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Early April 2009

Friday, 10th April 09:

Yellowhammer - male on the West side

 

Stortford Park Farm (east):

• Green Woodpecker 4 (2m, 2f) Males in a standoff again, dancing with a little jousting is great to see
• Chiffchaff 2
• Blackcap 1
• Willow Warbler 1

Green Woodpeckers jousting again today

 Wednesday, 8th April 09:

Greenfinch - a singing male at Michaels Mead Pond

Hayter, Spellbrook (west):

An unexpected return to work during my mini-holiday

• Chiffchaff 2
• Blackcap 2
• Linnet 7 west
• Grey Wagtail 1 West
• Bullfinch 2 - Back at last years nest site after a considerable absence
• Swallow 9 (7 North with another 2 hanging around all day)

Tuesday, 7th April 09: 

 Usual drake Tufted Duck at Michael's Mead Pond

Bishops Stortford west bypass:

• Blackcap 2
• Willow Warbler 1
• Chiffchaff 2

Moor Hall Lane West:

• Linnet 47 (16, 31)
• Blackcap 1
• Mistle Thrush 1
• Great Spotted Woodpecker 3
• Yellowhammer 6

Michael's Mead Pond (Southern Country Park):

• Chiffchaff 4
• Blackcap 2
• Willow Warbler 1
• Bullfinch 4
• Linnet 6
• RED ADMIRAL 1

Thorley Lane West:

• Blackcap 1

Line of wood North from Stort Park Farm (west):

• Chifchaff 1

Stortford Park Farm (west):

• Red-legged Partridge 1

Stortford Park Farm (east):

East-edge Pond

• Blackcap 1
• Willow Warbler 1
• Chifchaff 2

Monday, 6th April 09:

Willow Warbler - today in Mathams

Trims Green from 0700 hrs:

• Fieldfare - few heard flying over North
• Yellowhammer 8
• Linnet 6
• Red-legged Partridge 3 (2, 1)
• Corn Bunting 1
• Cormorant 2 North
• Grey Heron 1 over South
• Chiffchaff 1 - singing from Blounts
• Meadow Pipit 6 North

Mathams Wood:

• Great Spotted Woodpecker 6 (4 were def males but i didn't see if other two were female or not)
• Green Woodpecker 1
• Blackcap 3 males
• Willow Warbler 2
• Goldcrest - only a single singer heard
• Chiffchaff 10+
• Treecreeper 1 vocal bird

The 'Old' Pit:

• Tufted Duck c.11

Mathams Pit:

WATER BEING GRAVITY-FED INTO DITCH CAUSING THE FLOODING SEEN ON THE NORTH-EAST EDGE OF TRIMS NORTH FIELD.  MATHAMS PIT IS NOW ONLY A VERY MUDDY HOLE.

• Bullfinch 2
• Teal 2
• Reed Bunting 1 singing

Moor Hall Black Barn to Michaels Mead Pond (Southern Country Park):

• Reed Bunting 2 singing

Michaels Mead Pond, Southern Country Park:

• Tufted Duck 1 - as per usual
• Chiffchaff 3
• Canada Goose   2

Singing Willow Warbler and Moor Hall Domestic Goose

Sunday, 5th April 09:

 As good as it gets... great views of a family group of Muntjac (more young pics below)

Trims Green:

• Kestrel - seen from beside Thorley Church

Thorley Church - Thorley Wash:

• Yellowhammer - 4 well-spaced singing males

Thorley Wash:

not deviating from the east-west path

• Chiffchaff 4 - in surrounding trees
• Reed Bunting 5
• Grey Heron 1 - over South
• Sparrowhawk 2 - Male and Female, together, heading South-West
• Water Rail - odd clicking sounds
• Muntjac 2

Wallbury:

• Chiffchaff 9 (7 in Wallbury with another 2 on the East bank not counted earlier)
• Treecreeper 2 - singing. one just North from Nuthatch haunt and another at the South end
• Blackcap 2 - One deep in the middle and one, as usual, on the North-West corner
• Cormorant 1 - south
• Great Spotted Woodpecker 2 - drummers
• Green Woodpecker 2

Spellbrook Lock:

 Grey Wagtail - Male

Tednambury Marsh:

• Chifchaff 4 - stopped couting them after here as it was getting silly! (17 between the railway foot-crossing at Thorley Wash and the South footbridge at Tednambury!)
• Water Rail - squealing this time
•  WILLOW WARBLER 3 - Oddly all on the West side of the river along the railway's edge, these birds were spaced around 100 yards apart and my first of the year. Year List.
• Sparrowhawk 1 - female
• Kingfisher 1 - at South end
• Lapwing 1 - displaying on fields due West

Tednambury Lock:

• Blackcap 150 yards east
• Muntjac - superb views of family group for quite a while... and a couple of really cracking photos to remember the experience.

