While there was no additions to the Bird List we did secure c5 new Moth species.

Being unable to help ourselves we, as ever, flashed up a Moth Trap to cover the night of the First of the Year but more in hope than ambition! However, on that first cold, cold night we did catch a single Moth by way of a

CHESTNUT
after which the 'bleak' set in. The first noteable Bird of the year was a carry-over

BLACK REDSTART
from the previous year which spent the whole of the winter patroling the Sererage Works Fence before a second was found

plying between the Heath and nearby Solar Panel Compound.
It is hoped we will be showing you this years representative in the very near future.

The first addition to the Moth List was taken on the Heath on the 29th June and luckily a day that Dave Foot had chosen to join us as

DWARF PUG
was a compleatly new Insect for me.

Back to the earlier months when the 'hunters' seem to have moved in with sporadic records of

PEREGRINE

and

MERLIN
while a once breeding species here

LITTLE OWL
took up an all too short residency while again it was Dave who added the only

YELLOWHAMMER
once a prolific breeding bird (gone are the days) to the Year List.

27/06/2020 saw the next addition to the Moth List a fine looking

NARROW-BORDERED FIVE-SPOT BURNET

Spring was very much a game of 2 halves with only our 3rd and again vocal

NIGHTINGALE
but still reluctant to meet the eye, while usually reasonably numerous

YELLOW WAGTAIL
reached nowhere near double figures while on the other hand breeding

WOODLARK
went off the scale with on certain days the

JUVENILE's
being uncountable.

DEVON CARPET
was the next addition to the list on the last day of July while our frequent dusk sorties for

NIGHTJAR

appeared to show a decent increase in numbers

with a second nest in as many years being spotted from the footpath.
However, there was a downside as on those same visits Woodcock were all but absent.
Late summer brought with it our second only and strangely vocal

WOOD WARBLER
while back in the World of Moths the best was certainly saved until last.
Within a fortnight of each other, 15/08 and 26/08 respectivly, came unarguably the c2 best Insects of the year

SHINING MARBLED
and

SLENDER BURNISHED BRASS
both of course addition to the list.

 A mid-autumnal

GREAT WHITE EGRET
was only our forth ever and the final 'goodie' of the year but with traps, or trap. being run to the bitter end we ended the Moth Season with a second only

STREAK

plus outrageous numbers of both

SCARCE MERVEILLE du JOUR
and

DECEMBER MOTH
Here's Hoping for 2021 - Good Luck to All!