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.
Friday 5th June.
A blustery day at Pensthorpe with patches of sunshine and threatening dark clouds, but luckily no showers as the BBC weather had predicted! Starting in the car park grassy area we could hear lots of birds including Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Goldcrest, Blackcap and Whitethroat and a distant Cuckoo and
Skylark, plus on the other side near the Dutch barn were two Stock Doves. A single Mistle Thrush and male Blackbird were on the grass - as were two Oystercatchers. The other side of the fence we could see a Linnet and several Swallows were crisscrossing the short grass of the car park. In the distance
towards Fakenham way was a Red Kite and a couple of Buzzards, plus lots of Corvids. Down through the service area near the big barn we saw at least two Great Spotted Woodpeckers chasing one another, although there could have been another one, plus 2 Coal Tits in the Scots pines, 2 Pied Wagtails, a Collared Dove and Nick P.
Through Mill Pond were the usual suspects, Mallards, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Red-crested
Pochard, Coot and a male Reed Bunting. The wave garden was full of bird song with Wren,
Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Great and Blue Tits, plus one Long-tailed Tit and a Goldcrest.
There was a nice Speckled Wood in the leafy glades too. We could also hear the distinct
‘chip’ of a Great Spotted Woodpecker in the birches.
Reaching Crane Mere we could hear more singing from Garden Warblers, plus a Reed Warbler and the ‘yaffle’ of a Green Woodpecker. The area near the shepherd’s hut was full of lupins and the grassy
banks would hold plenty of ant mounds which is a favorite for ‘Yaffles’ and then we spotted at least
two Green Woodpeckers flying back and forth around the trees and grassy, area as seen below. A Magpie was also present.
Next was the Wader Scrape hide, here there was plenty of bird activity and the low clouds afforded a
really good light over the water so that clear views of the birds were seen luckily. The scrape held over
twenty different species including numerous Black-headed Gulls, Avocets, a couple of Little Ringed
Plover, several Coots with young, Reed Warbler, Gadwall, Barnacle Geese, Cormorants, Common
Terns, Egyptian Geese, a lone Pochard, Moorhen, Shelduck, Skylark, Oystercatcher, at least 14 Swifts
flying at the far side and a female Marsh Harrier was seen collecting nesting material and dropping
into the reeds at the far side across the water to the left. A bit later we also spotted the male there
too. A Cuckoo was calling to the right and was briefly spotted flying south through the trees. In the far
distance a Peregrine Falcon was seen high up, silhouetted against the clouds with its distinct flight and
soaring pattern, there seemed to be a Buzzard in the same area - again really high.
Following the River Wensum, we could see and hear numerous Cetti’s Warblers and Reed Warblers and there were a couple of Linnets too and Greylag Geese on Makin’s Mere, plus whilst
watching the water a lovely Hobby flew across the mere and perched in one of the birch trees, Howard managed to get a shot of this bird which stayed for a few minutes. There were also 4 Mandarin Ducks hiding within the overhanging trees at the far side of the mere, more Coot, Tufted Ducks and both male and female Reed Buntings were also present in the reeds.
We then set out for wooded area as time was getting on and a Muntjac and several Grey
Squirrels were seen in the damper areas. Scanning through the trees I caught sight of a
movement and it was two Treecreepers scuttling up a trunk and then they both froze almost
disappearing against the gnarled and rugged bark. The cryptic camouflage aspect of their
plumage could clearly be seen and they remained static for several minutes here so that
Howard was able to get some great shots of this shy bird. In the photo you can clearly see
the elongated hind claw, stiff tail and thin curved beak - a great photo really which illustrates how
beautiful this species is. Stopping off at the woodland hide we heard a Pheasant calling, there were Jackdaws around the feeders, plus Chaffinch, a single Marsh Tit, a scruffy-looking Great Spotted Woodpecker, but no rats luckily!
After the woodland hide I had to leave and Howard continued on to the other lakes and hides and saw
more birds including Shoveler, Canada Goose, Great Crested Grebe and Jay. In all it was a great
morning’s birding with over 70 species of bird seen or heard. Butterflies were few and far between,
probably due to the very blustery and cool conditions, there were plenty of Grey Squirrels, a few
Damselflies and Dragonflies, but on the River Wensum going back towards the Visitor Centre I watched numerous male Banded Demoiselles dancing and displaying in the warming afternoon sunshine, so that was good to see.