Kecksy's Wood:

• Blackcap 1

Sawbridgeworth Marsh:

• Blackcap 1

Just South of Bridge at North end of Sawbridgeworth:

• Bullfinch 2 - a pair
• Peacock 1
• Blackcap 2 - Male and Female

 Between young Muntjac: male Reed Bunting, Male Bullfinch and a pair of Blackcaps.

A great walk with 48 bird species noted :-)

Saturday, 4th April 09:

Stortford Park Farm (east) 1715-1800 Hrs:

• Pied Wagtail 2 - same two for sometime
• Song Thrush 2 On house lawn
• Mistle Thrush 2 On Main Lawn
• Meadow Pipit 1 - over North... very few sightings east of bypass
• Chiffchaff 2 - One North from SPF House and another at east-edge pond
• Peacock 1

Friday, 3rd April 09:

Swallow stopping for a rest at Moor Hall Black Barn

Trims Green:

a thick mist today with VERY limited visibility. 0700hrs until late morning

Morris Farm entrance

• Corn Bunting 1 - from beside his usual spot
• Linnet 40+
• YELLOW WAGTAIL 1 - flew up from the ground 50 yards or so west of my position, flying East over my head towards Trims Green Cottages.  Definitely one of those occasions i regret having a Nokia N95 mobile phone... it may have a superb camera tho it usually doesn't work for more than 20 mins in cold, early morning conditions.  I would have sent the message out earlier to local birders but unfortunately after my long walk i fell asleep on the sofa.
• Meadow Pipit - decent numbers over, grounded and sometimes appearing ridiculously numerous with birds on trees, fences etc.
• Yellowhammer 12+ with a few singers here and there
• Hare 2

Between Trims Green and Tharbies

• REED BUNTING 1 - singing male on the edge of road was singing from a rather small stretch of hedgerow. I've only had a handfull across Trims in years!

Sacomb Ash Lane

• Meadow Pipit 20+ grounded birds much more tight-knit that previous ones
• YELLOW WAGTAIL 2 - flew up when Mipits alighted but kept to themselves, flying east, low to the ground and in no real rush

The middle of South Airfield (crossing on one of the public footpaths)

• Linnet 50+

North-East edge of North Airfield

A flooding ditch turning the North-East edge into a shallow river running South along the East edge of the field.

There was an unusual amount of activity along here with stacks of birds coming down to the water

• Pied Wagtail 13 - I had a good look but no white alba wags
• REED BUNTING 8 - A couple were singers and one bird sang for the whole time i was there
• Tufted Duck 11(12) in the fishing lake closest to Thorley Church
• Meadow Pipit - a few more along here too
• also Chaffinch and Yellowhammers
• Hare 2 - further West on higher ground

Moor Hall Black Barn

• Hares 3
• Greylag 2 over in the direction of Micheals Mead Pond (Southern Country Park)
• SWALLOW 1 on wires next to barn is only my second of the year
• Linnet - another medium sized flock 

 

Thursday, 2nd April 09:

A stunning *digiscoped Peacock at SPF and a Rook on Tescos roof

*Digiscoping insects is not for those who still have a grasp of their sanity :-)

Hayter, Spellbrook (west):

North-West field

• Linnet 41 (+)
• Red-legged Partridge 2

Stortford Park Farm:

the sun came out this afternoon and gave a superb display of butterflies

• Chiffchaff 3 - all east of bypass
• Small Tortoiseshell 9 (6 West side, 3 on East)
• SMALL WHITE - My first 'fresh' butterfly of the year! Single on East side
• Peacock 6 (4 E, 2 W)
• Pied Wagtail 2 - still stuck to the main lawn

Great Plantings Wood:

• Chiffchaff 1
• BLACKCAP 1 - Singing from the South West edge
• Sparrowhawk 1 female

High Wood:

• Buzzard - Soaring over for some time, later above GPWood

A male Blackbird hiding in the garden, and a Small Tortoiseshell on SPF (west)

[butterfly was between 4 and 5 meters away!!!]

Wednesday, 1st April 09:

Wallbury:

singing birds of note

• Chiffchaff 4
• BLACKCAP 1 - Right in the middle of the site... my first spring Blackcap
• Treecreeper 2 - one singing again beside cut-down nuthatch tree and another at the south end

Tednambury Marsh:

• Greylag 1
• Canada Goose 1 - flew over together North
• Chiffchaff 1

start work at 0730 As per usual

Trims Green

lunch o'clock search of high ground

• Kestrel 2
• Buzzard 3 - hanging around trims

1610 Hrs

• Buzzard 3 - Still in residence with all 3 above Mathams Wd at once for a short while.
• SWALLOW 1 over North. A Year Lister for me :-)

Mathams Pit/Wood:

• Mute Swan 2
• Greylag 1
• Chiffchaff 1
• Great Spotted Woodpecker 2
• Meadow Pipits - even calling over/beside Mathams Pit

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