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| BREAKING NEWS: March 2011 |
| 31st: Wendy Lanman just reported Red Kite moving south between Wilburton and Haddenham at 5.50 p.m. |
| 30th: Simon Stirrup found White Wagtail along Dambank, 2 goldcrests in Nineacre Wood and 5 Brown Hares nearby. The newts in his pond are Smooth Newts. |
28th: Male brambling in and out of the garden pretty much all day. Drinking from the pond when it was taking a break from munching the sunflower seeds. Barbara York. |
| 28th: By corner with Dambank. 1 male Wheatear. 1 White Wagtail per SS. Later Wheatear gone but 2 White Wagtails. PM |
| 19th to 25 March: From Simon Stirrup Nothing extraordinary to report, but spring is definitely here! 19th March - Oystercatcher 1 along Old West River near Nine Acre Wood, also Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell near Aldreth. 20th March - Siskin 1 over garden. 23rd March - Chiffchaff 1 singing from garden. 25th March - Brown Hare 1 south of Dambank Drove (my 1st this year locally) and circa 5 newt species (not Great Crested) in our pond. |
| 24th: Aldreth/Nineacre Wood and Long Drove. No Wheatears yet, just 2 Common Buzzards being mobbed by lots of crows. Field Speedwell just starting to bloom. PM In Duck Lane, a male brambling in the garden yesterday, eventually coming down to the pond to drink. BY |
| 23rd: Trip round eastern Haddenham fens: 2 Stonechats, Green Sandpiper in drain, flock of 30 Linnets, several pairs of Reed Buntings, 6-7 singing Skylarks. |
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19th: Guppys Pond/Hinton Hedges a Cormorant fishing. Goldcrest, Bullfinch pair, a lot of woodpecker activity Green and Great Spotted. Flowers showing are Violets in the woods and Lesser Celandine just coming out along edges.
In BY's garden a Forest Shield Bug; normally this beetle does not appear until June so this is an exceptionally early appearance. Its a common beetle but not recorded before in Haddenham. Doesn't mean to say its uncommon though. Pair of Grey partridges. Paul has heard from BUGLIFE (the RSPB for insects etc) and this if comfirmed is the earliest known record date in any year.  |
| 16th: From cambirds: Common Tern The biggest surprise during the WeBS count at the Ouse Washes today was a Common Tern seen briefly this morning flying along the Old Bedford River between Welches Dam and the A142. We didn't have a very good view as it was going away from us with the light against us. Fortunately when returning back to Welches Dam from north of the railway around 3pm having completed our section it was fishing in the river between Purls Bridge and Welches Dam. It looked like an adult plumage bird except for a white forehead and black bill. I then watched it from Welches Dam Bridge until 5pm just before the rest of the team returned having completed their counts. From my description Owen Marks suggest it may be the 'portlandica' type plumage, which according to BWP "resembles adult non-breeding, but if moult delayed, plumage often subject to exceptional wear and bleaching, creating 'portlandica'-type plumage pattern". This is the earliest county record by 6 days. Bruce Martin & Andy Maddams (RSPB). Over Duck Lane 3 Sparrowhawks soaring and displaying. |
| 15th: News of a ringing recovery This bird was ringed by P J Wilkinson as age Nestling, sex Unknown on 21-Jun-2010 at near Landbeach, Cambridgeshire OS Map reference TL4766, co-ordinates 52deg 16min N 0deg 9min E. It was found on 26-Jan-2011 at Haddenham, Cambridgeshire. OS Map, Ringing Scheme: London, Ring Number: EX40602, Species of bird: Kestrel, reference TL4675, co-ordinates 52deg 21min N 0deg 9min E. The bird was Dead: Not fresh, Bird Found. Remarks...It was found 219 days after it was ringed, 10 km from the ringing site, direction N. I really thought I was seeing things when only about 30mins ago (8.30 a.m.) I saw 2 Common Terns fly over my house. It was and still is foggy and so I suppose they are disorientated. First thought of course was Black-headed Gulls but the flight pattern was strong downbeats and then I concentrated on the heads and they were only capped black and not full black head. Then they had moved on quite quickly. I am afraid I did not have bins at hand and it was through a window. So I cannot go any further in description. Take it as you may but I am confident. PM 14th: A good sunny day brought out many bumblebee queens and up to 12 rested in my sunny porch to warm up. Photo includes 3 of the 12. Bombus pretorum. In North Fen a flock of mixed Goldfinch 10, reed Buntings (8) and Yellowhammers (10). 13th: A quick trip round Dambank and Long Drove found spring just getting going with several Goldfinch charms and Reed Buntings setting up territories and singing.   |
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10th:
The frogs sprung into action again after a lull of a few days. Today 2 females arrived and, after the usual frenzy, are now in amplexus. Plus I’ve noticed yet more freshly laid spawn. They’re obviously making the most of these mild days. Barbara York. On Guppy's Pond - the fish were out in the sunny areas on Monday, but they were covered in large white blotches. This looks like fungus and I have emailed the most 'fish-knowledgeable' person I know to ask him whether there is anything we could or should do. He is going to consult some friends of his and get back to me. Wendy Lanman. If anybody reads this and knows the problem and can advise please contact Paul Mason pmlindenbury@hotmail.com |
| 9th. 2 Reed Buntings and 2 Redpolls visiting a West End garden feeding station for about 2 weeks. Another West End garden: Black Squrrel recently (these are a mellanistic form of the Grey Squirrel, not a seperate species). |
| 3rd. Report from Barbara York's garden: Finally got a good look at the brambling that’s been trying to access the food in my garden over the last few days! Almost as soon as it’s alighted in the tree, it get chased off by the chaffinches. I’ve never had so many chaffinches in the garden- there’s usually only a handful but now up to 15. The last female frog arrived on 27th feb and there is now about 100 clumps of spawn. 2nd. Ian and Sheila Dickerson had Common Buzzard mobbed by Kestrel and a female Sparrowhawk nearby on Hillrow Causeway. |
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