Birds - 71 species. Muntjac
Grey Squirrel
Speckled Wood
Banded Demoiselle
Howard C and Steph P
Wednesday 17th June
Stuart Malone and myself set off to do the account on a wet but fairly warm morning. We had
encountered some heavy downpours on the way to the reserve but by the time we got there it was
just intermittent light rain. It was pretty wet underfoot and there were lots of tiny frogs hopping around on the footpaths so we had to be careful not to tread on them. We were greeted in the carpark by singing Blackcaps and a Great Spotted Woodpecker in the top of one of the trees. Our first sortie to the big field by the drive yielded no birds at all! We headed to the Crane Hide to check the progress of the Swallows and were serenaded by some very noisy Oystercatchers on the way. They didn’t seem too bothered by us and sat on the fence as we walked towards the hide, Stuart said that was the nearest he’d ever been to one. The Swallows had fledged at the crane hide but there were a couple of adults around so it is possible a second brood was on the way. We walked round to the Farmland Hide checking out the seasonal footpath on route. There were a few Tits on the bird table and some Finches around but that was all. There were also slim pickings at the hide itself. The weather seemed to be keeping the birds undercover.
It started to brighten up when we got to the Wetland Hide. We could see the young Swallows peeping over the nest in the corner. The Wetland Scrape was fairly quiet. There were lots of Greylag Geese around. In fact, this was a feature of just about everywhere we went on the reserve. They’ve obviously had a good breeding season. The highlight of the scrape was a family of Shelduck with 6 young.
From here we walked to the Woodland hide which was also quiet with just a couple of Great Tits and
Grey Squirrels. There was no sign of any rats. From here we walked down to Makins Mere. The sun
had come out by now and we commented that the temperature must have risen by 10oc! A
Hummingbird Hawkmoth had come out to greet the sunshine on the Wildflower Meadow. There were
3 Mandarin Ducks on the Mere, one male and two females. All the time we had been on the reserve
we had been hearing a Cuckoo and we caught sight of it as we walked back towards the river.
At the Wader Scrape the first thing we noticed was how green it had become with the recent rain. There were also nowhere near as many Black-headed Gulls as on previous visits. Back at the café a Jackdaw was ignoring the ‘no feeding’ sign and was busy attacking the outside bin hoping to make a large enough hole to get at the scraps! All in all, bird numbers were well down but we totalled up 57 species for the day which wasn’t too bad. The consensus that the weather was partly responsible.
Kathy B and Stuart M.
Monday 22nd June
An earlier start to avoid the heat of the day, the car park was a symphony of birdsong, Song Thrush,
Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Collared Dove, Swallow swooping low and Pied Wagtail
hawking insects.
The newly installed Barn Owl box in the hay barn had a bird sitting on the ledge, looked like a juvenile
Barn Owl, rather too distant to get a positive ID, with binoculars alone. (not brought my scope).
Moon Water was a noise of Gulls, some on nests and with juvenile, (3 species). Greylag geese were
very abundant on lake and pathways clearly not bothered by humans. I noticed a couple of Reed
Warblers flitting through the lake side reeds with singing Cetti’s Warbler and Sedge Warbler
competing. Farmland was very quiet just a single Stock Dove sitting on telephone wires. I Joined Nick in the Wetland Hide, the water levels rather low, muddy lake margins exposed a single Lapwing, Common Sandpiper were probing the mud and a flock of nearly twenty House Martins were collecting mud. Red Kites above the woodland and a Cormorant and Great White Egret fly by. In the hide a nest of five Swallows heads peering over the edge of the nest untroubled by our near presence. Old Squaw Lake was fairly quiet but did support at least one Common Tern nest on one of the islands. The parks tern rafts being taken over by Black-headed Gulls. Through the woodland a nice cool walk out of the heat of the sun, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blue Tit, Great Tit, were on the feeders, Brown rat picking up the dropped seed. Elegant Mandarin Duck were taking shade under the tree edge of Makins Mere. We disturbed a couple of Brown Hare as they ran through the wildflower meadow. The Scrape as ever was busy and noisy with nesting Black-headed Gulls, Ducks and Geese, above the noise a Cuckoo was calling perched in a nearby tree, Rabbits on the grass meadow bank. Again a pleasant walk through the shady gardens to the café where Nick and I looking for House Sparrows (sadly a rarity now ) briefly saw a distant Raptor just above the treeline, first thoughts were Marsh Harrier?, Red Kite?, or even a Black Kite (has been seen in the area recently). Its flight was drifting Kite-like, had a long shallow forked tail, colour all over chocolate brown, a mystery? Could not get any conformation as the bird was not seen again.
57 species.
