Wildlife sightings in Sambourne 2014
The recent wet weather has confined our exercise walks to the local roads and lanes to avoid wading through mud. Typically this would be a walk to the ford at Coughton and back. This afternoon on just such a walk along Wike Lane, we were pleased to see a Kestrel fly over. We tend to think of Kestrels as quite common birds, but in fact there has been a significant decrease in their numbers in recent years due to agricultural intensification and land use changes. This Kestrel reminded me of other wildlife sightings we’ve seen in Wike Lane and it struck me just what a wildlife haven this is – usually with more to be seen than in the fields. Within the past week we have watched a party of at least 8 Coal Tits in the oak trees lining the lane, numerous Redwings and Fieldfares perched in the treetops along with the odd Mistle Thrush, a Sparrowhawk flew over, and a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers drew our attention with their loud drumming. A small herd of Fallow Deer crossed the lane ahead of us. Yesterday Pete saw a Grey Wagtail where Cain Brook passes under the road near the “Sambourne” sign. There are always Robins, parties of Great, Blue and Long-tailed Tits, finches and, at this time of year, often Redpolls and Siskins feeding in the trees and bushes. I’m sure we all eagerly await the first signs of spring. Wike Lane has provided again with ever more obvious catkins and leaves sprouting on the honeysuckle.
We are blessed with what is on our doorstep and long may it continue.
Other sightings:
29th Dec. We had a very brief view of a Kingfisher upstream from the ford.
2nd Jan. Two Little Grebes were still present on the River Arrow at Coughton.
Oh Joy! – It’s stopped raining and the sun has come out! Over the past few days we’ve noticed a number of signs of the arrival of springtime. Good numbers of Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies are around in the village, wild garlic is shooting in Wyke Lane, pussy willow is visible and the hawthorn hedgerows are sprouting leaves. Also, the daffodils planted around the Sambourne and Middletown signs by parish councillors and willing helpers are starting to give a fine display.
Other sightings over the past few weeks have included:
16th Feb. As we drove homewards on the A46 near Salford Priors around 11pm a Barn Owl flew over us.
23rd Feb. The Barn Owl experience was repeated in the same vicinity.
Gold-, Green-, Chaff- and Bullfinches have continued to rapidly empty our garden sunflower seed feeders, ably assisted by Redpolls, Siskins and Tits. However, our visitor numbers have been greatly exceeded by Lorraine’s in Middletown Lane. She reports having up to 30 Redpoll at a time, 6 Bullfinches, a pair of Siskins and a male Blackcap. A Fox, Treecreeper and Nuthatch are also regular visitors to her garden. Her other sightings have included a Stoat near the ford at Coughton, and 5 Green Woodpeckers by the footpath between Coughton and Sambourne.
Justin telephoned to report an unusual bird in his garden. From the description it sounded like a warbler, although with tricky lighting conditions we weren’t able to work out what it was. It’s rather early for a summer visitor, but Chiffchaffs are starting to overwinter in southern England, so perhaps it was one of those. It reminds me that we should be seeing and hearing the first summer migrant birds in the next two or three weeks. I look forward to that!
What a wonderful time of year this is! There are signs of springtime everywhere and the following are some of our highlights:
14th March. We managed to walk though Coughton Park woods, although it is still a quagmire in places. We saw a lot of frogspawn in water-filled wheel ruts.
16th March. Comma and Peacock butterflies appeared in the garden. Chris commented on the bird activity in Middletown Lane and referred to high levels of “nestosterone”!
22nd March. A Little Owl was calling loudly from the hedgerow across the field behind us.
23rd March. It was amusing to see Mallards swimming in a large puddle in Wike Lane.
24th March. We put some stale “Café Curl” wafer biscuits on the bird table, but the first to find them was a Squirrel. It picked one up in its front paws and as it sat at the front of the table it gave the impression it was playing it like a clarinet – but it soon got munched.
28th March. We saw and heard Chiffchaffs in Wike Lane for the first time this spring. We watched a Goldcrest on the same walk.
3rd April. A Blackcap was singing in the small copse below the Ridgeway by the footpath down to Whitemoor Lane.
4th April. On a walk on the footpath from Coughton to Sambourne we saw a Yellowhammer, a flock of 10 or more Linnets and two Reed Buntings (a male and a female) – the first time we’ve seen any on this walk. Chiffchaffs are now being heard and seen regularly.
