Army Ornithological Society(2) Blog Posts Made in January 2019
SPTA 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.
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