Army Ornithological SocietyArmy Ornithological Society Blog
SPTA West
The snow is lying thick at home and it still has not stopped snowing all day. It started last night and this afternoon I cancelled my monthly walk on the Plain which was planned for tomorrow. I have been busy on the Plain and done some ringing in the Braydon Forest enclaves followed by twitching at the Cotswold Water Park where I was fortunate to see the Ring-necked Duck with a flock of Pochard. On the Plain I have been steadily working west with my surveys which have had to stop because of the white stuff. There has been plenty of corvids and pigeons though I have not yet seen the Starling roost nor a Short-eared Owl thinking about it. There has been a variety of small birds seen from Great and Blue Tit to Goldfinch and Bullfinch. There has been Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer, Stonechat and Skylark up to large birds including Raven, Buzzard and a few Sparrowhawks. There has even been Kestrel and Linnet as well as quantities of Fieldfare. The last birds I added to the 2019 list were Stock Dove and I am now 83 species for my home land locked county of Wiltshire however that includes a varity of duck. As well as birds on the Plain there has been Badger setts, Grey Squirel, Roe Deer and Fairy Shrimps.
CommentsSPTA West
It is already mid January and I am up to 115 birds in UK and 61 in Wiltshire. I eneded up on the Norfolk Coast for the 1st weekend in January with friends from the Society. It was a good weekend with a lot of birds seen. I have been on the Plain and did my first survey last week where I found the normal corvids and stuff. I also went on an egg hunt for Brown Hairstreak and though the group found 22 eggs (white dots on Blackthorn) I found several eggs of the Blue-boarded Carpet (white dots on Blackthorn though no dimple). I have been ringing and twitching in Wiltshire. It has been a bit windy to ring at home but have been out and about at other locations. Today I extracted and put a ring on my first Snipe and twitched 3 Whooper Swans near the Thames. The other day I twitched the Smew though it took me 2 attempts to find it. On the Plain I saw a Ring-tail Harrier and a Merlin though not on my grid square. There were also some large adult Fairy Shrimps as well in the last puddle before walking to the car after finishing my grid sqaure (onyy 12 sqaures to go). There always are Roe Deer about but they are very skittish.
CommentsSPTA West
I have been doing lots of surveys on the Plain and sometimes it is deadly quiet and other times there are lots of birds. The Plain has been open to the public since the 27th as long as they keep to the open roads and church. Most people do as they are told though there are some idiots that ignore signs. The highlight has been the 400 Golden Plover that was circling just above my head twice now. There have been huge flocks of Starling and Fieldfare with the odd Redwing mixed in. There have been Meadow Pipit and Skylark flying up from the long grass though you have to be in close proximity for them to fly. There has been Woodcock and Snipe plus lots of corvids including Jay. There have been lots of tits, Chaffinch and Goldcrest seen on the days out across the area as well as Linnet and Goldfinch. As it is the new year I did pop out to Langford Lakes but drove across the Plain and stopped at the church. It was very quiet today until about 11am when the hordes decended (acording to the staff). I wish you all a Happy New Year.
CommentsSlimbridge WWT 2018
Despite the inclement weather, there was a sizeable turnout for this year’s final meet at the WWT's Slimbridge Wetland Centre.
At least 41 species were seen, the highlights of which were:
- The overwintering Bewick’s Swans (naturally).
- A hunting Peregrine Falcon.
- Two Water Rails in the open and almost within touching distance!
No one was caught trying to sneak off to see Santa, even though that would have meant shelter from the wind-driven rain, but it did mean that café business was booming throughout the day!
Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas.
CommentsSPTA West
Last Saturday there were 90 Golden Plover that flew over me as I waited to start a walk around Ladywell. As we walked near the north end of the area, a ring tail Hen Harrier was flying slowly down the valley. The group all had good views of the bird. There were plenty of Roe Deer about and the odd raptor such as Sparrowhawk. There were quite a few corvids but as it was a windy day there was not much in flight. Also the shooters were in the same area allegedly shooting Pheasant but also any game bird including Woodcock! At the end over 100 Fieldfares flew over and Starlings were with the cows in the nest grid square. On Sunday I carried out my BTO WeBs at the local pond. I was surprised to find 8 Teal on the pond. The normal birds sang/called from the trees around the pond and in the conservation area. Today I carried out another one of my winter surveys doing a grid square that is mainly grassland. There were Skylarks and Meadow Pipits plus a flock of 100 Fieldfare flew over the area. There are still lots of berries on the Hawthorn so maybe they will stay a bit longer?
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