A lovely spring Morning and a visit to Bough Beech.
The first thing I noticed on arrival was the calls of Common Buzzard and up to 8 birds in the air at the same time. There has been a noted passage of Buzzards over SE England over the last couple of days – at least 16 had been reported from Bough Beech yesterday. It is possible that the calls were from a resident pair as they objected to the presence of other birds in ‘their’ area.
On the reservoir were good numbers of great Crested Grebes and Tufted Duck along with a few geese and Cormorants. In the vegetation on the edge of the resrvoir a number of Little Grebes were also present.
A lapwing could be heard calling but was not seen. Also heard were a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker and Pheasant. Grey Herons were perched in the Trees.
A Kingfisher sped across the causeway but did not stop in view. Down at the Visitor centre the feeders had the usual selection of finches. sparrows and tits.
A Cuckoo (the first of the year) had been heard about 30 minutes before we arrived but remained silent during the time we were there.
Common Pheasant [sp] (Phasianus colchicus)
Greylag Goose [sp] (Anser anser)
Canada Goose [sp] (Branta canadensis)
Gadwall (Anas strepera)
Mallard [sp] (Anas platyrhynchos)
Eurasian Teal [sp] (Anas crecca)
Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula)
Little Grebe [sp] (Tachybaptus ruficollis)
Great Crested Grebe [sp] (Podiceps cristatus)
Grey Heron [sp] (Ardea cinerea)
Great Cormorant [sp] (Phalacrocorax carbo)
Common Buzzard [sp] (Buteo buteo)
Common Moorhen [sp] (Gallinula chloropus)
Eurasian Coot [sp] (Fulica atra)
Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
Common Wood Pigeon [sp] (Columba palumbus)
Common Kingfisher [sp] (Alcedo atthis)
Great Spotted Woodpecker [sp] (Dendrocopos major)
Eurasian Magpie [sp] (Pica pica)
Western Jackdaw [sp] (Coloeus monedula)
Rook [sp] (Corvus frugilegus)
Carrion Crow [sp] (Corvus corone)
Coal Tit [sp] (Periparus ater)
Great Tit [sp] (Parus major)
Eurasian Blue Tit [sp] (Cyanistes caeruleus)
Long-tailed Tit [sp] (Aegithalos caudatus)
Common Blackbird [sp] (Turdus merula)
House Sparrow [sp] (Passer domesticus)
Dunnock [sp] (Prunella modularis)
Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii)
Common Chaffinch [sp] (Fringilla coelebs)
European Goldfinch [sp] (Carduelis carduelis)
Pete's Favourite Things 