WVBS Area Records – January 2007
Published February 11, 2007 | WVBS Area Records – January 2007
Thank you to everyone who sent in records. 27 members contributed 517 records of 86 different species this month.
Each individual sighting received may not show on this summary, however, all records do contribute towards the annual report and our understanding of the birds of our study area.
The weather in January remained very mild generally with above average temperatures, the warmest January since 1916. There was one colder interlude around the 22nd to 26th. A predominantly south-westerly air stream brought cloud and rain throughout the month with a few drier spells. There were strong winds on the 18th but the end of the month became settled with high pressure bringing plenty of dry, but cloudy conditions.
It has been a relatively quiet month for birdwatchers locally, however there have been some interesting sightings reported.
|
Species
|
Location/Notes
|
| Greylag Goose |
placeWest Raynham, Bittering GP, Lenwade & Sparham Pools where highest count was 350 on 25th (BB&JE). |
| Canada Goose | Lenwade, Felthorpe &. Sparham Pools where highest count was 25 on 7th (RG,CH&KF). |
| Common Shelduck | 2 locations with max counts of 3 at Bittering GP on 7th (BB&JE) & 2 Sparham Pools between 1st & 7th (B7SG, et al) with just 1 present on 10th (NS) |
| Egyptian Goose | Gateley, Ringland, Coxford Heath, Sparham Pools & placeWest Raynham where the highest count was 20 on 7th (BB&JE)
|
| Mallard |
Bittering GP, placePlaceTypeBridge PlaceTypeLake (Lenwade), Ringland, Sparham Pools, Coxford Heath & Taverham. Highest counts of 20 at Sparham Pools on 5th (JP) & Bittering GP on 14TH (NS&MS) |
| Gadwall | placeWest Raynham, Bittering, Swanton Morley GP, Coxford Heath & Sparham Pools where highest count of 25 on
14th (BB&JE) |
| Northern Shoveler | Max 6 at placeWest Raynham on 1st & 2 Coxford Heath on 1st (BB&JE). |
| Eurasian Wigeon | Sparham Pools; 1 on 2nd (BB&JE) & 4 on 10th (NS) |
| Common Teal | Coxford Heath 7 on 1st (BB&JE), 9 Old Costessey on 13th & 3 New Costessey on 17th (AB) |
| Common Pochard | Sparham Pools, placePlaceTypeBridge PlaceTypeLake (Lenwade) & placePlaceNameCreaking PlaceNameGate PlaceTypeLake (Bittering) where highest count of 15 on 14th (NS&MS) |
| Tufted Duck | Bittering GP, Hoe & Sparham Pools where highest count of 25 on 14th (BB&JE) |
| Common Goldeneye | 2 females at Sparham Pools on 22nd (BB&JE) |
| Goosander | Bittering 1 on 1st (IB) & Sparham Pools where highest count of 4 on 5th (JP) |
| Ruddy Duck |
1 Creaking placePlaceNameGate PlaceTypeLake, Bittering on 14th (NS&MS)
|
| Red-legged Partridge |
Whissonsett, Sparham Hall Farm & Old Costessey where 12 on 13th (AB)
|
| Grey Partridge |
Lyng, Costessey Mill, Old Costessey, Whissonsett, Horningtoft & Sparham Pools where highest count of 8 on 7th (RG,CL&KF) |
| Little Grebe | Costessey Mill, Swanton Morley GP & Sparham Pools where highest count of 5 on 19th (BB&JE) |
| Great crested Grebe | Sparham Pools, placePlaceTypeBridge PlaceTypeLake (Lenwade) & Swanton Morley GP where highest count of 12 on 10th (B&BP) |
| Great Cormorant | placePlaceNameSparham PlaceNamePools & Bridge PlaceTypeLake (Lenwade) where BB&JE counted 65 on 25th. |
| Little Egret | 4 at Blackwater Lane, Lenwade on 1st (JL, P&AB) & 1 Marriott’s Way, Lenwade on 29th (BB&JE)12th RG. |
| Grey Heron | Lenwade & Old Costessey where 12 on 1st (AB) |
| Eurasian Sparrowhawk | 15 locations including one eating Collared Dove in a Reepham garden (GH) on 1st. |
| Hen Harrier | 1 male Kettlestone on 7th during Bird Count (BP,DK&ID). |
| Common Buzzard | Singles at Colkirk & Great Ryburgh on 1st (S&BG; IB); 2 at placeWest Raynham (B&BP) & 3 from Bittering (BB&JE) on 7th. |
| Common Kestrel |
Reported from 16 locations.
|
| Water Rail |
No records received.
|
| European Golden Plover |
16 Bittering GP, 32 Lenwade and c250 N Tuddenham on 1st; 250+ Mattishall & 300 Hoe on 7th; numbers gradually increased through month at N Tuddenham with 750 on 13th & 1000 on 20th (B&BP)
|
| Northern Lapwing |
Records from 7 locations with highest count of 500 at Dereham Sewage Works (IB&PR) on 1st
|
| Common Snipe |
20 at Dereham Sewage Works on 1st (IB), Old Costessey throughout the month with max of 25 recorded on 13th (AB) and single at Scarning on 27th.
