The spring migration has produced many interesting birds: Black Redstart , Cetti’s Warbler, Cirl Bunting, Garden Warbler, Marsh Tit, Redpoll, Reed Bunting, Tree Pipit and Hawfinch may even be breeding near Escot. Another aspect of having three birdsong monitoring devices around the village has been to discover the number of wader and seabird species migrating through – a staggering 40 species. I doubt anyone would have ever expected that this far inland.
These have been by no means the only rarities. Tree Sparrows have been actually seen in Markers Park. You might think this unlikely until you realise that they may be breeding near Escot – that’s no distance at all as the crow flies. A White Stork was detected for a couple of days and we have seen the return of a rare Golden Oriole. Two days prior to its arrival they had been seen on the Scilly Islands and only one day before in North Devon.
There is also a captive breeding programme for Red-billed Chough at Escot. A call was again picked up in Markers Park by Joe – looks as though someone may have been careless over in Wildwood and one escaped as the habitat around here is just wrong! This has followed close on the heels of the Black-crowned Night Heron which is still popping up, yet another suspected escapee from a breeding programme.
On the home front, our special breeding species, Spotted Flycatcher and Common Redstart, have made a very welcome return and I can only hope that the rampant crowd of cock pheasants patrolling the garden do not disturb them, as so many other birds have been. These pheasants are more than just a nuisance: they are extremely noisy, very territorial and incredibly destructive trampling the freshly planted out veg and flower beds and destroying my moth trap when one got into the greenhouse.
Our Blue Tits have had a dreadful time. It is too early to tell but it may be due to a lack of food.
By the way, should anyone want a copy of the parish bird list I will be more than happy to email them one.
