By recent standards this was a fairly uneventful walk, but it was enlivened at the end by Simon spotting a Sparrowhawk. The list in full:
Sparrowhawk - 1 soaring above the park. A fairly large and stocky bird meant that this was likely to have been a female
Chaffinch - a few showed well
Goldfinch - good numbers feeding in the treetops
Starling - several
Woodpigeon - several in the park plus a flock of 30+ flying overhead
Collared Dove - at least 1 seen
Feral Pigeon - several near the café
Robin - good numbers seen and heard
Blackbird - several, mostly males
Blue Tit - mainly heard
Great Tit - several showing well
Herring Gull - 1 or 2 cruising overhead
Carrion Crow - several
Magpie - 1 or 2
House Sparrow - seen in and around the wildlife hedge
Wren - at least 1 heard singing
Dunnock - at least 2 seen and heard
Thanks to the loyal people who came along. The next walk will be in January - see you then!
Add a Comment
Thank you Des
10am Elaine.
Thank you Des I have put date in diary but is there a time set yet? Elaine
Sorry you missed the walk Elaine. I didn't get round to putting posters up. The next walk is on 18 January 2015.
Regards
Des
I am really sorry I missed the bird walk, I walked round the park on Friday to see if there was a notice about a bird walk, having checked web site first but didn't see one. Meant to send an email asking when the next one was due but didn't manage to! So missed out. Next one is January.....any date set yet? Do let me know.
Though to be honest, when I spotted the bird of prey circling and soaring above the park, I blurted out ' Buzzard'! It needed Des to quickly correct me -' No, a Sparrowhawk'. Having seen umpteen Buzzards soaring and gliding, but with no previous experience of sparrowhawks flying in this way, I just wrongly concluded - Buzzard.
Looking at the pictures below, it is clear how very different the two birds look in flight. The Buzzard (first picture) as well as having a short, wedge shaped tail, has in proportion, much longer wings than the sparrowhawk, whose wings are 'dumpier' and have a much greater 'bend' in them. Having Des to point out my obvious mistake, and Iooking at the book illustrations, I think I will be able to distinguish the two species in future.
© 2021 Created by admin.
Powered by
You need to be a member of Friends Of St Andrews Park to add comments!
Join Friends Of St Andrews Park