Thursday, March 04, 2010

Thursday 4th January

This morning I was meeting 2 people from Audley Court to discuss and walk my planned route for the organised charity walk on Friday 19th March for Sport Relief. All went well and I am looking forward to the occasion. If anybody is interested in joining this walk, it will cost £5 per person with every single penny going to the charities supported by Sport Relief. The walk is open to all ages and abilities, will last roughly 1.5 hours with light refreshments at the end, and will be focused on Mote Park’s history and wildlife (for further details see events column to the right of my posts).

I also had a meeting with the manager of the Mote Park cafe. I wanted to discuss the possibility of him opening the cafe a bit earlier to supply some breakfast rolls for the end of my Dawn Chorus Walk, due to be held on Sunday 2nd May – National Dawn Chorus Day. He explained that it would be no problem and that if I could let him know the numbers attending a week or so in advance.


Female Blackbird

It was another bright spring-like morning today, however the temperature was slightly lower than what it has been the past few days. The water levels were nearly back to normal but the soft ground had meant that 2 of the some of the oldest Alder trees along the River Len valley had fallen over. After looking at the root system it was clear that a fungus had been attacking the trees for a while and so the waterlogged soil and weight of the canopies were enough to let these old trees fall to the ground. Always a sad sight to see but if left by the Council these tree should provide some dead wood for all sorts of organsisms.

Daffodils emerging around Sweet Chestnut

Bird-wise; 3 Goldcrests were noted, 4 Treecreeper were singing, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers were heard, a Green Woodpecker called by the Volunteers Pavilion, 3 Nuthatch were heard calling, 2 Redwing were feeding by the marsh area along the Len, 2 Jay were seen, a few Siskin could be heard in the Alders along the Len Valley, the Little Owl was in its usual Oak west of Mote House, 3 Meadow Pipits were flushed from the long grass close to the Pavilion, and 6 Med Gulls were with the 80+ Black-headed Gulls and 17 Common Gulls on the top playing field.

Moorhen

2 Grey Herons were seen, a Little Grebe and a Grey Wagtail were seen along the River Len, and in the old pond was a Water Rail feeding with the resident pair of Moorhen. Of particular note on the Lake were at least 4 Pochard, 3 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Little Grebe, and 2 Mute Swan.

2 comments:

Greenie said...

Simon ,
It looks like you have a busy few weeks in front of you .
I hope all the walks go well for you , and numbers attending match your enthusiasm .
Shame about the Alders , but I suppose they had had their time .
Good to hear the birds singing again .

Warren Baker said...

You've got it all sorted by the sound of it Simon!

No Gulls on my patch this month yet - you have them all!

Next Event - TBA