Monday, 27 July 2015

Ringed 2 stock dove chicks in a box in the wood today.


Thursday, 18 June 2015

Saw a first juvenile green woodpecker of the year in the wood this evening. Don't know where the nest was - probably just outside the wood.

Had some good views of the buzzard chick in the nest just outside the wood in the last week or so. It's getting quite big now and won't be long fledging. It's mother is getting very defensive now and is swooping at me if I go anywhere near!

Wednesday, 17 June 2015

Monday, 15 June 2015

Ringed 5 spotted flycatcher chicks. (See pic)


Also saw a grass snake near the stream.

Friday, 12 June 2015

Ringed 7 goldcrest chicks, 5 bullfinch chicks and 4 blackbird chicks today!

Goldcrest chick
Bullfinch chick

Wednesday, 10 June 2015

Tuesday, 9 June 2015

An impressive stinkhorn!
Light Emerald moth (or similar!)


Saturday, 6 June 2015

Ringed 2 stock dove chicks in 2 boxes and a brood of 4 song thrushes today.

Stock dove chick
Saw my first juvenile coal tit and juvenile great spotted woodpecker of 2015 in the wood, and yet another red kite above the wood - they're becoming almost common now!

Some sort of bug with very long antennae.

Found 2 squashed magpies on the road near the wood, a few yards apart - at least one of them a recently fledged juvenile. Strangely reminiscent of archaeopteryx in a dismal way. Just another little tragedy filed under 'roadkill'.


Tuesday, 2 June 2015

Great tit chicks close to fledging in boundary pole.


Monday, 1 June 2015

Ringed 4 blackcap chicks and 4 song thrush chicks. My only chiffchaff nest has failed. Saw a family of long tailed tits with half a dozen or so juveniles - made a nice change from finding successive scragged nests earlier in the year.

Saturday, 30 May 2015

Saw my first juvenile blue tits in the wood this year, probably from a nearby tit box. Found a 5th great spotted woodpecker nest, with noisy chicks.

Wednesday, 27 May 2015

Saw 2 red kites above the wood - they are suddenly becoming much more numerous in the local area.

Tuesday, 26 May 2015

Monday, 25 May 2015

Saw first juvenile great tit this year, also a juv blackbird. Several greenfinches feeding on wych elm seeds. Found another great spotted woodpecker nest in a cherry tree - the 4th I've found so far.

Empty robin's nest - found it with well grown chicks a few days ago, I don't think they were far away as I could hear the adults alarm calling.


Crime scene: sparrowhawk v great tit?


Sunday, 24 May 2015

Robin brood ringed yesterday.


A few hornets flying about in the last couple of days.

Saturday, 23 May 2015

Great tit nest in a metal boundary pole. They nest there every year.


Hawthorn in blossom


Scragged wren's nest


Ringed 5 robin chicks today.

Friday, 22 May 2015

Saw first juvenile robin and blackcap of the year in the wood today.

Wednesday, 20 May 2015

Blue tit chicks in a natural nest hole at the bottom of a tree


Sunday, 17 May 2015

Heard a cuckoo calling near the wood today - my first of the year.

Ringed a brood of 4 blackcap chicks.


Abandoned blackbird nest on ground - now have no active blackbird nests in the wood that I know of. They seem to have pretty much stopped breeding at the moment.


Bracket fungus




Friday, 15 May 2015

Ringed 3 chaffinch chicks (nest pictured) - unfortunately the nest was predated the next day!


Tuesday, 12 May 2015

Ringed 4 blackcap chicks - first of the year.

Predated robin nest with 5 eggs.


Chaffinch nest with chicks on trunk of oak.


Blue tit brooding chicks



Hawthorn blossom


Monday, 11 May 2015

Finally found a chiffchaff nest, 5 eggs I think.

 Wren's nest


Saturday, 9 May 2015

The only contents of a goldfinch nest today was this dead chick with a bulging crop. Found 2 blackcap nests - have 6 in total now but still cant find any chiffchaff nests!


Monday, 4 May 2015

Song thrush nest in construction (day 3).


Headless great tit in nest box!


Sunday, 3 May 2015

Blackbird nest with 5 eggs


Song thrush nest in construction (started yesterday).


Saturday, 2 May 2015

Had a look in most of the tit boxes today. 12 are occupied by blue or great tits, including this blue tit nest with 7 eggs (one of them white!)


Friday, 1 May 2015

Orange tip butterfly

Blue tit nest in a box with 7 eggs


Thursday, 30 April 2015

Ringed 6 blackbird chicks in two nests.

A soporific hornet

Wednesday, 29 April 2015

Golden oak


Soloman's Seal coming into flower


Chaffinch nest predated and scragged


Monday, 27 April 2015

Ringed 5 song thrush chicks and 2 blackbird chicks.

Saturday, 25 April 2015

Friday, 24 April 2015

Ringed 4 song thrush chicks and 3 blackbird chicks.

Thursday, 23 April 2015

Saw a buzzard stood on a possible nest in the wood this evening. Another pair are nesting just outside the wood.

Crab apple blossom

Tuesday, 21 April 2015

Ringed 5 blackbird chicks in two nests today. Also found this queen wasp busy chewing!


Monday, 20 April 2015

Predated song thrush nest

Wych elm seeds

Cuckoo flowers

Wasp gathering wood!

Sunday, 19 April 2015

Goldcrests nest building in ivy on trunk of oak tree. Blackbird nest ringed on 12th now empty, hopefully the first fledged chicks of the year.


Saturday, 18 April 2015

Yellow archangel flowering now. Also a bee fly on a cuckoo flower



Have found about 42 thrush nests so far in the wood this year, of which at least 19 have already failed!