Phil Monk returning home late one night saw a badger under the Poplar trees opposite Goulds Farm house probably eating the fallen apples.  Phil also watched a Fieldfare eating apples under the tree in his garden when a Sparrow Hawk landed in the tree causing the Fieldfare to freeze.  The hawk was obviously well fed as it sat in the tree preening for half an hour before the poor Fieldfare which had remained frozen, suddenly decided it was time to leave.  The Sparrow hawk remained enjoying its ablutions.  For three days Phil had a male Blackcap feeding on the Honeysuckle berries.  On the bird feeders the number of Collared Doves reached fourteen and were joined by male Gt. Spotted Woodpecker and Coal Tits.
Steve Sims, Kidder Road had a pair of Jays in the garden by his pond.  They flew off to a nearby Oak tree.  They were almost certainly storing the acorns away for the winter.  They usually pick somewhere soft such as newly dug ground or garden mulch in which to hide their winter stores.  Recent research work suggests they find their winter stores entirely by sight so they need a very good memory.  If their memory is as good as mine it would explain why so many acorns get left to grow.

John Walker on three occasions saw a Barn Owl between Old Hall farm and Pudneys farm.  This is good news as the owl is still finding food in and around the Parish even though the habitat is not ideal for the small rodents that they live on.  I would like to think that one of these sightings is the juvenile that fledged from the nest in the barn at Goulds Farm.  John also reported nine Cormorants near Old Hall.  I doubt that will please those with larger areas of water containing fish in the area as they are very accomplished fishermen.
Mr Brunning Duckend Green has had a Grey Heron visit the garden but luckily the fish in the garden pond are well protected by a net.
Andrew Goody has seen two Woodcock wintering on the same area as last year south of Dunmow Road and near to the Pods Lane junction.
Paul Dawson kept the Deaths Head Hawk Moth caterpillar in a tank of soil in which it buried itself to pupate.  The moth has since hatched but unfortunately will only have a brief life before it dies.  It has been photographed and this should appear on the village web site soon.

On the 1st December Phil Monk told me about the Redwings in his garden.  That same day I watched double figure numbers in our garden.  There must have been a large landfall of this Scandinavian visitor and its cousin the Fieldfare in the recent weeks.  The resident Blackbirds or perhaps they were also foreigners from Scandinavia, desperately tried to protect their feeding territories but with little success.  First the Crab Apples were stripped of fruit, then the Pyracantha's followed by the Holly trees.  A very large Cotoneaster covered in berries was last on the menu and as I sit typing this I have counted fifteen Redwings and a similar number of Fieldfares with the Blackbirds still disputing ownership and a solitary Woodpigeon precariously trying to balance on the slim fruiting stems.

We have two Song Thrushes in the garden but they get no peace from the Blackbirds that continuously harry and chase them.  I cannot think of an adjective to describe our resident Badger, as it continues its excavations round the garden.  It's a pity they do not hibernate for the winter.  If anyone wishes to watch a badger in their garden I'm willing to part company from ours.  All you need to do is throw a few handfuls of peanuts around your lawn each evening and before long you will have a resident Badger and with luck it will be ours.  My neighbour Keith Brunning proudly showed me his lawn with no sign of any badger excavations.  I think I will slip out this evening with a handful of peanuts just to prove it works.

I hope you have had an enjoyable Christmas by the time you read this and if you manage to walk round the Parish during the holiday period do send me your sightings.

Roger Jiggins Tel. 01376 324 311, email mailto:r.jiggins@btconnect.com  (please put Wildlife as the subject)