|
| Eurasian Woodcock |
Singles at Daffy Green on 3rd (IB), Costessey Mill on 9th (AB) & Old Costessey on 12th (AB)
|
| Green Sandpiper |
Single at Sparham Pools on 19th (BB&JE)
|
| Black-headed Gull |
100 at Dereham Sewage Works on 1st (IB), 50 at Felthorpe on 7th (MS) and a max of 8 at Sparham Pools on 12th (JP).
|
| Mew (Common) Gull |
Only one record received of 6 at placeWest Raynham on 7th (BB&JE).
|
| Herring Gull |
One record of 2 at Sparham Pools on 12th (JP)
|
| Lesser Black-backed Gull |
On 7th 13 at Felthorpe (MS) & 1 at Whissonsett (RG,CH&KC) |
| Great Black-backed Gull | 1 Syderstone Common on 1st & 7th (BB&JE); 2 at Felthorpe on 7th (MS); 2 Pensthorpe on 13th (RG). |
| Common Woodpigeon |
No large flocks reported! Records from Old Costessey, Taverham, Thorpe Marriot and Sparham Pools where highest count was 40 on 19th (JP). |
| Barn Owl | A high profile bird, reported throughout the month at 23 locations between Old Costessey and Sculthorpe Moor by 15 members. |
| Little Owl | 2 at Daffy Green on 4th & single present up to 29h (IB); singles at Bylaugh on 7th (A&CJ, JH) Bittering on 14th (NS&MS) & Scarning on 25th (IB). |
| Tawny Owl | 3 at Old Costessey actively calling in the evenings’(AB), singles at Guist Bridge on 7th (BB&JE) and Lyng on 10th (AJ). |
| Common Kingfisher | Single at Sparham Pools reported on 7th, 12th & 19th. (RG,CH&KC; JP; BB&JE); also single at placePlaceTypeBridge PlaceTypeLake, Lenwade on 30th (NS). |
| Green Woodpecker | Singles at Pensthorpe on 13th (RG) & Sparham Pools on 14th (BB&JE). |
| Great Spotted Woodpecker | Singles at Hoe Common (NS&MS) & Fustyweed, Elsing (BS) on 14th; 2 at placePlaceTypeBridge PlaceTypeLake, Lenwade on 30th (NS) |
| Skylark | Up to 15 daily Old Costessey throughout month (AB); 13 Lyng (MS) & 20 at Sparham Pools (RG,CH&KC), 1 at Sparham Hall Farm on 14th (BB&JE) & 13 at Drayton on 15th (NS) |
| Meadow Pipit |
Bylaugh 20 on 6th (AJ), Swanton Morley GP 4 (B&BP) & 2 Mattishall (BB&JE) on 7th, Costessey Mill max 6 on 10th (AB), Old Costessey max 10 on 13th (AB) & Sparham Pools 24 on 29th (BB&JE) |
| Pied Wagtail | Singles at Old Costessey occasionally during month (AB) & Sparham Pools on 19th (JP). Bylaugh 26 on 6th (AJ) & Bylaugh Sewage Works 20 on 31st (BB&JE) |
| Grey Wagtail | Lyng Bridge 2 on 7th (A&CJ, JH), singles at Worthing Mill on 13th (RG) & Scarning on 14th & 27th (IB) |
| Common Blackbird | 5 locations with highest count 101 at Sculthorpe on 1st (S&BG). |
| Fieldfare | 12 locations with highest counts at Lenwade 40 on 1st (NS), Sparham Pools 30 (RG,CH&KC) & Whissonsett 50 on 7th , Great Witchingham c50 on 23rd (AJ) & Cawston 32 on 28th (MS) |
| Song Thrush | 6 locations with at least 6 singing from territories in Old Costessey from 16th (AB) |
| Redwing | 10 locations. Highest count 60 Lenwade on 1st (NS) & 7th (NS&MS) & frequent groups of up to 50 in Old Costessey area during month (AB) |
| Mistle Thrush | placePlaceNameWorthing PlaceTypeChurch 2 on 7th (RG,CH&KC) & Sparham Pools 4 on 14th (BB&JE). AB reports 1 or 2 daily in Old Costessey area during month. |
| Goldcrest | Singles at Guist, Sculthorpe & Syderstone Common; 2 at Sparham Pools & Sculthorpe Moor. |
| Long-tailed Tit | 6 locations with flocks of 12 at Sculthorpe Moor (BB&JE) on 1st & Sparham Pools (BB&JE) on 14th; 10 at Sparham Pools (RG,CH&KC) on 7th, Marriot’s Way, Lenwade (BB&JE) on 20th & Thorpe Marriot (JP) on 27th. AB reports groups of up to 12 daily in his Old Costessey garden. |
| placeCityWillow Tit | Singles Sculthorpe Moor & Hempton Marsh (S&BG, BB&JE, B&BP, IB). MS & NS recorded 2 at Sculthorpe Moor on 7th during the Bird Count. |
