Wildlife Reports for December 2006

Barry Mouser standing on the Rectory Lane Bridge over Pods Brook had a good view of a Kingfisher about 10m away before it flew off in the Braintree direction.  In early January Barry saw a single Grey Wagtail amonst a flock of about 30 Pied Wagtails on the filtration beds of the Rayne sewage works.  This is a site all keen birders should visit over the winter months.
Mark Giles, Duckend Green, noticed that all the birds had apparently left the bird feeders when a Wood pigeon landed dead in the garden.  It had been killed by a Sparrow Hawk while flying overhead and had the hawks talon marks on its breast.  In our own garden we have a tree stump with notches cut in it in which we feed the birds.  Those notches nearest the cover of a thick Amelanchier bush are always emptied but those on the exposed side are often only partly eaten or on some days not touched.  I am sure this is due to the threat of being on the menu of the visiting Sparrow Hawk and like Mark if there are no birds present we often find it is due to the Hawk sitting and waiting in a nearby tree.
Anthea Peirson, Philips Close, had a Sparrow Hawk sitting by her bird table in her garden eying up its next meal.

Trevor Rippingale, the Street, has noticed Green Woodpeckers feeding on fallen apples, for a supposedly insect eating bird this is uncommon though when photographing Fieldfares in the past I have also seen a Green Woodpecker pecking away at apples.  Trevor has also had visits from Great Spotted W.P. Blue, Great and Coal Tits on his feeders and sightings of Grey Squirrels.
Phil Monk, Smithsfield, saw a Blackcap eating Crab apples in their garden and suggests it is one of the birds now making use of our milder winters and staying here rather than migrating to warmer climes.  He has noted single visits by seven Redwing, and three Goldcrests with a single Red Legged Partridge eating weed and grass seeds on the front lawn.  Why do Partridges that normally take to flight at the sight of nearby humans most of the year suddenly appear in gardens and sometimes town centres during late winter and spring when they are seeking nesting territories?  We had a pair that nested for several years under our living room window, do they consider this is a safer environment?  Phil has had counts of up to 18 Collared Doves, 15 Greenfinch and Great, Coal, and Long Tailed Tits, Chaffinch with one or two Stock Doves that clear up the food under the bird feeders.  Their garden Blackbird with a crossed bill has also just returned to the garden, it always comes to see what is on offer when the back door is opened.  Both male and female Sparrow Hawks also visit though an unfortunate Dove flew into their bedroom window killing itself trying to escape the Hawk before the Hawk started to pluck it.  Phil also has a Song Thrush that feeds in the garden.

Roger Martin and Syl my wife both heard male Song Thrushes in December singing their full territorial songs which is another sign of our changing seasons.
Ken Turner moving an old grow bag on his Shalford Road allotment found a Grass snake no bigger than a pencil hibernating under it.  It had probably only hatched this autumn.
Dennis Spurling on a foggy day saw 38 Tufted Duck on the Old Hall Farm reservoir, one does not expect to see so many of this species on water in Rayne but on a similar foggy day many years ago we had about 20 on the farm pond.  They must become disorientated in these conditions and seek refuge on the nearest water they find.

Andrew Goldsmith's daughter found a half eaten deer in the meadow north of Shalford Road. At the time I was unsure whether this was a natural death or not.  Later I found it coincided with visits to most farmland in the Parish by a group of motorised shooters using a rifle to shoot at deer and hares during the night.  It is possible that this deer was one that was hit but died later.  We have had several visits over this winter from probably the same group.
I found a single hole that was being actively used by badgers and also entering the same hole were the tracks of a rabbit.  The rabbit obviously did not live in the same quarters as the badger as it would soon have been on the badger's menu.  There must have been a part of the warren with its own bolt hole for the rabbit to escape from, otherwise I'm sure the Badger would soon have dug it out.  A landowner with a reservoir outside our Parish is still trapping an average of one North American Mink per month even though his water is not on a river system.  The increasing Otter population in the county does not yet seem to have had a great effect on Mink numbers as was hoped.  I do not normally report on sightings outside the Parish but for birders a Short Eared Owl was present on Andrewsfield airfield this winter.

Roger Jiggins Tel 01376 324 311, mail r.jiggins@btconnect.com