DAIRY_22_12

As promised a few of us met up in the hide at 12.00pm for a small sherry and mince pies.

The weather had cleared despite the promise of a wet day by the countries weather forecasters. Dramatic dark clouds and bright patches of sunlight provided some good visibility. The Little Owl was sitting out on the fence post near its tree top hideaway.

The wetland was busy with 45 Mallard and over 400 Teal,probably the biggest flock this winter so far. A few Moorhen tottered about at the pool side and male a female Wigeon appeared and disappeared into the channels between pools. Three Cormorants were seen.

The largest flock of Lapwings appeared from behind the hide and drifted around fairly high in the sky.

A large female Peregrine circled the wetland and surrounding fields obviously hunting but we didn't see it catch anything. The Teal were not too pleased about this and took flight and settled several times.

Buzzards seemed here, there and everywhere and several birds settled on the fence posts around the wetland demonstrating the great variation in colouring that we find at Wall Farm. This one finished a samll shrew before posing!

The female Hen Harrier appeared several times from the rough ground to the left of the wetland, once carrying a length of reed or thin twig trailing behind it. On another occasion a pair of Carrion Crows chased it but the Harrier gave as good as it got and the Crows eventually gave up.

A single Stonechat sat high on stem in the middle of the wetland and a Snipe called from an unknown spot.

Also seen; Kestrel, Fieldfare, Blackbird, Collard Dove, Stock Dove, Sparrowhawk, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Skylark, Long Tailed Tit.

Thanks to John for the following report made from a different observation point, the hill top over looking the reserve around 1230/1300 hrs.

1 Merlin flying left (Newport rd) to right fast across reserve. Hen Harrier three short flights only because flushed by crows, but seen sitting for 5 mins out of cover. 2 Peregrine 1 sitting in field by empty barn, 1 flying well and chasing prey. 150 Lapwing left of farm. 30 Golden Plover left of farm from hilltop. 1 Sparrowhawk behind hill away from reserve.

W E E K B E G I N N I N G	22.12.02
SUNDAY. *Jon Lloyd*	Well at least you could see beyond the end of your nose today!! Heavy rain last night left the field ditches full, amost to their banks. Out on the farm there were some small groups of thrushes around but nothing like the numbers we have seen in previous weeks. The hedges are looking rather bare so perhaps they have had their fill and moved on. A flock of some 3000 Woodpigeon and a few Stock Dove lifted from a field disturbed by a passing helicopter. The Buzzards remained unimpressed on a couple of fence posts nearby. The House Sparrows were having choir practice somewhere behind the farm this morning and another Pied Wagtail dipped past. The second of the morning. Small flocks of finches, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and two Tree Sparrows dashed past. The Little Owl was calling from the trees in the wooded lane this morning obviously feeling adventurous!
	A large black Cormorant bombed down and surprisingly settled in the ditch I had photographed earlier. IT remained here a while and then left amost as quickly as it had arrived. The earlier record in the log today, reported the bird had actually landed in one of the wetland pools. I had never seen then land at all so I was quite happy with the events this morning. In the distance a small very fast flying raptor chased its much smaller prey. They dashed beak to tail through the sky, between the trees in the distant copse back up almost vertical and down again. The prey possibly Redwing and the pursuer I suspect Merlin but they always seem to turn up at a distance for me. The Water Rail called from the depths of the pool side rushes but didnt venture out to play. There were several Moorhen about and two or three Grey Heron skulking about.	The wetland was fairly busy with Teal but another couple of hundred obviously disturbed from the Buttery dropped in late morning. There must have been 2-3 hundred birds here this morning. A large flock of Lapwing like a black charcoal smudge in the sky drifted by in the distance. They eventually settled in a nearby field together with 120 Black Headed Gull. In the brighter distant sky several small groups of Lesser Black Backed Gull drifted by and a Peregrine dashed head long into a pigeon flock. They scattered and the Lapwings climbed higher. Eventually the female Hen Harrier put in a brief appearance. It could seen in its usual spot, gliding over the rough ground and tall grass harried by a persistant Carrion Crow for a while and then to ground and then no more!! The log recorded an earlier observation this morning. Also Seen - Stonechat, Jay, Mallard, Yellowhammer, Linnet, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Kestrel.
MONDAY
TUESDAY Jon Lloyd
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY Boxing Day - Jon Lloyd *John Barnes*	As promised a few of us met up in the hide at 12.00pm for a small sherry and mince pies. The weather had cleared despite the promise of a wet day by the countries weather forecasters. Dramatic dark clouds and bright patches of sunlight provided some good visibility. The Little Owl was sitting out on the fence post near its tree top hideaway. The wetland was busy with 45 Mallard and over 400 Teal,probably the biggest flock this winter so far. A few Moorhen tottered about at the pool side and male a female Wigeon appeared and disappeared into the channels between pools. Three Cormorants were seen. The largest flock of Lapwings appeared from behind the hide and drifted around fairly high in the sky. A large female Peregrine circled the wetland and surrounding fields obviously hunting but we didn't see it catch anything. The Teal were not too pleased about this and took flight and settled several times. Buzzards seemed here, there and everywhere and several birds settled on the fence posts around the wetland demonstrating the great variation in colouring that we find at Wall Farm. This one finished a samll shrew before posing! The female Hen Harrier appeared several times from the rough ground to the left of the wetland, once carrying a length of reed or thin twig trailing behind it. On another occasion a pair of Carrion Crows chased it but the Harrier gave as good as it got and the Crows eventually gave up. A single Stonechat sat high on stem in the middle of the wetland and a Snipe called from an unknown spot. Also seen; Kestrel, Fieldfare, Blackbird, Collard Dove, Stock Dove, Sparrowhawk, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Skylark, Long Tailed Tit. Thanks to John for the following report made from a different observation point, the hill top over looking the reserve around 1230/1300 hrs. 1 Merlin flying left (Newport rd) to right fast across reserve. Hen Harrier three short flights only because flushed by crows, but seen sitting for 5 mins out of cover. 2 Peregrine 1 sitting in field by empty barn, 1 flying well and chasing prey. 150 Lapwing left of farm. 30 Golden Plover left of farm from hilltop. 1 Sparrowhawk behind hill away from reserve.
FRIDAY
SATURDAY.