Starlings and Slime-moulds!

 A dismal and rather uninspiring afternoon in St Andrews Park produced 20+ Starlings, 10 Goldfinches, several Magpies and Carrion Crows and the ever-present Herring Gulls overhead.  

Starlings

Magpie

Goldfinch

Apart from the paucity of bird life there was a Slime-mould on the dead wood habitat which is my first I've ever seen! Slime-moulds are very strange organisms once thought to belong to the fungi but are closer to amoebas. - more information can be found here.

Slime-mould

St Andrews Park!

It was all very quiet in the park this morning apart from a party of 8 or 9 Long-tailed Tits, a Blue Tit, several Magpies, a couple of Black-headed Gulls, 2 Starlings and several Goldfinches. The first Snowdrops were in flower in their usual place.

Snowdrops

Black-headed Gull

 One of my Missing-sector Orb-weavers was running around the kitchen this evening.

Out and About!

This morning I had a look around the park - the early sunshine produced a Syrphus hoverfly and a couple of Harlequin Ladybirds. Nearby at the station approach there were a couple of Ivy Bees, several Eristalis tenax hoverflies, a Green Shieldbug and another Syrphus hoverfly.

Syrphus

Harlequins

Eristalis tenax

Ivy Bee

Green Shieldbug

This evening on the way home there were about 20 Starlings on the church at Portland Square, though flighty.

Starlings

Starling invasion!

Montpelier Park was a flurry of activity this morning with about 30 Starlings - including lots of young ones - feeding on the grass. I haven't seen so many in the park for absolutely ages! Also a Blackbird, some Goldfinches, 2 Collared Doves and a Robin. Lots of Charlock growing on the slope and a few Honey Bees visiting various flowers.

Charlock

Collared Dove

Honey Bee

St Andrews Park

A walk through the park this afternoon produced a good number of 30+ Starlings feeding on the grass along with about 15 Redwings and a single Pied Wagtail. Nearby a couple of male Chaffinches fed under a tree and a Coal Tit was singing. Crocuses and Snowdrops were putting on a good show.

Chaffinches

Snowdrops

Starlings

Crocuses

Fungi

I'm hopeless at identifying fungi but I saw these specimens in St Andrews Park this afternoon. Will try and get them identified.

Also in the park were 9 or 10 Starlings, a couple of Goldfinches and a pair of Blackbirds.

A party of Long-tailed Tits were feeding at the station.

St Andrews Park

At least 3 Redwings in the park his morning, plus lots of Goldfinches, about 10 Starlings and a couple of Chaffinches. Both Blue and Great Tits were seen and there were Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls hanging around. A possible Sparrowhawk kill was indicated by lots of feathers near the Effingham Road entrance.

Feathers

Redwing

In Fairlawn Road there was a Jay sat in a tree making some interesting calls including a parakeet-like screech, mimicry of a nearby Magpie and some Greenfinch-like trills!

Montpelier Station

There was a Cluster Fly basking on a leaf at the station this morning - can't say I've ever seen one before. They parasitise earthworms, the larvae eating the worms alive. Lovely. Also at the station was a Grey Squirrel, about 15 Starlings and good numbers of House Sparrows.

Cluster Fly

Grey Squirrel

Montpelier Station

Lots of common bird action at the station this morning with about a dozen Starlings, 2 Jays, lots of House Sparrows and a few distant Swifts high in the direction of Cheltenham Road.

Swifts ahoy!

Two Swifts were flying over the station this morning and a further 10 to 15 were seen in the distance beyond the TV mast. This is a good count these days, and I'm hopeful numbers have slightly recovered from previous years. They really are one of my favourite birds. Also at the station plenty of noisy Starlings - I'm pretty sure some youngsters were amongst them but I didn't get a good look.

Tits

I took a couple of shots of my Blue Tits this morning but when an adult visited the nestbox with a caterpillar he or she did not actually enter the nest. I wonder if the brood has fledged? I couldn't hear the youngsters chirping when the food was brought to them.

