MONTHLY WILDLIFE WALKS

March 18th 2020

There were 6 of us at the walk this morning and some of the “early birds” had already heard a Chiffchaff singing – an early migrant warbler – and saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker fly over. Lots of Robins were singing and displaying all along the walk and Blue Tits were also very active in the trees and bushes. A highlight for some of us was a small flock of Long Tailed Tits – they are such cute little birds and great to see. Less colourful but also good to see were at least 4 Chiffchaffs, almost certainly arrived here this week, but not yet singing much. The lake was quiet this month, except for the usual Canada Geese and a resting Cormorant but a Cetti’s Warbler was heard singing – a good bird for the park. This is a non-migrating warbler and the mild winters are helping it expand throughout the UK. A distant Skylark was heard at one point, which is a good sign for the planned teasel plantation. We also saw a smart male Sparrowhawk flying very low across the grass into the hedges – very nice to see. Green Woodpeckers also seemed active, although we only heard them and did not actually see them. An interesting observation, was that all the Blackbirds we saw were males – are the females sat on eggs already? They are early breeders, so this could be the case. Finally, a sign that spring is nearly here – despite the dull weather a butterfly was seen but not well enough to identify. Otherwise, the paths are still very muddy and wet in parts, although not as bad as last month, and wellies are recommended for all visitors.

Detailed sightings:

What we saw/heard was:

Common Name	Scientific Name	First Date	Total Count
Canada Goose	Branta canadensis	18/03/2020	6
Mallard	Anas platyrhynchos	18/03/2020	3
Common Wood Pigeon	Columba palumbus	18/03/2020	19
Common Moorhen	Gallinula chloropus	18/03/2020	1
Black-headed Gull	Chroicocephalus ridibundus	18/03/2020	7
Lesser Black-backed Gull	Larus fuscus	18/03/2020	1
Great Cormorant	Phalacrocorax carbo	18/03/2020	1
Eurasian Sparrowhawk	Accipiter nisus	18/03/2020	1
Great Spotted Woodpecker	Dendrocopos major	18/03/2020	1
European Green Woodpecker	Picus viridis	18/03/2020	3
Eurasian Magpie	Pica pica	18/03/2020	11
Carrion Crow	Corvus corone	18/03/2020	4
Eurasian Blue Tit	Cyanistes caeruleus	18/03/2020	16
Great Tit	Parus major	18/03/2020	6
Eurasian Skylark	Alauda arvensis	18/03/2020	1
Cetti's Warbler	Cettia cetti	18/03/2020	1
Long-tailed Tit	Aegithalos caudatus	18/03/2020	4
Common Chiffchaff	Phylloscopus collybita	18/03/2020	4
Eurasian Wren	Troglodytes troglodytes	18/03/2020	6
Common Starling	Sturnus vulgaris	18/03/2020	4
Common Blackbird	Turdus merula	18/03/2020	8
European Robin	Erithacus rubecula	18/03/2020	19
House Sparrow	Passer domesticus	18/03/2020	1
Dunnock	Prunella modularis	18/03/2020	3
Common Chaffinch	Fringilla coelebs	18/03/2020	1
European Greenfinch	Chloris chloris	18/03/2020	3
European Goldfinch	Carduelis carduelis	18/03/2020	5

27 species – a surprisingly good number for 1.5 hours walk.

The next walk will be on Wednesday 15th April – we look forward to seeing you all then.

Martin Singleton
Wickford Wildlife Society
Walk Leader.

Unfortunately, future walks have been cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.. It is hoped that it might be possible to resume on July 15th 2020.