16 Apr 23

Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Meadows, Lower Horse Paddock, Higher Horse Paddock, Broadcroft Butterfly Reserve, Broadcroft Quarry Lane, Bumpers Lane, The Cuttings, The Mermaid Track and Wakeham Railway Cuttings.

It was a much cloudier day, but at least it was dry. And what a day it turned out to be with some really good highlights:

Grasshopper Warblers - One in Wakeham Meadow and one by Wakeham Railway Cuttings. Both reeling.
Common Whitethroat -  One in Wakeham Meadow and one in the Lower Horse Paddock
Blackcap - A male in Wakeham Meadow and another male in the butterfly reserve
Chiffchaff & Willow Warbler - 20+ seen and heard singing at the following locations Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Meadows, Broadcroft Butterfly Reserve, Broadcroft Quarry Lane, Mermaid Track and Wakeham Railway Cuttings.

Firecrest - A single bird in Broadcroft Quarry Lane


Mammals Recorded:
1 Grey Squirrel
3 Brown Rat

A Grey Squirrel along the railway cuttings

What happened next!!

The Rat on the feeder was knocked off by the one below, when it tried to jump up to join it.

Birds Recorded:
Kestrel
Herring Gull
Stock Dove
Wood Pigeon
1 Pied Wagtail
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
1 Song Thrush
2 Grasshopper Warbler
2 Common Whitethroat
2 Blackcap
20+ Chiffchaff /Willow Warbler
1 Firecrest
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch
Greenfinch

A male Kestrel above the Cuttings

A lone Stock Dove along Bumpers Lane

The Robin which was competing against the Grasshopper Warbler (Video below)

A Song Thrush out in the open on the butterfly reserve.

Both a Grasshopper Warbler reeling and a Robin singing 

Slowed right down, but a Common Whitethroat in the Lower Horse Paddock

A male Blackcap in Wakeham Meadow

And another male Blackcap (also hiding) on the butterfly reserve

A short video of the Blackcap feeding on the butterfly reserve

A male Chaffinch by the Cuttings.

A pair of Goldfinches......

.........along Bumpers Lane

Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)


Plants:

Dames Rocket (Hesperis matronalis)

Dames Rocket along the Wakeham Railway Cuttings

And a close-up of the flower head. More on Dames Rocket Here.

General Shots and Videos:

A panoramic video of Wakeham Meadow where there was Common Whitethroat singing and Grasshopper Warbler "reeling"

Ted:

Ted waiting for me again

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Ferrybridge

As I drove over the bridge there were a few Little Terns flying over The Fleet

Ships Today:

This is the American Container Ship "Maersk Kansas" on its way from Bremerhaven to Norfolk (USA). More on this vessel Here.

This is the British Passenger Ship "SS Shieldhall" on its way from Southampton to Falmouth. More on this vessel Here and Here.

On the left is the Lithuanian Ro-Ro/Passenger Ship "Optima Seaways" on its way from Rosslare (Ireland) to Dunkirk. On the right is the Lithuanian Ro-Ro/Passenger Ship "Regina Seaways" on its way from Dunkirk to Rosslare. More on "Optima Seaways" Here and "Regina Seaways" Here.

This is the British Ro-Ro Cargo Ship "Eddystone" on its way from Southampton to Ascension Island. More on this vessel Here and more on Ascension Island Here, an island I was fortunate to stay on back in 1988 for 10 days.

Aircraft Today:

Two Chinooks heading east over the island