Paul A, Nick E.
A blustery day at Pensthorpe with patches of sunshine and threatening dark clouds, but luckily no showers as the BBC weather had predicted! Starting in the car park grassy area we could hear lots of birds including Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Goldcrest, Blackcap and Whitethroat and a distant Cuckoo and
Skylark, plus on the other side near the Dutch barn were two Stock Doves. A single Mistle Thrush and male Blackbird were on the grass - as were two Oystercatchers. The other side of the fence we could see a Linnet and several Swallows were crisscrossing the short grass of the car park. In the distance
towards Fakenham way was a Red Kite and a couple of Buzzards, plus lots of Corvids. Down through the service area near the big barn we saw at least two Great Spotted Woodpeckers chasing one another, although there could have been another one, plus 2 Coal Tits in the Scots pines, 2 Pied Wagtails, a Collared Dove and Nick P.
Through Mill Pond were the usual suspects, Mallards, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Red-crested
Pochard, Coot and a male Reed Bunting. The wave garden was full of bird song with Wren,
Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Great and Blue Tits, plus one Long-tailed Tit and a Goldcrest.
There was a nice Speckled Wood in the leafy glades too. We could also hear the distinct
‘chip’ of a Great Spotted Woodpecker in the birches.
Reaching Crane Mere we could hear more singing from Garden Warblers, plus a Reed Warbler and the ‘yaffle’ of a Green Woodpecker. The area near the shepherd’s hut was full of lupins and the grassy
banks would hold plenty of ant mounds which is a favorite for ‘Yaffles’ and then we spotted at least
two Green Woodpeckers flying back and forth around the trees and grassy, area as seen below. A Magpie was also present.
Next was the Wader Scrape hide, here there was plenty of bird activity and the low clouds afforded a
really good light over the water so that clear views of the birds were seen luckily. The scrape held over
twenty different species including numerous Black-headed Gulls, Avocets, a couple of Little Ringed
Plover, several Coots with young, Reed Warbler, Gadwall, Barnacle Geese, Cormorants, Common
Terns, Egyptian Geese, a lone Pochard, Moorhen, Shelduck, Skylark, Oystercatcher, at least 14 Swifts
flying at the far side and a female Marsh Harrier was seen collecting nesting material and dropping
into the reeds at the far side across the water to the left. A bit later we also spotted the male there
too. A Cuckoo was calling to the right and was briefly spotted flying south through the trees. In the far
distance a Peregrine Falcon was seen high up, silhouetted against the clouds with its distinct flight and
soaring pattern, there seemed to be a Buzzard in the same area - again really high.
Following the River Wensum, we could see and hear numerous Cetti’s Warblers and Reed Warblers and there were a couple of Linnets too and Greylag Geese on Makin’s Mere, plus whilst
watching the water a lovely Hobby flew across the mere and perched in one of the birch trees, Howard managed to get a shot of this bird which stayed for a few minutes. There were also 4 Mandarin Ducks hiding within the overhanging trees at the far side of the mere, more Coot, Tufted Ducks and both male and female Reed Buntings were also present in the reeds.
We then set out for wooded area as time was getting on and a Muntjac and several Grey
Squirrels were seen in the damper areas. Scanning through the trees I caught sight of a
movement and it was two Treecreepers scuttling up a trunk and then they both froze almost
disappearing against the gnarled and rugged bark. The cryptic camouflage aspect of their
plumage could clearly be seen and they remained static for several minutes here so that
Howard was able to get some great shots of this shy bird. In the photo you can clearly see
the elongated hind claw, stiff tail and thin curved beak - a great photo really which illustrates how
beautiful this species is. Stopping off at the woodland hide we heard a Pheasant calling, there were Jackdaws around the feeders, plus Chaffinch, a single Marsh Tit, a scruffy-looking Great Spotted Woodpecker, but no rats luckily!
After the woodland hide I had to leave and Howard continued on to the other lakes and hides and saw
more birds including Shoveler, Canada Goose, Great Crested Grebe and Jay. In all it was a great
morning’s birding with over 70 species of bird seen or heard. Butterflies were few and far between,
probably due to the very blustery and cool conditions, there were plenty of Grey Squirrels, a few
Damselflies and Dragonflies, but on the River Wensum going back towards the Visitor Centre I watched numerous male Banded Demoiselles dancing and displaying in the warming afternoon sunshine, so that was good to see.
