The things you see down on the farm........

Dougy and I walked pretty well the whole site this morning, mapping all the birds. Tony and Matt added a couple of extra sightings too. The Hoopoe was still there, obliging several admirers; a Lesser Whitethroat was rattling away and showing well in the huge blackthorn hedges in the northern fields; and a beautiful male Ring Ouzel was feeding in the large southern field and perching on the fence. Dougy managed to get this shot from some distance:



I haven't had time to tally them all up from the maps yet, but here are some provisional totals: 3 male and 1 female Mallard, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 1 Merlin, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Cuckoos, 1 Hoopoe, 4 Skylarks, 6 Meadow Pipits, 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 flava wagtail (not flavissima) 16 Wrens, 14 Robins, 9 Dunnocks, 5 Blackbirds, 5 Song Thrushes, 1 Ring Ouzel, 1 Wheatear, 9 Grasshopper Warblers, 9 Sedge Warblers, 9 Whitethroats, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Blackcaps, 24 Willow Warblers, 6 Chiffchaffs, 12 Great Tits, 5 Blue Tits, 2 Long-tailed Tits, 1 Reed Bunting, 3 Jays. Also 3 Slow Worms and several Common Lizards.

But the most unusual sighting of the day was that of three scantily clad young females taking part in a photo-shoot in the cowshed. Bizarre but true! And Dougy missed it as he left early. I felt that I ought to say something, but I couldn't bring myself to approach them without feeling like a voyeur. Any suggestions?

Hoopoe - annual visitor!

As you can see, the Hoopoe is still around and today I was able to creep up to and get a photo of this stunning bird. This is the fourth year running one has turned up on the reserve - quite amazing! Or is it? Our hay meadows and pastures are only lightly grazed and get no fertiliser, so they are full of the kinds of invertebrates that Hoopoes feed on.


Dougy and I counted 12 Whitethroats (above) and six Grasshopper Warblers, both new farm records, as well as many Willow Warblers, a couple of Blackcaps and Wheatears and a Cuckoo. I'll be doing a full census of singing birds in the next day or so.

While I was away Dougy got this distant shot of a Roe Deer near Ruan Pool. This is a reserve first. An Otter was also seen briefly by Phil Bradshaw whilst checking his small mammal traps.

Two scarce migrants

As usual my absence from the country for the first couple of weeks of the month coincided with an almighty influx of rare birds into the county. Nothing very rare was reported from the farm, although a Bee-eater seen on the wires along the approach road came tantalisingly close.

With weather conditions still conducive to arriving migrants, I just have to get down there as often as I can just now. After a hectic morning's work, I arrived at mid afternoon today and enjoyed a gentle bimble around. The gorse and blackthorn hedges are in full bloom, the lady's smock is out in the meadows and orange-tips are on the wing. I counted six singing Sedge Warblers, a couple of Whitethroats and three Skylarks.


Walking along the edge of the heathland, I lifted my binoculars to check out a particular bush which I consider a sure bet for a shrike one day and was dumbfounded to see a Hoopoe fly in and land right beside it! After standing completely still for several minutes, it flopped across the Plantlife pond, landed right on top of the bank, preened its feathers and settled down for a good sunbathe. Of course, my camera was back in the car and by the time I returned to get a photo, the bird had vanished.

Tony arrived a few minutes later but the Hoopoe refused to show again. We walked back to the yard just as a Short-eared Owl appeared over the arable fields. Now this was much more co-operative and gave a fantastic display of hunting for the next half hour. Although Short-eared Owl has been recorded on the reserve a few times, this was my first here , so it was a great day for me.

Further signs of Spring

Four Willow Warblers were singing at the farm this morning. This species does not generally turn up until around 5th April, so these are unusually early arrivals. I always associate my first Willow Warblers of the year with blackthorn blossom, so it's interesting that the blossom has also appeared ahead of cue. There were also three Chiffchaffs proclaiming their territories, a female Black Redstart and two Dunlin feeding around the Plantlife pond. Local birder Tony Blunden tells me that later in the afternoon there were four Black Redstarts, a Wheatear and a Green Sandpiper.

Slow-ly warming up

A couple of Slow Worms warming up in today's sunshine. There were three Chiffchaffs in song, the first of the summer migrant birds back on territory. As for the resident species, early indications are that numbers of Dunnocks, Robins and Wrens are way down after another hard winter.

Thanks to Dougy Wright for this Adder photo taken on 19th.