7th August

I was in Richmond Pk for my last day of OPM nest removals yesterday. I would have posted some birds news yesterday but my computer adapter died and I had no battery life left. Thankfully with next day delivery I was able to have one delivered today. This was a life saver, not just for yesterdays and todays entries but the fact that I am on holiday in the morning and need my laptop.

Yesterday in Richmond Pk

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The sun burns off the early morning mist.

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Grey Wagtail in the stream by Pen Ponds Plantation

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The Kingfisher showed well if a little distant along the shore of the plantation and on the deer fence that runs across the lake.

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Two pairs of Common Terns were squabbling over who has the raft

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Other news

Hobby: a female circled above Ham Cross.

Reed Warbler: a family party of 6 birds were in the PP reed bed.

Chiffchaff: one was singing from PP Plantation.

Bushy Park

Today

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This bird seemed to struggle to fly when flushed from bracken north of Heron Pond. The question is did it grow up in the park or from somewhere nearby? It still had down on the head.

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These 2 Snipe were also flushed from a boggy area near the pond.

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These ducklings are only a couple of days old.

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Common Whitethoat: at least 18 were in the Brewhouse Field area.

Blackcap: 6 were also in the area just north of Dukes Head Passage.

Chiffchaff: 4 also in the above area.

Goldfinch: a flock of around 60 were feeding on thistles by the scrape.

This made a much find in an Oak rather than an Oak Processionary Moth caterpillar nest.

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Comments

birdman_euston said…
10 Aug:
8 Chiffchaff, c4 Willow Warbler areas 30 & 31, 1 juvenile Garden Warbler @ NW border of Rose Wheel, QM Gdns a.17 at 09:00 (patch autumn-1st).
The second Great Crested Grebe nest off Heron Is a.8 has been vacated within the last two days, with no birds seen in the vicinity. (The juvenile from the first nest is in the Longbridge Sanctuary, as are the two Little Grebe chicks.)
birdman_euston said…
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birdman_euston said…
12 Aug:
More baby grebes: a male Great Crested Grebe was carrying a youngster on its back, with the female in attendance, at the southern tip of Bandstand Is area 7. A pair of Little Grebes was feeding two newly-hatched young off Hanover Is reedbed area 1 (but the LGs in the Longbridge Sanctuary have lost another chick and now have only one, unfortunately).

The juvenile Sparrowhawk, still begging for food a week ago, now appears to be self-sufficient: having caught a rat in area 14 a few days ago, it was terrorising the Wetland Pen bird feeder today. (The local male Kestrel, which appears to be moulting its head feathers, was perching quietly nearby.)
birdman_euston said…
14 Aug:
3 Chiffchaff areas 31/35/41, 6 Willow Warbler - most at NE cnr of Leaf Yard Wood a.41, 2 Garden Warbler Rose Wheel QM Gdns a.17 & a.41, 1 Whitethroat a.41 brambles in front of waterhole, 1♀ Redstart line of lime trees a.39-40-41 at 07:40 - mobile (she was with a fast-moving flock of passerines) and elusive (she dived out of sight into a.41 when I approached within 25m).
Best birding of season so far till the juv Sparrowhawk crashed the party, picking a Great Tit off the a.41 feeder at 09:30.
Both parental pairs of Little Grebes (a.1 & 35) are down to one chick.
Eland said…
Bird of Prey Update:
Hobby - I too have followed the hobby's progress since early July. I knew where they were nesting and soon after your photo I was out looking for them and found the area dominated by jackdaws, including the tree I last saw the juveniles in. This was about a week ago now and I haven't seen them since which is odd because I could almost guarentee seeing them prior to that. I do hope that this is because the young and adults have flown to another area and not the result of something more sinister with the corvids!

Kestrel - Two juveniles, one in brewhouse and one near woodland gardens, the brewhouse family show quite well and are often playing around.

Buzzard - One perched in brewhouse fields

Little Owls - many pairs around, they did well this year

Sprawk - Not much sign within the park but have a local urban pair which often fly around the garden and occasionally in it after the sparrows, this is just a few metres from the park.

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Migrant movement:

1 Fieldfare in brewhouse today
Goldfinch and whitethroat quite abundant at the moment.

Swifts - the local ones seemed to depart at the end of July, I now see passing groups, some of them quite large but its becoming more irregular.

It feels a lot like September at the moment with the rather unsettled weather contrasting that of the July heatwave.

Looking forward to seeing some good activity over the next month or so.
birdman_euston said…
17 Aug:
6 Chiffchaff, 10 Willow Warbler (8 in coppiced willows in Deadman's Cnr area 34 & 2 in Old Golf School Pen a.39), 1 Whitethroat a.39, 1 (prob ♂) Kingfisher S past Bandstand Is a.7 at 10:25.
No sign of recently-hatched grebe chicks nor their parents but half-grown Little Grebe doing well in Longbridge Sanctuary.
Birdman-E

Thanks for the recent updates while I have been away. It will be a shame if the recent Dabchick arrivals have been predated on.
Hi Eland.

I will check out the Hobby situation in the morning. I wouldn't have thought they would have moved to far way from the nest site.

The Fieldfare record would be extremely early, normally they don't arrive until at least the end of August and even then that is early.
Eland said…
Hi Tony, there were 2 fieldfare last time I checked.

Hobby family are fine. The adults were hawking around brewhouse fields showing some pretty amazing agility. The young was calling roughly about 100m from where the nest was, couldn't see it, adults showed beautifully this evening.

Tawny Owl calling near round plantation.
birdman_euston said…
19 Aug:
A modest increase in number and variety of migrants since yeaterday.
1 Swift SW 0745, 10+ Chiffchaff - small influx overnight, 11+ Willow Warbler, 1 Garden Warbler in taller coppiced willow in Deadman's Cnr area 34 - this tree is a magnet for warblers, 1 Lesser Whitethroat [patch autumn-1st] Cricket Pen a.31 brambles, 1 Spotted Flycatcher [p a-1st] a.31 favoured alders & pines.