Montpelier Park!

There were no less than 8 Woodpigeons on the children's play area this morning and 4 Magpies were in a tree together. A Coal Tit was singing from the pine tree.

The ivy near the station was again alive with bees and hoverflies (including at least one Hornet Hoverfly) plus lots of Common Wasps, Eristalis hoverflies and Ivy Bees. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was calling sadly remained hidden.

Hornet Hoverfly

St Andrews Park!

It was a lovely sunny morning for a stroll around the park. Highlights were a calling Great Spotted Woodpecker, several Goldfinches, a Black-headed Gull and several Herring Gulls and a Pied Wagtail. About 5 Marmalade Hoverflies were basking on leaves near the pond but a rather ill-looking Common Wasp was crawling along the path.

Pied Wagtail

Common Wasp

A goose-stepping Black-headed Gull

Marmalade Hoverfly

Drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker!

In Montpelier Park this morning a Great Spotted Woodpecker was calling then drumming. Although these attractive birds are regularly seen in and around Montpelier this is the first time I've heard one drumming. As drumming is the equivalent of singing in other birds and therefore an advertisement for a mate, there's a good chance they might nest in the park if a suitable female turns up! Also a Jay and a Great Tit in the park. Nearby in Station Road there was a Goldfinch and another Great Tit feeding in the birches and a couple of Chaffinches were near the feeders on the station.

Narroways!

A couple of hours on Narroways this morning produced 2 Ravens at the nest - one looks like it's sitting on eggs! Also a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew calling over the cutting from the ash wood towards the orchard. At Boiling Wells a singing Song Thrush and Greenfinch plus a courting pair of Dunnocks. Near the Ashley Hill end of the stony path there was a party of 2 Great Tits, 2 Blue Tits and 5 Long-tailed Tits. Plenty of Robins around. A pair of Jays in the Ash Wood. On Steve's reptile mats there were a couple of displaying Sepsid flies (also called Ensign flies - they are fond of human and animal waste!) but sadly no lizards today.

Robin

Raven

Raven on nest

Sepsid flies

In Montpelier I was very pleased to see my first hoverflies of the year - 2 Eristalis tenax on Dandelion. In Ashley Court Road a Jay was sat in a tree calling, mimicking a Buzzard!

Eristalis tenax

Great Spotted Woodpecker!

A male Great Spotted Woodpecker was playing hard to get at the station this morning - I first saw it near the feeders, then it flew towards the allotment gardens, then back to the area near the feeders before flying off towards Cromwell Road - maybe to visit St Andrews Park. Also in and around the feeders were a Dunnock, a Robin, a Great Tit, a calling Wren, several Collared Doves, about 4 Chaffinches and a gang of House Sparrows. Up to 4 Grey Squirrels were very much in evidence!

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Dunnock

St Andrews Park

Well I thought today would be a wash-out, with overcast conditions and drizzle putting everyone, including me, off the idea of birding in the park. How wrong could I be? It turned out to be a classic walk! The list is as follows:

Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1 seen well near the children's play area. A rare visitor to the park.
Redwing - a flock of up to 20 seen in the trees and feeding on the ground - a good count
Starling - a mini-murmuration of up to 50 birds - a spectacular sight!
Goldcrest - one showed well in the bare branches
Blue Tit - 1 or 2
Great Tit - more heard than seen
Coal Tit - 1 singing as I entered the park
Long-tailed Tit - 5 or 6
Robin - 3 or 4 seen and heard
Carrion Crow - a few
Magpie - 2 or 3
House Sparrow - a little gaggle near the Starling tree
Blackbird - a few seen
Mistle Thrush - 2, presumable a pair, seen
Pied Wagtail - at least 1 seen on the paths
Herring Gull - at least 1 loafing around 'on the deck'
Woodpigeon - 2 or 3
Feral Pigeon - a few around
Goldfinch - quite good numbers mainly twittering away in the trees
Greenfinch - 2 finches evading identification turned out to be this species thanks to Jon photographing them

Narroways

This morning, the Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen again, this time in Simons Grove - flew into a tree briefly. Also several Long-tailed, Blue and Great Tits in the same area. Greenfinches over the cutting and along stony path, lots of Goldfinches and a few Chaffinches in the latter location. Ridiculously tame Robin near Boiling Wells. Winter Heliotrope coming into flower along the Ashley Vale path.

Winter Heliotrope

Robin

Another Great Spotted Woodpecker!

A Great Spotted Woodpecker was at the station this morning before flying towards Cromwell Road and away. It might just be the same bird I saw in Narroways yesterday and Montpelier a few days ago, but I don't know why they always seem to turn up at this time of year on the patch. Also a few Chaffinches around.

The sunshine was strong enough to bring out some more wasps and a Plume Moth, despite the chilly wind.

Plume Moth

Common Wasp

Narroways

This morning on the reserve: Great Spotted Woodpecker - one calling near the brook and the same or another seen at the community garden, 3 Linnets flying south near brook, 1 Jay at church field, Along stony path there were a couple of trees with c15 Long-tailed Tits, a couple of Great and Blue Tits, a Coal Tit and a Goldcrest plus a party of Goldfinches feeding on Beech Mast. 5 Chaffinches nearby, Grey Wagtail over cutting. c30 Woodpigeons over Ashley Hill end of stony path. Magpies, Wrens and Blackbirds in good numbers with one of the latter sub-singing.

Several toadstools I am told might be Volvariella sp. on church field. A Scathophaga sp. fly (alive) on the church field plus a dead fly attacked by a fungus, probably Entomophthora muscae. Common Wasp along the stony path near some ivy flowers.

Volvariella sp.

Fly infested with fungus

Long-tailed Tit

Magpie

Scathophaga

Chaffinch

In Fairlawn Road there were a few Great and Blue Tits and I noted Holly in flower.

