Monthly Birding Reports

July 2010
 
A group from The Friends of Kelsey Park, Beckenham visited on 3 August and saw the following birds:
Little grebe          Canada goose       Mallard                   Pheasant                                Moorhen
Coot                    Black-headed gull   Woodpigeon          House martin                          Green woodpecker
Gr spotted woodp’r                          Wren                       Robin                                      Blackbird   
 Willow warbler  Goldcrest              Spotted flycatcher  Great tit                                   Blue tit 
Coal tit                Nuthatch                Treecreeper           Carrion crow                           Chaffinch  
 Goldfinch           Greenfinch             Siskin                      Bullfinch
and also several dragonflies and damselflies, including male and female Ruddy Darter and White Legged Damselfly.  
 
This Group’s August walk took place on a beautiful clear Saturday morning, the 28th, particularly welcome as it followed on from several rainy and cloudy days. The following bird species were recorded:
 
Little grebe             Gt crested grebe           Cormorant              Mallard                   Common buzzard
Red-leg’ partridge  Pheasant                        Moorhen                Coot                        Herring gull
Stock dove             Woodpigeon                  Collared dove        Gr woodpecker*    Gt spotted woodpecker
Barn swallow        Sand martin                    Pied wagtail           Wren*                     Robin                     
Mistle thrush          Blackbird                        Garden warbler    Blackcap                 Willow warbler      
Goldcrest               Great tit                          Coal tit                    Blue tit                     Marsh tit                
Long-tailed tit*        Nuthatch                        Magpie                   Jay*                         Jackdaw                
Carrion crow         Chaffinch                       Linnet*                   Goldfinch                 Siskin   
Bullfinch*                Common crossbill        
 * = heard only                        Total   41
as well as a few butterflies, such as:
Peacock                 Speckled wood    Small white           Large white           Meadow brown
Gatekeeper           Common blue      Small copper
 
July 2010
Some sightings from June, not included in my last report. A Merlin was seen over Bedgebury in early June. A Cormorant was seen trying to land on the Visitor Centre lake on 11 June but there was a large school party close by as well as some music playing, such that the bird thought better of it! There are Cormorants on the Great Lake in front of the nearby Bell Bedgebury School, and it could easily have been one of those. And a Common Whitethroat was also recorded, on the Visitor Centre white board, during last month. 
A pair of Red Kites was seen flying above Lady Oak Lane in the corner towards the A21 on 19 July
 
June 2010
 
A pair of Egyptian Geese were on the lake in front of the Visitor Centre on 3 June, a “first” for Bedgebury. They were there again certainly towards the end of the month. There had been a couple on Bewl Water a year or so ago, just possibly the same birds 
Turtle doves are almost certainly nesting in the area of Bedgebury close to the A21 as they were visiting feeders pretty much every day, in the first half of June at least, on a property on Lady Oak Lane 
A Crested Tit, a most unusual but nonetheless welcome visitor, was spotted on the property next to the Pinetum, on bird feeders, a couple of times around 19-21 June. That will also have to be noted as a “first” for Bedgebury! 
Two Nightjars were being heard calling on the Plots in the evenings, but once during late afternoon, in the last week of June
 
May 2010
 
One report received after the April report was distributed concerned a Cuckoo which was heard in the forest, in the direction of the Flimwell entrance, on 27 April. 
A Turtle Dove was first heard on 6 May, just behind the FC offices, and it’s been heard quite consistently since then. 
On 15 May, a small group of birders from Hertfordshire spent not much more than an hour in the Pinetum and the forest, and recorded the following 29 species:
 
Mandarin duck            Tufted duck              Hobby                     Moorhen                                Turtle dove
Green woodpecker    Gt sp woodpecker   Barn swallow         House martin                         Tree pipit
Wren                           Robin                       Mistle thrush            Garden warbler                     Blackcap
Chiffchaff                    Goldcrest                Great tit                    Coal tit                                   Blue tit
Long tailed tit               Nuthatch                 Treecreeper             Magpie                                   Jay
Chaffinch                     Redpoll                    Goldfinch                 Siskin
 
On 17 May in the early evening I saw a Lapwing fly just over the entrance to the Visitor Centre, and it landed in the field on the opposite side of Lady Oak Lane
 
On 27 May, the following were noticed on the feeders by the Visitor Centre:
 
Gt sp woodpecker                Great tit                   Blue tit                     Chaffinch                               Goldfinch
Greenfinch                            Siskin
 
and, on the same day, a pair of Tufted Ducks was being chased off the lake in front of the Centre by some Coots!
 
