Sunday 19 July 2009

Year list...so far

Yesterday I checked if West Hartford had filled up again after the rain, it had, in fact it was flooded.
I checked Arcot Pond this morning and all the exposed mud around the reeds was covered by water and only a small part of the northwest corner island was visible.
The Island held 8 Oystercatchers, 1 Mute Swan, 1 grey Heron and a Little Egret.

The Egret was present all afternoon yesterday and unlike the last Arcot Egret, this one was not intimidated by the Grey Herons.
It fished along the edge of the island before disappearing for a while and reappearing in the reeds.

I have checked West Hartford five times in the last week and due to it either being flooded or dried up, there has been nothing that interesting to report.
A family of three Kestrels have been hunting around the area for the last week.

Below is my patch list for the year so far, which will hopefully be bigger by the end of the year.

Little Grebe
Cormorant
Grey Heron
Little Egret
Mute Swan
Whooper Swan
Greylag Goose
Pink- Footed Goose
Canada Goose
Shellduck
Mallard
Teal
Gadwall
Tufted Duck
Garganey
Shoveler
Pochard
Goldeneye
Red Kite
Sparrowhawk
Common Buzzard
Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Grey Partridge
Pheasant
Water Rail
Moorhen
Coot
Oystercatcher
Little Ringed Plover
Golden Plover
Lapwing
Snipe
Jack Snipe
Woodcock
Black Tailed Godwit
Curlew
Redshank
Greenshank
Black Headed Gull
Common Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black Backed Gull
Great Black Backed Gull
Common Tern
Feral Pigeon
Wood Pigeon
Stock Dove
Collard Dove
Barn Owl
Tawny Owl
Short-Eared Owl
Swift
Swallow
Sand Martin
House Martin
Skylark
Meadow Pipit
Pied Wagtail
Waxwing
Wren
Dunnock
Robin
Stonechat
Whinchat
Wheatear
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Mistle Thrush
Fieldfare
Redwing
Chiffchaff
Willow Warbler
Blackcap
Sedge Warbler
Grasshopper Warbler
Whitethroat
Lesser Whitethroat
Goldcrest
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Coal Tit
Long Tailed Tit
Nuthatch
Treecreeper
Jay
Magpie
Rook
Jackdaw
Carrion Crow
Starling
House Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Siskin
Linnet
Bullfinch
Reed Bunting
Yellowhammer

102

5 comments:

HowdonBlogger said...

You mention West Hartford and I have heard others mention it also but am unable to find a lake/pond near there on Google Maps, can you give me a Grid Reference please

John
Howdon Blogger

Stewart said...

Go on ther Crammy. This time last year, and your life list was not much bigger! You must have a had lots of lifers this year, and I hope many more to come. Keep it up!

John Malloy said...

Great stuff Phil - good work keeping the patch list going, the summer months can be hard work. Keeping an eye on a patch can reap rewards, so stick at it.

Codders - West Hartford can be found using this link - http://birdingsometimes.blogspot.com/2008/11/ear-wax.html - there is a link to a multimap page in the post.

Crammy Birder said...

The reason that the pool does not show up is because the arial shot of the area was taken during the summer when the pool had dried out.
Google maps has been updated recently and the pools can now be seen.
cheers stewart and BH

HowdonBlogger said...

Thanks for the replies, have did a quick print and will have a wander there at the weekend with my beloved

John