Kingfisher
I visited the Hamptons on 31 days between January and March. 51 species were reported. It was generally a quiet period on the pools with the usual Coots, Moorhens, Mallards and Mute Swan pair.
By the end of the period up to six pairs of Coots were in territory and two were nest building by March 19th. There are about the same number of Moorhen territories. The Mute Swans were also nest building. A pair of Gadwall were present from the turn of the year until February 20th.
Apr 22
All 60 children holding up their duck house designs
You may remember in the January update about an introductory project for the children at Green Lane Primary School. Our Bailiff Steve had an idea to help more ducklings escape predation from foxes and herons.
Everyone thought it was a great idea and I thought it might be nice to bring the children into it, so I asked them to design some brightly coloured duck houses for us. The children donated £1 per entry, The School’s PTA chipped in with a generous donation and ‘Onslow Motors’ of Green Lane donated a very generous £100 toward the project. Read the rest of this entry »
Peregrine Falcon
I have been watching the birds on the Hampton’s Estate since its inception in 2007. I watch the pools and the scrubland regularly – usually three times a week. During 2012, I made 130 visits and recorded 68 species in the area either flying over or present in the bushes, scrub, reeds or on the water.
Highlights were Wigeon, Lapwing, Peregrine, Buzzard, Red Kite and Water Rail.
Included here is a summary for each season: Winter 1 (January to end of March), Spring (April to end of June), Summer (July to end of September), Autumn (October and November), Winter 2 (December) Read the rest of this entry »