Every week 2 members from the WVBS take a walk around Pensthorpe Natural Park and record every species that they have seen / heard and how many they have seen. This is submitted into our recorder, David Gibbons, and he collates all the data and sends it on to the County Recorder.
Below are the results from the recent monitoring visits, including a short summary from members.
Below are the results from the recent monitoring visits, including a short summary from members.
Tuesday 5th April 2022
Barry and I had another good day at Pensthorpe, counting the wild birds present. Luckily the
rain stopped as we arrived and eventually there was a smattering of sunshine.
The Woodland Hide was very quiet to start with but eventually three Marsh Tits made an
appearance, two with coloured rings on their left leg and one with no rings at all, so very
encouraging. A male Great Spotted Woodpecker showed well and a Nuthatch called strongly
somewhere in the trees while a female Brambling made an appearance on one of the feeders.
The lack of Great Tits was a little disappointing but let’s hope they were busy nest building,
as I get the impression they are reducing in numbers.
The old scrape produced the best variety now that the water levels have reduced significantly
and a lone Ruff was on the main scrape with three pairs of Med Gulls, six Avocet, a couple of
Marsh Harriers and a Great White Egret flew over/in. Bird of the day must be the male
Garganey which showed well by the small island.
Looking for the ring numbers on the Barnacle Geese was a little more challenging after almost
a year of grime, but we did manage to read eight of them.
The early summer migrants included Chiffchaff and Blackcap both singing strongly. 61
Species.
Our thanks to Barry & Ian.
Wednesday 13th April
Geese numbers way down on previous visits with only c38 Greylag & 26 Barnacle.
Likewise with ducks, Tufted 34, Gadwall 20 but still nice to see 4 Mandarin & 4 Pintail.
Another pretty bird is the Avocet with 8 recorded today.
Grebes with 1 Little & 3 Great Crested.
Raptors showing were 1 Sparrowhawk, 8 Buzzard, 6 Red Kite & 2 Marsh Harrier.
Egrets & Herons, just 1 Little Egret & 1 Grey Heron.
Gulls, around 250 Black-headed, but Herring, Common, Mediterranean, Lesser & Great
Black-backed also present.
Summer Warblers in good numbers with 8 Chiffchaff, 6 Blackcap, 4 Cetti’s & a single Willow.
Also seen was a Swallow, the first we’ve recorded at Pensthorpe this year.
74 species.
Mammals: Brown Hare & Muntjac.
Butterflies: 3 Green Vein White, 1 Orange Tip & 4 Peacock.
4 Bumble Bees & 1 Bee fly, good pollinators, also noted.
Many thanks to Paul & Steve.
Sunday 24th April
55 species recorded on this visit.
Geese & Duck numbers now very low with Barnacle numbering 34 & Mallard 14 & Tufted
Duck 10.
3 Little Ringed Plover, 3 Swallow & 2 Common Tern were 3 of the highlights.
Warblers noted today were 5 Blackcap, 3 Cetti’s ,11 Chiffchaff & 2 Sedge.
Raptors included 6 Buzzard, 1 Marsh Harrier & 1 Red Kite so relatively quiet in this area as
well.
Good number of Great Crested Grebe with 6 recorded as were 4 Goldcrest.
Our thanks go to Kathy & Nick.
Barry and I had another good day at Pensthorpe, counting the wild birds present. Luckily the
rain stopped as we arrived and eventually there was a smattering of sunshine.
The Woodland Hide was very quiet to start with but eventually three Marsh Tits made an
appearance, two with coloured rings on their left leg and one with no rings at all, so very
encouraging. A male Great Spotted Woodpecker showed well and a Nuthatch called strongly
somewhere in the trees while a female Brambling made an appearance on one of the feeders.
The lack of Great Tits was a little disappointing but let’s hope they were busy nest building,
as I get the impression they are reducing in numbers.
The old scrape produced the best variety now that the water levels have reduced significantly
and a lone Ruff was on the main scrape with three pairs of Med Gulls, six Avocet, a couple of
Marsh Harriers and a Great White Egret flew over/in. Bird of the day must be the male
Garganey which showed well by the small island.
Looking for the ring numbers on the Barnacle Geese was a little more challenging after almost
a year of grime, but we did manage to read eight of them.
The early summer migrants included Chiffchaff and Blackcap both singing strongly. 61
Species.
Our thanks to Barry & Ian.
Wednesday 13th April
Geese numbers way down on previous visits with only c38 Greylag & 26 Barnacle.
Likewise with ducks, Tufted 34, Gadwall 20 but still nice to see 4 Mandarin & 4 Pintail.
Another pretty bird is the Avocet with 8 recorded today.
Grebes with 1 Little & 3 Great Crested.
Raptors showing were 1 Sparrowhawk, 8 Buzzard, 6 Red Kite & 2 Marsh Harrier.
Egrets & Herons, just 1 Little Egret & 1 Grey Heron.
Gulls, around 250 Black-headed, but Herring, Common, Mediterranean, Lesser & Great
Black-backed also present.
Summer Warblers in good numbers with 8 Chiffchaff, 6 Blackcap, 4 Cetti’s & a single Willow.
Also seen was a Swallow, the first we’ve recorded at Pensthorpe this year.
74 species.
Mammals: Brown Hare & Muntjac.
Butterflies: 3 Green Vein White, 1 Orange Tip & 4 Peacock.
4 Bumble Bees & 1 Bee fly, good pollinators, also noted.
Many thanks to Paul & Steve.
Sunday 24th April
55 species recorded on this visit.
Geese & Duck numbers now very low with Barnacle numbering 34 & Mallard 14 & Tufted
Duck 10.
3 Little Ringed Plover, 3 Swallow & 2 Common Tern were 3 of the highlights.
Warblers noted today were 5 Blackcap, 3 Cetti’s ,11 Chiffchaff & 2 Sedge.
Raptors included 6 Buzzard, 1 Marsh Harrier & 1 Red Kite so relatively quiet in this area as
well.
Good number of Great Crested Grebe with 6 recorded as were 4 Goldcrest.
Our thanks go to Kathy & Nick.