Great Tit

Holly Flowers

 

Great Spotted Woodpecker

A Great Spotted Woodpecker called a couple of times from the direction of the park (although I gave the park a once-over, I didn't hear it until I got to the station). The early sunshine brought out some Common Wasps nectaring on ivy flowers in the station.

Common Wasp

Narroways

Today on the reserve: 1 female Great Spotted Woodpecker sat briefly on a tree trunk. 1 female Sparrowhawk (low over cutting), a Chiffchaff singing over iron bridge, several parties of Long-tailed tits around, mainly Simons Grove.

Butterflies: 2 Gatekeepers, 30+ Meadow Browns, 10 Marbled Whites, 20 Ringlet, 1 Common Blue, 15 Small/Essex Skipper, 2 Speckled Wood.

1 Xylota segnis hoverfly. Lots of Red-tailed Bumblebees, lots of Buff-tailed/White-tailed Bumblebees, lots of Honey Bees, 3 Leaf-cutter Bees.

Xylota segnis

Tons of Soldier Beetles, 1 Lots of Thick-thighed Flower-beetles.

1 or 2 Narrow-bordered 5-Spot Burnet moths and a couple of Long-horned Moths.
1 Crab Spider Misumena vatia.

Long-horned moth

Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnet moth

I saw a beetle run across a path and an expert on Facebook thinks it might be Silpha laevigata. This would be the first record for Avon if accepted! Very exciting!

Silpha laevigata

On my way to Narroways, a Raven flew over Fairlawn Road.

Last night I set up my moth trap near the window and had loads of stuff in there this morning including several Bright-line Brown-eyes, a few Riband Wave, 5 Uncertain/Rustic, lots of Dark Arches, a Flame, 3 Heart and Dart, a Double-striped Pug, a Willow Beauty, a mystery Pug species and a Small Magpie. A couple of micros also, one of which was rather attractive and might be an Acrobasis species.

Bright-line Brown-eye

Small Magpie

 

Narroways

Today on the reserve: Great Spotted Woodpecker calling along stony path, Common Whitethroat  singing across iron bridge, Bullfinch calling across iron bridge, Chiffchaff pair seen well in Simons Grove, juvenile Blackcap at Simons Grove and an adult singing towards Ashley Hill end of stony path, Greenfinch singing at cutting, Wren family along stony path, Long-tailed Tits in community garden, Jay calling and feather seen in Simons Grove.

Marbled White c30 mostly on cutting and church field, dead Tree Bee, lots of honey bees, Ichneumon species, Common Carder Bee, Hoverfies: Myathropa florea, Helophilus pendulus, Syritta pipiens. Shedloads of Thick-thighed Flower-beetles.

Myathropa florea

Ichneumon

Jay feather

Marbled White

Myathropa florea

Tree Bee

At St Andrews Park there were lots of Blackbirds including a juvenile bird being fed by parents and an adult female collecting nesting material. The vegetation around the pond produced a Long-jawed Orb Weaver spider and a Merodon equestris hoverfly.

Long-jawed Orb Weaver



Merodon equestris

A moth in my kitchen is giving me ID problems - it is a worn specimen and not at all easy.

 

Great Spotted Woodpecker

The station was very quiet this morning apart from half a dozen Chaffinches and a gaggle of House Sparrows flying around. I was about to give up when a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew into the top of the trees near the footbridge giving fantatsic views! Unfortunately this was the one time I'd forgotten to bring my camera!

Narroways

Today on the reserve 10.15 - 12.00: some migration evident - highlight was a flock of 50+ Jackdaws flying SW seen from the cutting and a few ones and twos at other times during my visit. Also several Chaffinches, a Linnet, a couple of Pied Wagtails and several groups of Woodpigeons flying over.
Jays seen at Lynmouth Road, cutting and stony path - probably 4 or 5 birds involved.
Goldcrest showing well at Lynmouth Road and a Chiffchaff at the cutting. Several Blackbirds, Robins and a singing Dunnock mainly along stony path. Wren in scrub at the cutting.

A couple of Harvestmen on the Montpelier Station wall and at least 2 Jays there, one of which wandered along the platform near the tunnel to within a few meteres of me. A Great Spotted Woodpecker seen to fly into the trees near the TV mast opposite Colston Girls School.

St Andrews Park

Not a bad morning considering the leaves on the trees making bird spotting rather difficult. The full list as follows:

Great Spotted Woodpecker - one female showed well near the pond
Jay - two or three showing well
Coal Tit - one gave good views near the pond
Mistle Thrush - one near the toilets
Blue Tit - one or two
Great Tit - several calling and one singing
Robin - several songsters
Blackbird - two or three including a juvenile and moulting female
Dunnock - one heard
Greenfinch - one heard
Goldfinch - two or three around
Woodpigeon - a few
Collared Dove - one or two
Lesser Black-backed Gull - one over the park
Carrion Crow - a few
Magpie - one or two
Jackdaw - one heard calling overhead

Blackbird

Great Spotted Woodpecker

 There were also 2 or 3 Speckled Wood butterflies in the park.

In the Hurlingham Road end of the iron bridge there was a nice party of Great, Blue and Long-tailed Tits feeding busily and another Speckled Wood.

The station produced a Chiffchaff, a Jay and a couple of Great Tits. On the wildlife wall I found a tiny Rove Beetle (Steninae) which was the first I've ever seen on the patch. Nearby several Anthomyia flies were on the footbridge.

Anthomyia

Rove Beetle

Speckled Wood

Great Spotted Woodpecker

A Great Spotted Woodpecker calling at the station this morning but sadly it remained hidden from view. I looked for it again this evening but no luck. Also at the station was a male Blackcap and a singing Chiffchaff.