Phil B. has reported many sightings from Middletown Lane, perhaps the most significant being a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, a Kestrel and Skylarks.
Lorraine has seen a Mink on the bank of the River Arrow behind Coughton Court and her garden in Middletown Lane has become a home for up to 14 Pheasants!
Although the spring weather has been rather mixed so far, nature has been responding to the generally mild weather as can be seen from the following chronology.
14th April. The first Orange-tip butterfly appeared in our garden. Skylarks were seen and heard singing over fields beyond Glebe Farm. There have been more sightings since.
16th April. We saw the first Swallows overhead. Pete reported hearing a Cuckoo calling near Wike Lane. Over the next few days several people heard calling in the vicinity of Glebe farm. Are we to be the only Sambourne residents not to hear a Cuckoo? We saw two Hares in fields between Sambourne and Coughton.
18th April. We heard the song then saw the singing Whitethroat by Willis’s field off Sambourne Lane.
21st April. Three Bullfinches and two Redpolls have again brightened up the seed feeders after a short absence.
22nd April. Thirteen Fallow Deer were grazing in a field by the path from Coughton and dashed into the adjacent copse when they spotted us. A Siskin has returned to our garden. More Swallows seen around the village.
2nd May. On an evening walk home from Coughton we saw five Hares and a Little Owl. Bluebells in Coughton Park woods must be at their peak now.
6th May. From our garden we could hear a Cuckoo calling.
8th May. We saw Swifts for the first time this spring
10th May. A Nuthatch has started to visit the sunflower hearts regularly and I wonder if it’s feeding young nearby.
Top nature sighting this month was undoubtedly Roy spotting a Grass Snake swimming in his garden pond. The crowning glory was seeing it on a second occasion, this time it had caught a frog and Roy was actually able to photograph it.
Also in the past month:
13th May. The fat block hanging in the garden barely touched for weeks has suddenly become a centre of attention for an adult Starling feeding young.
14th to16th May. We had three days walking parts of the coastal path in south Pembrokeshire. Along with the splendid scenery we enjoyed sightings of the local specialities including Razorbills, Guillemots, Fulmars, Gannets, Puffins and Choughs. The most abundant butterfly was the Wall Brown, now thought to be extinct in Warwickshire.
17th May. A Cuckoo calling could be heard clearly from our garden.
19th May. We saw two Fallow Deer and three hares on an evening walk home from Coughton.
23rd May. A fat block now disappears in couple of days as Great Spotted Woodpeckers and members of the Crow family are tucking in!
24th May. Chris reported having watched a family of newly fledged Goldfinches in his garden in Middletown Lane.
28th May. A Muntjac Deer spent an hour in Pete’s garden in Middletown Lane.
7th June. Red Kites continue to spread. We watched one flying over the Cotswolds, south of Stroud.
9th June. We were impressed by a large and noisy beetle that landed on a patio plant. On inspection this turned out to be a Common Cockchafer – not a welcome guest as they cause significant damage to plants, particularly cereal crops.
11th June. We saw two Hares and heard prolonged Cuckoo calling on a late evening walk to and from Coughton.
12th June. As we walked near Glebe Farm in the evening we heard more persistent Cuckoo calls and saw a small flock of Linnets.
About this time last year I reported having seen a Scarlet Tiger Moth in Feckenham, which surprised me as they are predominantly found in the south of England and south-west Wales. Well, they would seem to be spreading their range as I’ve had two more reports of sightings – from Ann in Sambourne Lane who had two sightings and Denzil in Coughton who also saw one. They are very attractive moths, so it would be great if they were to become a regular feature in our area.
Lorraine is another to spot a Red Kite over Sambourne and she also saw a Little Egret behind the River Arrow behind Coughton Court. I can recall being delighted to see them in the Camargue wetlands in the south of France, but they have expanded their range in recent years and are now well established in the U.K.