 
Nearby there were flyovers from 2 Swifts and 6 Starlings.

At last - a Willow Warbler!

Willow Warblers are almost guaranteed on the patch in early April, and I've been very puzzled, not to say miffed, by their non-appearance this spring. Imagine my relief when I heard one this morning on the station, hidden deep among the Sycamores. Great stuff! Also a Blackcap singing nearby and a Coal Tit in song near Station Road. Also around the station half a dozen Starlings and several Goldfinches.

Birdz

Birds are becoming a bit more conspicuous now after the mid-summer lull. Still a couple of Swifts seen distantly from the station - I'm wondering if many have already left as there seem fewer around now. Nine Starlings also seen on a St Andrews Road TV aerial and a feeding party of Blue Tits at the station along with the usual bunch of House Sparrows. Nearby a Wren was singing.

Station Starlings Hit Double Figures Shock

At least 10 Starlings at the station this morning along with a couple of Chaffinches and Goldfinches and the usual House Sparrows. Nearby at Fairlawn Road there was a party of Long-tailed, Great and Blue Tits and a Grey Squirrel. A Coal Tit was showing well in Balmoral Road.

Grey Squirrel

A Raven did 3 or 4 circuits of St Andrews Park, also a Pied Wagtail in the park.

Raven

Montpelier murmuration and memorable Mistles

At the station this morning there was evidence of some new arrivals probably due to the colder weather. The Starling flock numbered at least 9 - double figures may yet be achieved before the winter's out! An impressive 20+ Chaffinches, mainly females, were feeding in the treetops and a brief visit from 3 Mistle Thrushes was a big surprise. Other birds of note were a Pied Wagtail, a Coal Tit and a Blue Tit plus 4 fly-over Greenfinches.

Livin' in a Fox

A Fox was mooching around a St Andrews Road garden this morning at 10 o'clock. Looeked in good condition.

An influx of Starlings in St Andrews Park at lunchtime plus good numbers of Goldfinches.

'ello 'ello 'ello....it's a birding bobby!

Whilst watching a party of Long-tailed Tits in St Pauls Park this morning I heard a voive say 'ah, Long Tailed Tits' and when I turned to see who it was, I was surprised to see a police constable! He turned out to be a very knowledgeable birder and had not arrived to arrest me as I'd feared. We spent 10 minutes or so chatting about the urban birds he sees on his beat. Also in the park were a Goldcrest calling from the fir trees, a Pied Wagtail, a Chaffinch, a fly-over Goldfinch, 25 fly-over Starlings, a Blue Tit, a Blackbird, a Dunnock, a Wren, 3 Robins, 3 Woodpigeons, a Herring Gull and a Carrion Crow.

Just outside the patch, a Peregrine was sat on the Castlemead Tower.

Montperegrine 3: Skyfall

The female Peregrine was back on the TV mast this morning. She was preening and being mobbed by a pair of Magpies and a Carrion Crow. You could see she wasn't going to put up with the harrassment for long and after a few stretches of her wings she flew off chased by the corvids. Three Starlings also nearby but not much else to report.

Narroways

It was the annual hay cut today and we found a huge Common Toad up on Church Field. A single Jackdaw flew over and there was a scruffy Silver Y moth plus lots of Helophilus and Eristalis hoverflies.

Common Toad


At Fairlawn Road a Red Admiral was nectaring on Buddleia and there were lots of hoverflies as noted on Narroways. A pair of Garden Spiders were courting I think, the (presumed) male gingerly waving his front leg towards the female who sprang at him and forced him to withdraw. A Chiffchaff was calling nearby.

Red Admiral

Garden Spiders

A party of 8 Starlings were sat on the roofs of houses in St Andrews Road - the first Starlings I've seen for a month or two.

Starlings

Montpelier Station

A party of Great Tits feeding between the station and Station Road this lunchtime. A Blackcap calling nearby and 7 Starlings on the big mast.

There was 1 Large-flowered Evening Primrose at the station - this is far less common than in the past at this site but I'm not sure why.