Thursday 31st March 2005 Garden Dumpton Thanet
New visitors in the garden today, and in the hawthorn
along side my house 3 Chiffchaff. (Gadget)
Wednesday 30th March 2005 Garden Dumpton Thanet
Today in the garden I noticed the Wood Mouse was around the
feeders and taking food back to the wood pile. Birds were back and forth
all day on the feeders 4 Greenfinches, 3 Blue Tits, 1 Coal
Tit at 10-15hrs about 15 House Sparrows, 7 Starlings, 6 Collared
Doves, 1 Woodpigeon, 2 Blackbirds, 2 Dunnocks, 1
Robin. (Gadget)
Wednesday 30th March 2005 Garden Herne Bay
A lovely cock Greenfinch visited in turn, sunflower seeds,
peanuts, and nyger seed feeder (the nyger seed feeder has been up since
November and no birds have vested it so
far, also Goldcrest, which we think, are nesting in the Leylandi
hedge at the back of the garden. (Charlie Vint)
Tuesday 29th March 2005 Garden Dumpton Thanet
A couple of Chiffchaff
on Tuesday 22nd included a bird visiting the bird table very
briefly! Sparrows seem to have developed a passion for the peanuts in
the wire feeders, whilst Starling activity has almost ceased. The Feral
Pigeons are ever hungry and Collared Dove numbers appear to have
increased, with up to 14 birds around the gardens and rooftops of the
bungalow and our immediate neighbours. My youngest brother was rushed into
hospital on Wednesday, thus Bev and I were away in Hertfordshire for the
bulk of the Easter weekend. Arriving back on Monday afternoon, the
protesting columns of gulls and corvids alerted me to the fact that
something was going on, however I failed to see anything raptor-like,
that could have caused the commotion. The day wasn't quite over, as a
smart male Black Redstart popped up onto the garden fence before
flying off towards Broadstairs just as the light started to fade. (Dylan)
Tuesday 29th March 2005 Garden Dumpton Thanet
In addition to the normal bits and bobs in the garden today,
we had 1 Black Redstart at 07-30hrs and 3 Coal Tits one at
11-45hrs and two at 13-55 (Gadget)
Saturday 26th March 2005 Garden Mark Avenue
We've been away for a few weeks in France - saw
Hoopoes from the 5th March in the south and swallows from the 10th on
the west coast - spring must be coming! There were two Sacred Ibis mixed in
with dozens of nesting White Stork at the Teich Bird Reserve near
Arcachon on the west coast - that was quite a surprise.
Anyway just to report that when we got back there were hundreds of
Tadpoles in one of the garden ponds, they appear to have been hatched
for at least a week. The spawn, which was laid first, in the other pond has
yet to hatch.
There was also a Red-tailed Bumblebee in the garden this morning -
26th March.
(Paul Austin)
Monday 21st March 2005 Garden Hanworth Middlesex
I live in Hanworth Middlesex, my parents have had
frogspawn in their pond in Twickenham for about 7/10 days now and it just
seems to be constantly growing, along with toad spawn too, but haven't seen
any Newts yet. This Friday i saw the first Song Thrush of the
year in my communal gardens in Hanworth (Sharon)
Monday 21st March 2005 Garden Dumpton Thanet
I've spent quite a large proportion of my time in the
garden this past week. So much to do and so little time to do it - you know
the score! Thursday and Friday produced large numbers of migrant
Sparrowhawks (18 & 13 respectively) besides the 3 local pairs that are
establishing their territories. A distant raptor, also on Thursday, heading
north over Broadstairs was probably a male Marsh Harrier although I
couldn't rule out the possibility of Red Kite given the distance and
binocular only views. Blue Tits are actively investigating the newly
erected nest box and the Dunnocks look to be prospecting for a nest
site in our Winter Jasmine. I've now stopped feeding bread and whole peanuts
(except in the wire feeders) and instead, am now feeding a general seed mix
and raisins to accompany the fat balls. House Sparrow numbers remain
fairly constant at 20 ish birds, Starlings and Collared Doves are
also numerous, but my biggest headache is provided by the steady increase in
Feral Pigeons visiting my main table. I have now a regular mob of 9
birds that consume vast amounts of corn whilst stopping other species using
the feeding station. Other than resorting to the air rifle, I am at a loss
to know how to deal with them without also stopping the Collared Doves
from using the facility. Other birds noted during the week have included a
Lapwing north on Wednesday, Grey Heron south-west & 80+
Jackdaw, 7 Rook and 30 Carrion Crow drifting southeast
with good numbers of Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch and "alba"
Wagtail heading north on Thursday plus a small westward movement of
adult Lesser Black-backed & Common Gulls all week. (Dylan)
Saturday
19th March 2005 Dumpton Garden Thanet
Had jobs to do around the
garden today, but still had time to have a little observation 2 Frogs
Spawning, Blue Tits were very active in and out of the nest box, and the
Wood Mouse was seen once again, 7 Butterflies 5 Small
Tortoiseshell 2 Comma also 3 Seven Spot Ladybirds.
