Saturday, January 12, 2008

It was a lovely sunny morning today during my walk. It was cold, and the sky was cloudless. I could only manage half of my usual route today because both bridges and the Weir were flooded. As a result I was unable to get to the rough grassland, scrubby areas, golf course and playing fields.

Flooded Weir

2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers were heard calling, 2 Coal Tits called from Yews along Laurel Walk, 2 Goldcrests decided to sing from different Yews, 5 Nuthatch was heard calling, 1 Jay was seen, 2 Mistle Thrush could be heard singing from Oaks on the Golf Course – and another was seen taking advantage of invertebrates that were being unearthed by a mole whilst it burrowed down in it’s mole hill, and 3 parties of Long-tailed Tits were seen.

Birds that were present on the Lake were at least 2 Mute Swans, 23 Canada Geese, 1 male Tuftie, and the countless Mallards, Coots and Moorhens. The gull flock on the Lake consisted of at least 10 Common Gulls, and 43 Black-headed Gulls. Also, in addition to these birds, a Grey Heron was seen along the River Len.

2 comments:

Steve said...

It was a fantastic morning wasn't it....wish I could have stayed out longer. Plenty of birds starting to sing and display now....

Mark said...

Simon,
We at Medway Valley Countryside Partnership will soon be erecting some bird boxes on behalf of Maidstone Borough Council in the east of the park, hopefully to attract owls. Please give me a call on 01622 683695 to find out more about the project.
Thanks.
Mark Pritchard

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