Birds - 71 species. Muntjac
Grey Squirrel
Speckled Wood
Banded Demoiselle
Howard C and Steph P
Wednesday 17th June
Stuart Malone and myself set off to do the account on a wet but fairly warm morning. We had
encountered some heavy downpours on the way to the reserve but by the time we got there it was
just intermittent light rain. It was pretty wet underfoot and there were lots of tiny frogs hopping around on the footpaths so we had to be careful not to tread on them. We were greeted in the carpark by singing Blackcaps and a Great Spotted Woodpecker in the top of one of the trees. Our first sortie to the big field by the drive yielded no birds at all! We headed to the Crane Hide to check the progress of the Swallows and were serenaded by some very noisy Oystercatchers on the way. They didn’t seem too bothered by us and sat on the fence as we walked towards the hide, Stuart said that was the nearest he’d ever been to one. The Swallows had fledged at the crane hide but there were a couple of adults around so it is possible a second brood was on the way. We walked round to the Farmland Hide checking out the seasonal footpath on route. There were a few Tits on the bird table and some Finches around but that was all. There were also slim pickings at the hide itself. The weather seemed to be keeping the birds undercover.
It started to brighten up when we got to the Wetland Hide. We could see the young Swallows peeping over the nest in the corner. The Wetland Scrape was fairly quiet. There were lots of Greylag Geese around. In fact, this was a feature of just about everywhere we went on the reserve. They’ve obviously had a good breeding season. The highlight of the scrape was a family of Shelduck with 6 young.
From here we walked to the Woodland hide which was also quiet with just a couple of Great Tits and
Grey Squirrels. There was no sign of any rats. From here we walked down to Makins Mere. The sun
had come out by now and we commented that the temperature must have risen by 10oc! A
Hummingbird Hawkmoth had come out to greet the sunshine on the Wildflower Meadow. There were
3 Mandarin Ducks on the Mere, one male and two females. All the time we had been on the reserve
we had been hearing a Cuckoo and we caught sight of it as we walked back towards the river.
At the Wader Scrape the first thing we noticed was how green it had become with the recent rain. There were also nowhere near as many Black-headed Gulls as on previous visits. Back at the café a Jackdaw was ignoring the ‘no feeding’ sign and was busy attacking the outside bin hoping to make a large enough hole to get at the scraps! All in all, bird numbers were well down but we totalled up 57 species for the day which wasn’t too bad. The consensus that the weather was partly responsible.
Kathy B and Stuart M.
Monday 22nd June
An earlier start to avoid the heat of the day, the car park was a symphony of birdsong, Song Thrush,
Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Collared Dove, Swallow swooping low and Pied Wagtail
hawking insects.
The newly installed Barn Owl box in the hay barn had a bird sitting on the ledge, looked like a juvenile
Barn Owl, rather too distant to get a positive ID, with binoculars alone. (not brought my scope).
Moon Water was a noise of Gulls, some on nests and with juvenile, (3 species). Greylag geese were
very abundant on lake and pathways clearly not bothered by humans. I noticed a couple of Reed
Warblers flitting through the lake side reeds with singing Cetti’s Warbler and Sedge Warbler
competing. Farmland was very quiet just a single Stock Dove sitting on telephone wires. I Joined Nick in the Wetland Hide, the water levels rather low, muddy lake margins exposed a single Lapwing, Common Sandpiper were probing the mud and a flock of nearly twenty House Martins were collecting mud. Red Kites above the woodland and a Cormorant and Great White Egret fly by. In the hide a nest of five Swallows heads peering over the edge of the nest untroubled by our near presence. Old Squaw Lake was fairly quiet but did support at least one Common Tern nest on one of the islands. The parks tern rafts being taken over by Black-headed Gulls. Through the woodland a nice cool walk out of the heat of the sun, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blue Tit, Great Tit, were on the feeders, Brown rat picking up the dropped seed. Elegant Mandarin Duck were taking shade under the tree edge of Makins Mere. We disturbed a couple of Brown Hare as they ran through the wildflower meadow. The Scrape as ever was busy and noisy with nesting Black-headed Gulls, Ducks and Geese, above the noise a Cuckoo was calling perched in a nearby tree, Rabbits on the grass meadow bank. Again a pleasant walk through the shady gardens to the café where Nick and I looking for House Sparrows (sadly a rarity now ) briefly saw a distant Raptor just above the treeline, first thoughts were Marsh Harrier?, Red Kite?, or even a Black Kite (has been seen in the area recently). Its flight was drifting Kite-like, had a long shallow forked tail, colour all over chocolate brown, a mystery? Could not get any conformation as the bird was not seen again.
57 species.
Paul A, Nick E.
