Friday, November 10, 2023

The male Sparrowhawk showing well this morning.

Friday 10th November 2023.


A splash of colour from the remaining Autumn leaves on this tree.

It has been quite a dismal wet last few days and even early this morning, the rain doth fall once more. Thankfully, it eased up and a bit of sunshine finally broke through this morning and so after my first shift over Pembroke Road, I took Buddy and Ted for a walk around Highland Road Cemetery again. Though very damp around the Cemetery, as per usual, there is always something to look at there and today, the male Sparrowhawk put on a great display by flying over my head and circling round a couple of times until it spotted something and went into a stoop to the south.

Only 18 species were seen or heard this morning, which was a lot quieter of late and apart from the Sparrowhawk, the other reasonably decent birds were heard only and that included the Green Woodpecker and Chaffinch, though I did see the Jay briefly.









The male Sparrowhawk put on a nice display above my head over on the east side of the Cemetery this morning.

The birds or heard this morning included the following:

  • Herring Gull
  • Carrion Crow
  • Jay 
  • Magpie
  • Blue Tit
  • Great Tit
  • Chaffinch
  • Goldfinch
  • Starling
  • Wren
  • Pied Wagtail
  • Sparrowhawk (male)
  • Feral Pigeon
  • Wood Pigeon
  • Collared Dove
  • Robin
  • Blackbird
  • Green Woodpecker


Above, apart from a few Yarrow and Smooth Sow-thistle flowers, this Purple Toadflax was still in flower. Below, Agaricus toadstools were abundant on the wet grass.




Very Autumnal.

There were plenty of Agaricus toadstools around the Cemetery today, but there were no other fungi seen. Insects were at a premium this morning as well with only a few Common Wasps seen. All in all, a rather quiet morning walk around the Cemetery today. In Hampshire, the long-staying female Long-tailed Duck was still on Hayling Oyster Beds and 2 female Goosanders and a Red-throated Diver were off Brownwich this morning. It looks very promising for a Waxwing invasion this winter as large numbers have been recorded in northern England and slowly making their way down. Fingers crossed.

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