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Wildlife Reports for June 2007
When one spends a lot of time working for wildlife like Syl and I do for Natural England one realises that wildlife rarely reads books published by man. Some of this months reports highlight the unusual behaviour of our wildlife.
Eileen Varney Little Commons Cottage watched a Grey Squirrel pick a rose and take it onto a roof and eat it. I imagine it provided a more tasty salad than lettuce and also Mark Giles sprouts that the squirrels stripped of leaves on the Duckend Green allotments.
Robert Bucknall was asked what was happening to the eggs that a friend's broody hen was sitting on. It started out with 12 eggs and ended up with none. The friend did not believe Robert when he offered an explanation but he was proved correct when a Squirrel was seen rolling an egg away from the hen house. It had removed the eggs from under the hen while it sat on the nest.
Betty Childs Dunmow Road, had a Yellow Wagtail on her garden pond for a short period. Bob Chisholm Gore Road, has had House Sparrows in his garden, the first for some time. This seems to be a general trend within the village.
Keith Ingall Phillips Road, had some conifers lopped and unfortunately uncovered a Blackbirds nest with young. The nest was put back in a nearby tree but unfortunately their good luck was short lived as a Sparrow Hawk then helped itself to the young. Andy Goodey heard a Crossbill as it flew over the village.
Allan Spooner New Road, has sent me more pictures of the white headed House Sparrow which has returned to his garden feeders. It's a smart looking bird.
Geoff Fuller has sent me pictures of a Longhorn Beetle it was very photographic but I was unable to identify it.
Barry Mouser Walking along Pods Brook heard several Lesser Whitethroats giving their alarm calls and assumed that he was near their nest sites.
Paul and Sue Dawson also walking along Pods Brook saw two juvenile Kingfishers sitting on a branch across the river. Further along the river another Kingfisher flew from the river with a fish in its beak. Sightings of this bird have certainly increased in recent years. The recent warmer winters have helped this increase.
Ken Turner was walking by one of the parish badger setts at about 8.30pm, the weather and light were poor but he was astounded when five badgers emerged from the sett. Luckily the wind was in the right direction and they did not sense his presence. Ken also reported a Grass Snake that was run over by the village green during the day and a Song Thrush that fledged several young on the allotments.
At Goulds when mowing the grass I disturbed a Grass Snake sunning itself on the lawn by our pond and watched a juvenile Sparrow hawk trying to catch small birds by diving into our large thick Amelanchier bush. This is a difficult time for all young raptors as many are unable to hone their hunting skills quick enough to survive. This young male is still about the garden but spends most of the day hunting for food so he still has a lot to learn. An adult Hobby flew fast through the garden just above house height, its white throat clearly visible. A large number of Swifts, Martins and Swallows were feeding in the air at the time; I imagine the Hobby was in hot pursuit. Syl had a young Lesser Whitethroat in her poly tunnel probably looking for insects to eat, it chose its hunting ground well.
Roger Jiggins Tel. 01376 324 311, email r.jiggins@btconnect.com (please put Wildlife as the subject)
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