A patch Nuthatch is rare.
June 26th, meters away from the patch, I heard a Nuthatch call above me in the Springfield Park tree I was under. I used the sound clips on
the Collins Bird Guide mobile phone app to lure the bird closer to the patch. I
crossed the Horseshoe Bridge and on setting foot on the patch, I heard the Nuthatch and
then watched it fly over me into the Horseshoe Thicket. Well and truly patch
ticked. I heard it again the next day.
The patch stats have Nuthatch with only one other record since
2010:
And it seems that it may have been there since June, as Stuart F heard it again from
the patch on August 5th. So, on August 7th, I went back
onto the patch for a bit of a twitch. After half an hour of listening on the
Horseshoe Bridge, I heard the Nuthatch. I located its tree in my scope and got
some views of it, before some Goldfinches moved it off.
Like everywhere else, the patch is dry and hot. Bed 18 at
the WaterWorks is at the lowest I’ve ever seen it; the Marshes are yellow and the
Lockwood Reservoir is low. Even a pit stop in the East Warwick hide was hotter
on the inside than on the outside!
There was no real sign of any occupation of the newly
installed owl boxes on the Marshes.
On the WaterWorks, a Jersey Tiger moth was great to observe.
As were a Holly Blue, a Common Blue and a Green-veined White butterfly.
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| Holly |
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| Common Blue |
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| Green-veined White |
Peregrine Falcons are very vocal at this time of year. They can be seen and heard from the Marshes, WaterWorks and the Reservoirs.
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| Munching on a Parakeet |
Common Terns have bred again on the Reservoirs this year,
with two chicks. This year their old digs have been replaced with new accommodation
courtesy of the LWT.
Familiarity breeds contempt is the phrase that comes to mind
when contemplating our Common Sandpipers. When they’re the only wader after a long walk around the Lockwood Reservoir, it’s like they’re rubbing it in; but when
they’re not there at all, you miss them.
I often like to torture myself with a big patch day.
This usually involves an early rise followed by a 6 hour flogging of the patch from bottom to top, hoping for a treat, but ultimately yielding little or no reward. Lovely. And
indeed, if it weren’t for the 15 Mistle/Song Thrush combo right at the start of
the day on the ex pitch and putt field or for the Lockwood Dunlin right at the other end of the day, I might have
thought it a waste of time. Maybe I should cut this habit out during mid
summer.
On July 25th and 27th, two Little
Ringed Plovers were welcome visitors to the Lockwood.
Reed Warblers have done extremely well this year. I have
never heard and seen them in such numbers across the Marshes and Reservoirs.
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| @suzehu |
Returning back to the WaterWorks:
Sue Huckle (@suzehu) has been patching the WaterWorks like a monster! She
and fellow patcher, Mark D observed and recorded the breeding Garden Warbler, Sparrowhawk
and Muntjac Deer. The pleasure she draws from watching the natural world is so
evident in her images.
All of the following are Sue’s pics from the
WaterWorks Nature Reserve:
The Violet Black-legged Robberfly – a first for the WaterWorks (so probably the patch).
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| Grass Snake |
Garden Warbler
Grey Wagtail -bred in the well head for the 3rd year.
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| Banded Demoiselle |
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| Smooth Newts |
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| Weasel |
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| Muntjac |
Breeding Sparrowhawk pics:
@suzehu
&
@grahamhowie
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