Wildlife Reports for November 2006

Mark Giles saw a Buzzard circling over the village being mobbed by a group of Rooks.  The number of Buzzards being reported in Essex seems to be increasing.
Lisa Crabb was getting ready for work one morning when looking out of her kitchen window she saw a Sparrow Hawk eating a pigeon.  Her son recorded a video of the feast.  All that was left when they returned from work and school were some bloodstained feathers.
Andy Goodey has reported several Woodcock from the Dunmow road hedge opposite Pods Lane in addition to the reports last month.  These birds regularly winter in the woods in Essex but are rarely observed unless disturbed.  The number Andy has seen about the village appears to indicate their numbers are higher than normal.

Earlier in the year David Hearn told me about an evening walk he took along the Flitch Way and round the Rookery Ponds.  He was using a bat detector and thought a Pipistrelle bat was following him on his evening walks.  It was only a few days earlier that a friend who has bats roosting in her house under the hanging tiles on the south side of her house also said a bat every night used to follow her when she took her dog for its evening walk.  Syl and I spend a considerable amount of time doing bat work for Natural England and though we have never had bats follow us for a distance on numerous occasions we have had bats flying within a meter of us and around us apparently having a close look.  Considering the curiosity that humans have of other wildlife it's to be expected that this curiosity be reciprocated.  I have commented before on the Barn Owl we had for eight years in our farmyard some 35 years ago.  It often flew from behind and only a few feet above my head as I made my evening rounds.  As its wings were totally silent it always startled me and I think the bird enjoyed its evening prank, I certainly missed it when it finally must have died.  Unfortunately it was the last Barn Owl we had on the farm.

Since the first visit in early November by the Redwings and Fieldfares they have still not returned to eat the berries in the garden.  We may for the first time ever have berries left on all our female Holly trees for Christmas.  The migrant Scandinavian Blackbirds have only just started feeding in the garden and the Tits and Greenfinches are only just returning to the sunflower seed feeders.  The mild weather has certainly benefited many wildlife species but those who are dependant on their fat reserves and cold winters to slow down their metabolism for hibernation may suffer.  Continuing mild weather will mean that many species will remain active or will 'awake' from hibernation so using up vital fat reserves.  If they are unable to find food and rebuild their reserves then the individual may not survive the winter, even if it is a very mild one.

By the time you read this Christmas will be over so please send me your sightings for December and early January. Roger Jiggins Telephone 01376 324 311

Roger Jiggins Telephone 01376 324 311