Sunday, March 27, 2011

Sunday 27th March

It was a joy to have the weather bright and sunny for my walk around Mote Park today. 4 Small Tortoiseshell butterflies, bumblebees, and Bee Flies made the walk extra 'springy'.


Small Tortoiseshell


6 Green Woodpecker were 'yaffling', 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers were heard, 4 Goldcrest were noted, 5 Chiffchaff and 3 Blackcap were singing, 2 Treecreeper were singing, 5 Nuthatch were noted, 3 Sparrowhawk were seen displaying high above the park, 5 Herring Gulls flew north, and it was pleasing to see a Great Black-backed Gull also flying north - a new one for the year, and not an annual bird for the Parks bird list!



Wood Anemone



Of particular note on the Lake were 5 Great Crested Grebes, and the Mute Swan numbers have increased to 12 birds. 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were with the 27+ Common Gulls and 120+ Black-headed Gulls - it appears that the Mediterranean Gulls have departed from the park. A possible Yellow-legged Gull was on the Lake, but having not seen too many of these birds I cannot be 100% certain and would really appreciate any thoughts on this. If it is indeed a Yellow-legged Gull then it will be a first, for me, in the park.


Possible Yellow-legged Gull

3 comments:

Warren Baker said...

Interesting Gull Simon, but I cant tell either :-(

Phil said...

Super small tort shot Simon. Sorry but I can't help with the Gull

Mike H said...

Simon,
Difficult to call as you probably know they are lighter around the head and longer in the tail feathers than HG.Unfortunately the photos dont give enough to tell.

Next Event - TBA