February 2010
 
The re-arranged winter bird walk took place on 13 February, a dry but cold day, and with some mud to contend with. Highlights were Common Buzzard using the winter thermals almost above the FC car park, great views of Common Crossbill on the track towards Three Chimneys Farm, a Grey Heron by Marshal’s Lake, and good numbers of Redwing and Fieldfare. Some of the party saw a Kingfisher speeding across the Great Lake. Hawfinches were sadly nowhere to be seen, and their numbers anyhow seem to be generally down this winter. The total bird count was 42, made up thus:
 
Great crested grebe       Cormorant                     Grey heron                  Greylag goose
Canada goose              Mallard                         Common buzzard          Sparrowhawk
Kestrel                          Pheasant                      Moorhen                     Black-headed gull
Common gull                Stock dove                   Woodpigeon                  Collared dove
Kingfisher                     Green woodpecker        Pied wagtail                  Wren**
Robin                           Song thrush                  Redwing                       Mistle thrush
Fieldfare                       Goldcrest                      Great tit                       Coal tit
Blue tit                          Marsh tit                       Long-tailed tit               Nuthatch
Treecreeper                   Magpie                         Jay                              Carrion crow
House sparrow              Chaffinch                      Goldfinch                      Greenfinch
Siskin                           Common crossbill                                 ** heard only
 
The day previous, the walk leader had taken virtually the same route and saw, in addition, Red-legged partridge, Woodcock and Bullfinch.
 
The Wetland Trust, a small charitable trust based at Icklesham in East Sussex and whose activities include bird research there and elsewhere, carried out a bird ringing exercise at Bedgebury on 15 Feb. At a location just behind the FC offices, they ringed 51 birds (1 Great spotted woodpecker, 1 Robin, 3 Blackbird, 12 Great tit, 8 Coal tit, 19 Blue tit, 1 Marsh tit, 1 Long-tailed tit, 1 Nuthatch, 1 Chaffinch and 3 Siskin)
 
January 2010
A couple of Hawfinches were reported as seen on 16 January and, on a visit to the Pinetum on 24 January, I saw a solitary female Hawfinch but there was a flock of at least 30 Siskins as well as Goldcrest, Bullfinch and a small mixed flock of Coal Tit and Blue Tit

 It was good to see, on that 24 January occasion, a visit by around 10 birdwatchers from Essex

 December 2009

 

Some hitherto unreported sightings from late October to begin with – on the white Bird Notes board at the Visitor Centre (“VC”), Siskin, Nuthatch, Common Redstart and Green Woodpecker were all spotted on 30 Oct; and a male Bullfinch and many Long-Tailed Tits were seen on 31 Oct.  During the last week of Oct, four Crossbills were seen flying by Park House near to the Forestry Commission offices

The first Hawfinch report was on 6 Nov, the same person spotting Brambling and Crossbills all from the view point near to the fallen tree, looking eastwards towards the tall firs.  Two days later, a Coal Tit was seen on the feeders by the VC; and a number of Jays were seen from the family cycle trail

But on 8 Nov as well, a Raven was seen near to Point 16, at the eastern edge of the Pinetum.  It was heard calling and then spotted, and a little while later it left being mobbed by a couple of Carrion Crows.  This is the second recorded spot of a Raven in Bedgebury, the first being in February 2008

A member of this Group visited on 11 Nov and saw the following (with approximate numbers in brackets where applicable):

Green woodpecker            Gt spotted woodpecker      Song thrush            Redwing/Fieldfare (50)      Goldcrest (3)                      Great/blue tits (30)            Coal tit                                Long-tailed tits (15)           Siskin (20)Chaffinch/Greenfinch (numerous)               