| Marsh Tit | 7 locations with RG,CH&KC recording 4 at Sculthorpe Moor on 7th & P&AB also recording 4 at same site on 21st. Two members report this species in their gardens; BS saw 2 on 14th in his garden at Fustyweed, Elsing & AB indicates that this species has been an occasional visitor to his garden in Old Costessey throughout the month. |
| Wood Nuthatch | Singles at Sparham Pools on 12th (JP), Elsing Heath on 17TH (A&CJ) & Windsor Park, Dereham on 23rd (C&JF) |
| Eurasian Treecreeper | Singles at Bawdeswell Heath, Sparham Pools, Sculthorpe Moor, Syderstone Common, Old Costessey & Windsor Park, Dereham. |
| Eurasian Jay |
Taverham(1-2), Thorpe Marriot(2), Bridge Lake, Lenwade(2), Drayton(3) & Sparham Pools(1). |
| Black-billed Magpie | Syderstone Common(1), Taverham(1), Old Costessey(1),placePlaceTypeBridge PlaceTypeLake, Lenwade(3). Highest count of 11 at Felthorpe on 7th (MS&NS) |
| Common Starling | 7 locations. AB reporting regular sizeable flocks in Old Costessey with max 140 on 3rd. Also flocks of c100 at Bittering on 7th(BB&JE) & placeN Tuddenham on 20th(B&BP). |
| House Sparrow | Only small flocks reported from a few sites. 8 at Old Costessey (AB), 5 in Lyng on7th (MS&NS), 2 in Ringland on 19th (R&DH) & 8 in Thorpe Marriot on 27th (JP). |
| Eurasian Tree Sparrow | Fulmodeston 6 on 1st (IB&PR) , Fustyweed, Elsing 7 on 14th (BS) & Thorpe Marriot 2 on 27th (JP). |
| Chaffinch | 5 locations with highest count of 111 at addressStreetChurch Lane, Felthorpe on 7th (P&AS) |
| Brambling | Singles at Sculthorpe Moor (BB&JE) & Worthing (B&BP) on 7th & at Fustyweed, Elsing (BS) on 14th; 3 at Lyng Easthaugh on 20th (NM) & Sculthorpe Moor on 28th (IB) |
| European Greenfinch | 4 locations with max counts of 15 at Felthorpe on 7th (MS&NS) & Sculthorpe Moor on 21st (P&AB) |
| European Goldfinch |
6 locations with max counts of 50 at Hempton Marsh on 7th,17 at addressStreetChurch Lane, Felthorpe on 7th (P&AS), 20 at Pensthorpe on 13th (RG). |
| Eurasian Siskin | Just one record of 5 at Pensthorpe on 13th (RG) |
| Common Linnet | Sculthorpe 11 on 1st (S&BG), Sparham Hall Farm 100 on 7th (RG,CH&KC) & 14th (BB&JE), placeWorthing 30 on 7th (B&BP), Bittering 6 on 7th (BB&JE) |
| Common Redpoll |
7 Sparham Pools on 5th (JP); 20 Sparham Hall Farm on 7th (S&BG); 7 Pensthorpe on 13th (RG); 2 Meally Redpoll in Old Costessey garden on 5th (AB |
| Common Bullfinch | 11 locations mostly 1-2 with max counts of 3 at Lenwade Heath on 8th (RG) & Bawdeswell Heath on 31st (BB&JE) & 4 at Swanton Morley on 1st (NM) & Sparham Pools on 12th (JP) |
| Yellowhammer | 4 locations, no large flocks reported with max count of 12 at Scarning on 1st (IB) |
| Reed Bunting | 5 locations with max count of 5 at Sparham Hall Farm on 7th (RG,CH&KC) and 14th (BB&JE) |
Records also received for Mute Swan, Common Pheasant, Common Moorhen, Common Coot, Winter Wren, Dunnock(Hedge Accentor), European Robin, Great Tit, Coal Tit,, Blue Tit, Eurasian Jackdaw & Rook.
January Contributors
Peter & Alma Banson, Bob Bradley & Jenny Evans, Andrew Brown, Ian Brittain, Keith Chinn, Ray & Chris Gribble, Sue & Bill Gibney, Derek & Rosemary Harvey, Geoff Hemmings, Clare Hill, John Horsman, Alwyn & Carole Jackson, David Knight, Josh Leeder, Nigel Mears, Charles & Fran Neale, Jacky Pett, Barry & Bridget Pummell, Paul Riley, Bill Shepherd, Peter & Anne Smith, Martin Spriggs, Nick Street.
WVBS NEEDS YOUR RECORDS!
Send your records to:
| Hard Copy Alwyn Jackson Mandola Mill Street Elsing Dereham NR20 3EJ |
E-mail or E-groupalwyn.jackson@tesco.net
WensumvalleyBS@yahoogroups.com |
Phone01362 637752 |