Our nature sightings this month have been rather more exciting than usual having just returned from a two-week trip to Tanzania. We started our visit in Arusha National Park, near Mount Kilimanjaro, and then transferred for a short stay on the shore of Lake Victoria. From here we moved into the Serengeti National Park, then to the Ngorongoro Highlands and Crater, and finally Tanangire National Park. It’s difficult to pick out any particular highlights, but they must include watching 10 Lions that had just killed a Warthog and had settled down to devour it being driven off (temporarily) by a small herd of Elephants that simply seemed to take exception to the Lions being there. The sight of migrating herds of Zebra and Wildebeest was like watching a TV documentary, as were two Cheetah chasing a Thompson’s Gazelle and a Leopard strolling casually past our Landcruiser. One disturbing piece of information we heard from our local guide is that on average every 15 minutes an Elephant is killed by poachers in Tanzania. There is a well-publicised movement to tackle the problem, but our guide did not seem too optimistic as compliance from corrupt officials is suspected.
The lovely warm weather has brought out good numbers of butterflies in the woods and visiting buddleias in the gardens. It was good to have an excuse for frittering away some time watching them by contributing to the Butterfly Conservation’s “Big Butterfly Count”.
13th July. Pete reported having seen a Little Owl perched on a post near Sambourne Hall Farm.
14th July. The highlight of a walk through Coughton Park wood was to find that the colony of Silver-washed Fritillary butterflies is still active along the bridleway. Also on the wing were the more common butterflies such as Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers.
15th July. Harebells are again in flower around the footpath towards Coughton and it’s pleasing to see the patch seems to be spreading.
16th July. John reported having seen a Grass Snake in his garden pond in Perrymill Lane.
19th July. We were sad to see a squashed Grass Snake in Wike Lane, but a consolation was the sight of two Hares in a nearby field.
21st July. I did two counts for the “Big Butterfly Count” mentioned above – one in the garden and one in the woodland. The most numerous butterfly was the Peacock.
25th July. Two Green Woodpeckers were on a telegraph pole by the field path to Coughton. This species is being seen regularly now as they feed on the many ant nests around.
26th July. A Red Kite was flying beside the A46 near Dumbleton.
1st August. Elizabeth reported having helped a Grass Snake on its way across Sambourne Lane and also spotted a Silver-washed Fritillary in her garden.
7th August. We saw two Treecreepers and Goldcrests in Coughton Park wood, and were there a couple of Crossbills? – not a good enough view to be sure.
8th August. As we drove along Perrymill Lane a Sparrowhawk flew up from the grass verge clutching its Wood Pigeon meal.
My records suggest that I’ve now been producing these notes for approaching six years and I’ve again been musing on whether it’s getting rather stale for you readers and time to call a halt. However, there is an element of self-interest in producing them because from time to time villagers tell me of their own interesting sightings and I like to hear that they also have been enjoying the natural world around us. For instance, Janet mentioned the Hares to be seen around her home (that’s outside, not inside!) and Roy mentioned seeing a Buzzard perched on a low post in Middletown Lane close to houses (they seem to be getting ever more bold) and a deer in his garden. He said it had a white rump, so I suggested Fallow Deer, but having just looked up Muntjac in Google I find that, although I’ve not seen it happen, when disturbed they will raise their tail erect, which shows white underneath. I live and learn.
Some of our own observations over the past month have been:
13th August. Two Whitethroats in the hedgerow near Sambourne Hall Farm.
17th August. A nearby Chiffchaff call could be heard from our garden.
18th August. A large flock of Swallows were continuously circling an oak tree next door then swooping low over our garden and skimming over the house. There seemed to be a sudden increase in bird activity in the garden with a Coal Tit on the peanuts, Goldfinches looking for nyger seed and a Willow Warbler darting around various shrubs. On a twilight walk to and from Coughton we saw four Hares.
21st August. One Hare, two Fallow Deer and two Foxes were the tally from an evening walk through the woods and across the fields around Glebe Farm.
2nd September. Nine Fallow Deer were near the footpath between Coughton and Sambourne, watching a dog-walker suspiciously before dashing into the nearby copse.
7th September. A Speckled Wood butterfly had to be evicted from our kitchen on two occasions. Two Little Owls could be heard calling near the Coughton-Sambourne footpath.
