OUT FOR THE COUNT

Made the most of a dry morning on Thursday 29th, to count the birds in the square kilometre around the country park, as part of the national bird atlas survey organised by the British Trust for Ornithology. The survey involved counting every bird encountered using the area, whether seen or heard and excluded any birds just passing overhead(unless they were feeding like swallows as they flew).

The count got off to good start with the grasshopper warbler singing from the field next to the park. Neither nightingale was heard singing but one was seen skulking in a bush by the park entrance. Most hedgerows had a singing common whitethroat and was the commonest warbler seen and heard. A handful of lesser whitethroats were also encountered, while in the reeds by the borrowdyke were five singing reed warblers. One male blackcap was the only other warbler noted.

Many of the common garden birds were all made a note of - for a change! Dunnocks, robins, wrens, blue and great tits, wood pigeons, 4 members of the crow family, 4 species of finch, green woodpeckers and lots of the other familiar species too. Farmland birds such as skylark, meadow pipits, stock dove and reed buntings were also noted. The cuckoo was very vocal around the fields to the north of the park, perching up on tree-tops and telegraph wires.

On the park pond the mute swans had their five young cygnets following closely behind. The second pair of swans in the fields appeared to have deserted a nest some time ago, although the birds remain in the area. Three pairs of tufted duck were seen and a similar number of pochard were flying around the area. Other wildfowl seen in the fields were 3 shelduck, 1o mallard and a shoveler.

At least two pairs of lapwing appear to be territorial in the fields with possibly a third pair too. Another pair were also seen with a nest on the adjacent saltmarsh, while a pair of redshank seen mating were one of about three pairs in the area of the fields and saltings. The only other waders seen were the oystercatchers with one pair on the saltmarsh and another forty birds feeding on the mudflats. Little egret and 2 common terns were also seen on or near the mudflats.
Sadly there was no sign of any avocets on the pools where two pairs had been present all spring.

Hawking over various fields were 15 swallows, a sand martin and a group of about 10 house martins that nest on a house just north of the park. The biggest flock of birds were about 50 starlings, many of them newly fledged youngsters, noisily following their parents around the fields.

The starlings soon quietened down when the male sparrowhawk appeared in the area, although it circled up into the sky and disappeared off. Two marsh harriers were also seen heading in opposite directions with one nicely marked male heading high and east over the river Colne, while the other bird drifted west over the fields.

The warm and calm conditions brought a few insects out such as this well marked Mother Shipton moth seen fluttering low amongst the grass beside the seawall. One or two are often seen at this time of year amongst the grasslands flying around during the daytime.

The numbers of small heath butterfly such as this one above, are slowly increasing as we get into summer. This one was seen in the car park and when it folded and tucked up its forewings, it became hard to see against a grey background.
Other butterflies of interest seen were a green hairstreak and a holly blue sunning almost side by side on a bush - a nice colour combination.

Two water voles were having a small disagreement, splashing about along the edge of the borrowdyke. Further along, a third vole was seen briefly on a small mound of mud, so it seemed a good day for vole activity.

At the end of the day as darkness fell, the two grasshopper warblers were still reeling in the pouring rain, from their opposite ends of the wheat field near the park.