A calm, overcast morning greeted us for the end of the second year of ‘Our Patch’.  When we started in January 2015 we saw up to a thousand Brent Geese feeding on the fields beside the railway line.  Today we were pleased to see 200-300 fly in from the south across the river to land on the exposed mud to the north of the river where some fed and others took to the water and gently floated across the river.  Shortly thereafter another large group flew in from the southeast and joined the first group.

On our monthly walks we regularly see Jackdaws, a Little Egret and Little Grebes in the same place.  More often than not we see a lone Curlew and a couple of Redshanks feeding on the river’s margins.  Interestingly we saw a similar number of Blackbirds as last month but in a totally different place: last month they seemed to have gathered along the railway line but this month they were more widespread.  The moles were showing their presence by their fresh molehills in several places along the footpath beside the railway line. Nothing remarkable was sighted but we were pleased with our morning.

Birds: (numbers in brackets indicate the highest number seen in one sighting)

Magpie 8 (2), Wood Pigeon 66 (19), Jackdaw 4 (2), Crows 6 (2), Collared Dove 2 (2), Chaffinch 2 (1), Robin 3, Wren 1, Sparrow 5 (2), Dunnock 3 (2), Great Tit 3 (1), Blackbird 24 (4), Song Thrush 1, Starlings 2 (1), Pied Wagtail 2 (1), Black-headed Gull 5 (2), Herring Gull 2 (1), Egret 1, Lapwing 35 (35), Curlew 3 (2), Little Grebe 3 (2), Mallard 14 (12), Redshank 2 (1), Brent Geese 450 (450)

Flowers: Yarrow, Ragwort, Oxford Ragwort, Gorse.

Other: Molehills

Diane Caulkett