The vocal female Black Redstart now spending its 5th week by my garden.
It was a grim start to the working week this morning when I discovered a dead adult Fox opposite where I stand in Pembroke Road this morning; sadly freshly dead from being hit by a car and so I managed to pick it up from the pavement and gently placed it on a bit of bare ground nearby. Parents with their children walk over on that side of the road and the last thing they want to see is a dead Fox. Thankfully, I managed to get the number of the guys who can pick it up and dispose of the poor animal.
On a much better note, there was a good number of bird species within Pembroke Road today and back at my garden in Southsea, both the Black Redstart and Blackcap were still present; the latter showing very well in the bare tree in my neighbours garden. The weather was mostly overcast today and a bit showery at times too.
Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:
I waited patiently for the guys to come along to take the Fox away, but they never arrived during the time I was there and so hopefully they might have collected it after I had left Pembroke Road. Amazingly, I have never ever seen a Fox here at this site and so it is sad that I had to find a dead one to prove that they are actually here.
Up to 14 species of birds were recorded today, despite being rather overcast and a little damp in the afternoon, though the best of the birds were most likely the Brent Geese flying east over the Curtain Moat area. Three species of Gull were recorded: Black-headed (2 birds), Great Black-backed Gull and many Herring Gulls as expected. Passerines, either seen or heard, included the House Sparrows, Dunnock, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Blackbird and best of all, a Greenfinch flying over. I thought I had heard a Chiffchaff call, but it was just the once and so I could not be 100% sure.
My Garden:
The female Black Redstart and Blue Tit share the same tree.
I heard the male Blackcap singing in the back garden when I got home from Old Portsmouth, but I didn't get a sighting of the bird. I bought some new Fat Balls from Home Bargains yesterday, seeing the old ones were rotten and it didn't take long for the Blue Tits to take full advantage of them.
Above, one of the three Blue Tits and below, the female Black Redstart sharing the same tree.
It was after my second shift at Pembroke Road that I went outside into my garden to see if the female Black Redstart was still present. Thankfully, it was. I heard the bird calling first of all, a repeated soft ‘sipp’ call coming from the bare tree in my neighbours garden and I saw it fairly high up in the tree. I rushed back indoors to grab my camera and though there were a lot of small branches in the way, I managed to grab a few photos and a bit of film footage of this lovely little bird. Along with the Blackcap, it is now spending its fifth week here by my garden but for how much longer? We shall see.
I managed some film footage of the Black Redstart by my garden today.
Birding pal Andy Fisher was out birding again today and he managed to see both Firecrest and Red-legged Partridge to add to his year list.
In Hampshire today:
One of the Lazee Birders, Mark Francis, picked up a flock of 11 Red-throated Divers off Hill Head today as the birds rested on the sea from the Sailing Club and also a Red-necked Grebe off the Brownwich area. Two Black-necked Grebes, 1 Slavonian Grebe, 1 Long-tailed Duck, 1 drake Scaup and 2 Great Northern Divers were off the Hayling Oyster Beds; all seen by fellow ‘Lazee Birder’ Gary Fennemore. In the New Forest, a female Hen-Harrier and a juvenile White-tailed Eagle flew over Beaulieu Heath this morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment