Thursday June 19th
Solar Panel Field, North West Zone
It was a warm and hazy start to the morning when Laurie, Tom F. and I began our first birding transect, along the canalised section of the River Mole.
The sun beating down on a dirt track felt positively Mediterranean
In the riverside vegetation we picked up songs of Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting, Common Whitethroat and Wren. A lone Skylark was singing its head off by the airfield boundary, but in contrast the hedgerows were all pretty quiet.
Web of a large Orb-weaver spider...
Belonging to this lovely lady; a Furrow Spider (Larinioides cornutus)
Around the corner where the river begins to meander, we picked up the first confirmed breeding bird signs; fluffy Reed Warbler fledglings perched low-down in the Willows.
Photo taken through my binoculars... As good as it gets!
In the scrub to the west of Brockley Wood, Blue Tits were in good numbers along with Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat and a noisy pair of Linnets. Groups of fledgling Goldfinch were fluttering about, seemingly having a successful year. The northern part of Brockley Wood was busy with Jackdaws, Jay, Song Thrush and some unseen, uncharacteristically loud Bullfinches.
Scrub West of Brockley
By the time we began the 2nd transect, the sun had burned off all the mist. The further along the River we travelled, the harder going the walk and the more insignificant we felt in the towering grasses...
Riverside jungle
Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi) and dense clumps of Hedge Bedstraw (Galium mollugo)
Into the 2nd transect, we picked up Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Carrion Crow and several Barn Swallows.
Large Black Slug (Arion spp.)
The big hole in its side is the respiratory opening, called a pneumostome
We were noticing lots of these funnel-like webs about the place...
Belonging to the Labyrinth Spider (Agelena labyrinthica) of Springwatch fame
There was an exciting moment when I thought I heard one of these...
But on second thought, it was actually one of these...
In my defense, it was quite far off in the distance.
Greenfinch and Garden Warbler cropped up toward the end of the 2nd transect, where the bordering areas become more residential. We got a good view of perching Ring-necked Parakeets. Sadly no Kingfishers today, but we saw lots of lovely damselflies including Common Blue, Banded Demoiselle and a female Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonfly.
We recorded a good number of fledglings today, which is all evidence of successful breeding. The final count was 33 species which is our usual total for this time of year:
1
|
Blackbird
|
Turdus merula
|
|
2
|
Blackcap
|
Sylvia atricapilla
|
|
3
|
Blue Tit
|
Cyanistes caeruleus
|
|
4
|
Bullfinch
|
Pyrrhula pyrrhula
|
|
5
|
Carrion Crow
|
Corvus corone
|
|
6
|
Chiffchaff
|
Phylloscopus collybita
|
|
7
|
Dunnock
|
Prunella modularis
|
|
8
|
Garden Warbler
|
Sylvia borin
|
|
9
|
Goldfinch
|
Carduelis carduelis
|
|
10
|
Great Spotted Woodpecker
|
Dendrocopos major
|
|
11
|
Great Tit
|
Parus major
|
|
12
|
Green Woodpecker
|
Picus viridis
|
|
13
|
Greenfinch
|
Carduelis chloris
|
|
14
|
Jackdaw
|
Corvus monedula
|
|
15
|
Jay
|
Garrulus glandarius
|
|
16
|
Linnet
|
Carduelis cannabina
|
|
17
|
Long-tailed Tit
|
Aegithalos caudatus
|
|
18
|
Magpie
|
Pica pica
|
|
19
|
Moorhen
|
Gallinula chloropus
|
|
20
|
Nuthatch
|
Sitta europaea
|
|
21
|
Pied Wagtail
|
Motacilla alba subsp. yarrellii
|
|
22
|
Reed Bunting
|
Emberiza schoeniclus
|
|
23
|
Reed Warbler
|
Acrocephalus scirpaceus
|
|
24
|
Ring-necked Parakeet
|
Psittacula krameri
|
|
25
|
Robin
|
Erithacus rubecula
|
|
26
|
Skylark
|
Alauda arvensis
|
|
27
|
Song Thrush
|
Turdus philomelos
|
|
28
|
Stock Dove
|
Columba oenas
|
|
29
|
Swallow
|
Hirundo rustica
|
|
30
|
Swift
|
Apus apus
|
|
31
|
Whitethroat
|
Sylvia communis
|
|
32
|
Woodpigeon
|
Columba palumbus
|
|
33
|
Wren
|
Troglodytes troglodytes
|
|
Mr Forward also shouted me a surprise birthday breakfast... a sweet start to the day!
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