The dull and damp weather brought with it little bird song, but the sound of two skylarks singing as they rose into the sky was pleasing. Noticeably this month there has been an increase in the numbers of blackbirds present, especially in the Riverside Park. The other observation was the early flowering of black horehound, yarrow and cow parsley, although the latter two were poor specimens.

Another noticeable thing this month is that the lake at Creeksea now has water in it and through the binoculars we could see it had attracted many gulls, possibly herring gulls, that were mostly standing on the grass surround, with just a few on the water.

The ploughed fields at Creeksea had once again attracted many lapwings and starlings but numbers were hard to record, as the birds kept moving into the furrows (our numbers are most likely an under-estimate). On the grassed areas there was much evidence of mole activity.

Waders fed on the shoreline and the marina had its usual residents: little grebe, redshank and mallard. There was one not so regular sighting here of a meadow pipit feeding by the water’s edge and hopping along amongst the vegetation and stones.

Fortunately, the slight drizzle ceased, bringing out chattering birds in the bushes in the Riverside Park, many being difficult to sight. Here the flowering cherry was bright with pink blossoms and remaining on several bushes were a few of last year’s hips.

The next ‘Our Patch’ outing will be on Tuesday 15th March meeting in the marina car park at 10.00

Birds: (numbers in brackets indicate the highest number seen in one sighting) Blue-tit 3, (2), Great Tit 1, Sparrow (3), Blackbirds 19, (4), Goldfinch (14), Starlings 22, (12), Pied Wagtail 5, (3), Meadow Pipit 1, Skylark 2, Wood Pigeons 75, (32), Magpies 10, (3), Carrion Crows 8, (3), Kestrel 1, Egret 2 Oystercatchers 5, (4), Redshanks 3, (2), Lapwings 57, (44), Little Grebe 2, (2), Moorhen (1), Mallard (7), Curlew (1), Black-headed Gulls 10, (2), Herring Gull (1).

Flowers: Gorse, Daisy, Blackthorn, Hazel Catkins, Ivy, Wild Cherry. Ornamental Cherry, Oak Gall, Cow Parsley, Black Horehound.

Diane Caulkett