(Gadget)
Friday 18th
March 2005 Garden Stewartby Bedfordshire
Yesterday, Thursday
17th March at 07.30hrs I saw 2 Frogs spawning in my wild life pond,
masses of spawn, more than last year. Last year 2004 we
had spawn at the end of February,
although
the pond froze over the tadpoles still hatched. (Helen Gore)
Friday18th
March 2005 Dumpton Garden Thanet
Last night at about 22-00hrs wiliest
checking my Moth-traps, I counted 8 Frog’s and some were
spawning, owing to the wintry cold
and late snow this year some thing are a little late, so as Spring has
hopefully begun things will burst into life. (Gadget)
Tuesday 15th
March 2005 Dumpton Garden Thanet
We had three Song Thrushes
in the garden today, besides the regular visitors on a daily bases, We
haven't seen our little Wood Mouse for a few days. (Gadget)
Tuesday 15th
March 2005 Dumpton Garden Thanet
Things have
quietened down somewhat, since the
snow cleared. I am still getting large numbers of Starlings & House
Sparrows, but the Blackbirds have dispersed and only the
occasional visit from a Black-headed Gull.
On the plus side, there are a
pair of Blue Tits using the feeders that I've positioned in the hedge
at the bottom of the garden. A
Long-tailed Tit paid a short visit to inspect the Christmas Tree and
both Robins and Dunnocks are paired up and going through their
courtship routines. I got a great "Garden Tick" last night, as I was
inspecting the moth trap, a Teal flew over calling repeatedly and
this morning, at 06.50hrs, there was a female Reed Bunting on the
seed feeder, the first garden record for 2005, they are far more regular in
the autumn! (Dylan)
Monday 7th March 2005 A 15 minute Bridleway Gardens Broadstairs
A quick look at the feeder and the various bushes early
this morning revealed: 1 wren, 1 Robin, 1 Blue Tit, 1
Song Thrush, 2 Blackbird, 2 Wood Pigeon (although 10s
more circling around overhead), 3 Dunnock, 2 House Sparrow, 2
Carrion Crow and 3 Greenfinch. (Jerry Lanfear)
Wednesday 2nd March 2005 Garden Dumpton Thanet
Bev worked from home and the activity around our garden feeding station was
enough to keep me from going to bed. Nothing out of the ordinary, I'll
admit, but for the simple enjoyment of close contact with wild birds it took
some beating. Starlings dominated with over 100 birds present at
times. House Sparrows foraged around the fringe along with 2
Dunnock, 1 Robin, 7 Blackbird, 1 Wren, 6
Collared Dove, 5 Feral Pigeon, 5 Carrion Crow, 2
Black-headed and 1 Herring Gull. I topped the table up 3 times
today and the activity was almost constant. Twice I had to clear the snow
from the surface, such was the intensity of the deluge. By standing in the
kitchen with my digi-scoping gear I was able to record some nice images of
the visitors engaged in their daily struggle for survival,
really fascinating stuff! (Dylan)
Wednesday 2nd March 2005 Garden Dumpton Thanet
Today's winter conditions have bought the heaviest
snowfall to my part of Thanet this year, the bird numbers in the garden
around the feeders and on the lawn today, were 3 Blackbirds, 2 Blue Tits,
3 Greenfinches, 3 Dunnocks, 1 Robins, 2 Wren, 11Collared Doves,
26
House Sparrows,19
Starlings, and a Sparrowhawk up and down the field and back gardens for
most of the morning. (Gadget)