On 21 Nov, a flock of 30+ Crossbills were seen in the clump of larches, near the fallen tree area, to the rear of where one usually stands to watch for Hawfinches in the tall firs.  A little while later, 15 or so were seen nearer to Marshal’s Lake

On 28 Nov, a handful of Crossbills were evident as well, in a similar location.  Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Redpoll and Siskin were also seen on that same visit

On a rainy 23 Nov morning, there were two Song Thrushes already in good voice in the Pinetum, towards the corner near to the FC offices

 October 2009

One hitherto unreported sighting from September – a pair of Yellowhammers was seen on 22 Sept near to the FC offices
 
During the morning of 10 October, four Crossbills were seen in the Pinetum, close to the furthest corner by the FC offices. This is the “traditional” area for Crossbills, dating from when they were seen quite regularly in past winters. There appears to be an eruption of Crossbills this winter, as they have been reported in many other locations in the south-east, so hopefully their numbers will grow in Bedgebury in the coming weeks. Also seen on 10 October by the same member of this Group were Common Buzzard, Fieldfare and Redwing, among a total of 46 species
 
During late morning on, coincidentally, the same day, I saw a flock of about 100 birds, the large majority being Siskin with a few Goldfinches, just behind the FC offices, the same spot as Siskin and Common Redstart were seen on our 22 August walk
 
 August/September 2009
 
Two Red Kites were seen flying over the Lady Oak Lane edge of the Pinetum, in the direction of Goudhurst, on 10 August. 
I saw two Bullfinches on 17 August, close to post 118 in the Forest, to the east of the Pinetum. 
The scheduled bird walk took place on Saturday morning, 22 August, with 12 walkers in addition to our leader, John Mulrenan, and myself. Highlights were good views of several Siskin close to the FC office; a sighting of a Common Redstart in that same location; a Common Buzzard being mobbed in the direction of Glassenbury; Grey wagtail, Mandarin Duck and Kingfisher on the Great Lake; and Mistle Thrush in the grounds of the Bell School. The Common Redstart’s sighting has earned a place for this species in the Bedgebury bird list, the updated version of which I will publish in December
 
In total, 45 species were seen and a further two heard, the full listing being:
Cormorant                     Canada goose               Mandarin duck             Mallard
Common buzzard          Red-legged partridge      Pheasant                    Moorhen
Coot                             Rock dove (feral)           Stock dove                 Woodpigeon
Collared dove                Kingfisher                     Green woodpecker       Gt spotted woodp’r
Barn swallow                 House martin                Pied wagtail                 Grey wagtail
Wren                            Dunnock                      Robin                          Common redstart
Song thrush                   Mistle thrush               Blackbird                     Blackcap **
Willow warbler                Chiffchaff                    Goldcrest                     Great tit
Coal tit                          Blue tit                        Long-tailed tit               Nuthatch
Treecreeper                   Magpie                        Jay                             Jackdaw
Carrion Crow                 Starling                       House sparrow             Chaffinch
Goldfinch                      Siskin                           Bullfinch **                   [** heard only]
 
In addition, two Stoats were seen and a variety of Butterflies including the comparatively rare Silver washed fritillary as well as:
Speckled wood             Small white                 Small copper             Gatekeeper
Meadow wood               Painted lady                Meadow brown
 July 2009
Early in the month, chicks of Little Grebe, Mallard, Moorhen and Coot were all to be seen on the lake in front of the Bedgebury Visitor Centre. 
A visitor to Bedgebury spotted a Common Sandpiper on that same lake on 20 July. As recorded in the recently-published bird list for Bedgebury, there had been a sighting in 1999 so, ten years on, there has been another!
On the murky morning of 27 July, I was walking up the main trail from the play area towards the communication mast and in the direction of the A21 when a Tawny Owl flew quite low over my head and disappeared into the trees 
By 30 July, three young Kestrels had fledged from their nest in the Pinetum. 
Also on 30 July, two female Mandarin Ducks, most likely mother and daughter, were seen on Marshal’s Lake.
 

 

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