It was another lovely sunny morning and the temperature felt slightly warmer than yesterday between 6.05am and 7.20am. It had been another clear night so after yesterdays 3 new migrants perhaps some more will have dropped in.
A Nightingale sang along Laurel Walk in the same place as the past few days. 3 Blackcaps also sang along Laurel Walk, a Chiff Chaff sang from behind the Park & Ride and another sang from the Wet Woodland.
In the area in front of Mote House, a Willow Warbler sang from one of the Oaks, and of note in the ’Long Hedge’ was 1 Blackcap and 1 Chiff Chaff, both singing.
A scan of the Lake produced 8 Great Crested Grebes – including the 4 on the ‘Grebe Island’, 2 pairs of Tufted Duck, and there were only 4 Mute Swans, together with the usual Canada Geese, Mallard, Coots and Moorhens. There were around 5 Black Headed Gulls flying above the water, and a Lesser Black-backed Gull flew north over the Lake. 2 Reed Warbler and a Whitethroat sang from the Lake’s western edge.
A Cormorant sat on ‘Cormorant Island’, and another took off from the Lake. A Reed Warbler was singing from within the Marsh and a Grey Heron perched on a low bough in the Marsh. A lovely male Cuckoo perched, and sang, in the Oak at the end of the Weir track, next to the Spring, who on my approach flew into the Alders in the Marsh. A Blackcap sang from the Hedge next to the Spring and a Whitethroat sang from the Pitch & Putt. A minimum 9 Whitethroats sang in the ‘Scrub’, and after circuiting the ‘Scrub’ the Cuckoo was perched back in the Oak, singing, and giving excellent views – on the day I forgot to pick up the camera. 6 Whitethroats sang from the Meadow. A Pheasant called from ‘Len Wood’ and another from the Meadow next to the Old Bothy, along with a Whitethroat. A Chiff Chaffs sang from the Hedge east of the Meadow.
A minimum of 7 Chiff Chaffs, 7 Blackcaps, 3 Reed Warblers, 1 Willow Warbler and, 18 Whitethroats were singing throughout the visit, and 3 Green Woodpeckers were seen – 1 was on Jenner’s Bank and a pair was investigating a hole in a Sweet Chestnut, next to the Downswood entrance.
Hi, my name is Simon. My local patch is Mote Park, one of Kent’s largest parks and right on the edge of Maidstone, the county town of Kent. It is a former country estate, and records of the Park date back since before the 14th century. The park has a variety of habitats and this blog will note all the wildlife that I encounter in them.
4 comments:
Hi simon
I just got your comment on my blog - yep I'm quite happy for you to add a link to my blogsite, although I tried it today and it didn't seem to work (http: entered twice maybe?).
Anyway keep up the good work - it's nice to see whats around...any sign of Med Gulls recently? Saw 5+ at East Farleigh on Tuesday.
No Med Gulls at the mo. The last time a Med Gull was seen in the park was in March, where the max number seen at one time was 27.
I shall sort out that link. Cheers for telling me.
Nice blog.
How do your whitethroat numbers compare to previous years Simon. Numbers seem up at New Hythe - I had 27 last Saturday - but that was probably an under count - I should imagine across the area as a whole the number is in excess of 50.
Last year I counted c.14 Whitethroats singing at one time, and this year I am up to 18 birds already.
Last year the first bird singing in the park was on the 18th of April, this year they arrived on the 15th, 3 days earlier.
Yes I agree, the number in the area probably is in excess of 50. Its great to see a bird whose migration route crosses the sahara as well as the bird-catchers in the Med, in numbers higher than last year.
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