A combination of work (very busy), back (not great) and lesser spotted woodpeckers (completely awesome) has limited the amount of birding and blogging time. I’ll post separately on the lesser spotted woodpecker pet project soon because I still need to enter and trawl through the data. In the meantime, here is a summary of my birding activities for February and March.
I only managed three visits in February, which included a gentle stroll on the 12th with Sarah along the sea front towards Herne Bay and back. As we were nearing home, close to the Beltinge & Reculver Surgery, a merlin shot over us. Not quite a garden tick, but a nice surprise.
Five days before on the 7th, an evening owling for 45 minutes within the 5km #LocalBigYear radius, produced two barn owl and one long-eared owl. Generally, owling produces diddly squat but when you get some success it makes the empty score card of previous visits worth it. If time allows, I am planning to focus my owling later in the season this year, in the hope I might come across the ‘squeaky gate’ calls of young long-eared owl.
The final visit of February, was the first visit of my Blean lesser spotted woodpecker pet project. It’s not just my project however, as I am working with a chap called Paul Cox who has searched for lesser spots over many years. On the 26th, I recorded two male and three females in one woodland block. Paul had seen an additional male before I arrived. The highlight was watching two females interact on the same tree.
March comprised of several very early starts, listening to woodland bird songs and calls – punctuated by focused observations and searches of lesser spots. Other highlights included a pair of marsh tit, a species that seems in more than a spot of trouble in Blean, several woodcock, a pair of mandarin, bramblings, siskin, redpoll and flyover crossbill (on two of the visits). Daytime calling tawny owl were recorded on a few occasions, but none were seen. Not all woodland blocks were within the 5km #LocalBigYear radius, but most were.
The only non-woodland trips included an out of county work associated training trip to RSPB Rainham Marshes and a late afternoon walk with a friend to see a beaver lodge, during which we bumped into great white and little egrets, as well as a close flock of redpoll.
From April onwards, I move onto looking for breeding evidence of rare breeding ducks within the 5km #LocalBigYear radius, namely shoveler and garganey. I also focus my attention on searching for and counting breeding marsh harrier. All are UK RBBP species. The other shift in my attention is towards finding passage migrants, and hopefully some scarce and rare species. But that’s easier said than done!
Dr Dave's Birding Blog 