Most of my nature watching this month took place in the south of France - Languedoc. This is an important area for birds on migration in September from northern Europe to winter homes in Africa. We had high hopes of lots of birds of prey, storks and cranes at the well-known viewing points. However, we heard that it has been an unusual migration this year and it was suggested to us that strong winds had caused many birds to follow a different route, so sightings were rather limited with a few eagles and harriers and a solitary Flamingo. We spotted the Flamingo and an Osprey on a salt-water lake by the Mediterranean Sea. We felt rather constrained in our use of binoculars and telescope here as, even though the lake was part of a nature reserve, a sign indicated that naturists use the adjacent beach. One couple did actually stray into our field of view as we were scanning the lake, which caused us a brief distraction!!
Although bird life was rather limited there were many butterflies still on the wing benefitting from the warm sunshine, and we also found a four-inch long bright green Praying Mantis. They really are fascinating creatures.
Since returning home we’ve noticed quite a lot of Tawny Owl calls in the early morning and Pete reported seeing one in Middletown Lane as well as a Roe Deer. We’ve recently seen Muntjacs in Wike Lane and Pam was not pleased to find one eating her roses in Middletown Lane!
Finally, if you happen to notice that the tree in Whitemoor Lane beside the church has had quite a hard pruning, this was because large splits had been noticed where major branches grow away from the trunk. Experts from the County Council’s Forestry department inspected the tree, decided it could be saved by reducing its size and promptly carried out the work.
Our highlight of the month was a visit to the Steart Marshes nature reserve, by Bridgewater Bay, Somerset. This is a newly-established reserve managed by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust on behalf of the Environment Agency. Here we had wonderful and prolonged views of a pair of Short-eared Owls hunting over reed beds. These spectacular birds hunt by day and the light was perfect. The tidal mudflats where the River Parrett joins the Severn Estuary are important feeding grounds for shorebirds and we saw large flocks of Dunlin as well as smaller groups of Black-tailed Godwits and Redshank. Avocets are present, but eluded us. Apparently 386 of them were seen next day!
Closer to home there has been much to comment on. Sharon watched a herd of nine Fallow Deer from the footpath to Coughton. Pete has noticed a white Pheasant, including in his Middletown Lane garden and Chris had a Red Admiral in his garden on 1st November! Phil B. was thrilled to see a Peregrine fly over the village and even provide a bit of a display. This was interesting as a couple of days earlier I was fairly sure I’d seen two fly over, one performing a “stoop” – an attacking dive with the wings folded back. Our own bird sightings of note have included two juvenile Reed Buntings, some Yellowhammers and a Kestrel near Sambourne Hall Farm, Mistle Thrushes on several occasions, and the first of the winter visitors in the form of a small flock of Redwing. Our local highlight was a pair of Stonechats looking out for insect prey from a hedgerow near Glebe Farm. This is the first time we’ve seen this species in the area. Our garden is again full of Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Tits and Nuthatches since we restarted the sunflower and nyger seed feeders.
Finally, David watched a Fox trotting nonchalantly down Perrymill Lane around midday last Saturday!
The mild autumn has gone and the cold weather of winter has arrived. Consequently the rate of consumption of the sunflower hearts by the garden birds has increased dramatically and I’ve just discovered why. Yesterday I noticed to my amazement that the large feeder was half empty only a couple of hours after I’d filled it. Next time I looked there were six Magpies and four Crows clinging to the feeder and shaking it or waiting below to hoover up the fallout. I’ve now purchased a (hopefully) much more robust feeder before they bankrupt me!
Highlights of the past few weeks have been:
16th November. We saw four Fieldfares in trees in Wike Lane – the first this autumn.
18th November. Two Green Woodpeckers were feeding in the garden. I know they’re quite common in and around the village, but I still like to see them. Phil (Middleton Lane) has commented on regular sightings.
25th November. A flock of Long-tailed Tits visited the garden to feed on peanuts. We saw a few Redpolls on our walk to Coughton – again, the first this autumn.
27th November. We spotted two Reed Buntings (male and female) near Sambourne Hall Farm, then a Kestrel. We see one or two Kestrels almost every time we walk this path, which is good as the species has suffered a significant decline in numbers in recent years.
30th November. Pete reported watching a Buzzard perched in a tree in his garden in Middletown Lane. Next time he shops for bird food will he need to add rabbits to his shopping list?
2nd December. A squirrel was seen nibbling a cocktail blini on our bird table. I hope it doesn’t expect such delicacies on a regular basis! Two Goldcrests were squabbling (?) in our hedge, giving Sue one of her best views ever of these lovely little birds.