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Click on "Flora & Fauna Record" to go to the Birds and Wild Flower Systematic lists
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BREAKING NEWS: January, February and March 2014
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| List of Talks and Posters for 2013-14: GO To report dead bats |
| 28 March: Just quick look along Dambank to see if any movement of migrants but only male Marsh Harrier quartering low rape crops. PM |
| 26 March: Galls Fen. Nice to see a male Whinchat. Several Linnets. Long Drove. Merlin probable Female/ Kestrel and the another medium brown all over raptor larger than Kestrel but not sure what it was. Maybe be some falconers Xbred escape but no jesses. Dambank. Pr C Buzzards. PM&ID |
| 23 March: 11.48am. Heard my first Chiffchaff from the garden this morning early and it’s still singing now. Barbara York |
| 18 March: Today out on the windy fens. North Fen approx. 300 Fieldfares with a few Redwings. Yellowhammers and several pairs Skylarks . Long Drove app 100 Common Gulls and a large white wing tipped gull I couldn't get on to properly but not Glaucous. 20-30 more Fieldfares and stars of the day...3 Bramblings. ( 1 male very colourful) Feeding in open field near Claytons drove. 2prs Frenchmen and pair Com Buzzards riding the wind. PM & ID |
| 17 March: Round up from Margaret Johnson of Linden Way. We didn’t notice the Redpolls until the last week in January this year when 2 visited the garden. We regularly saw 2 at a time but obviously don’t know if it was the same 2. Then on 8th February a third one appeared and the trio regularly turned up for about 2 weeks then nothing until last Sunday when a lone bird appeared. It looked more like the picture in my bird book with the feathers on its head more ruffled. (Almost looking like a parrot when the feathers stand up on their heads) It also came on Mon.& Tues. but we have seen none at all since. Unfortunately never hanging around long enough for us to get a photo. Not like the 14 or 15 we had regularly during last winter.(November 2012 to February 2013) A lone Blackcap also appeared during the 3rd week in February but we only saw it on 2 occasions. We have a lot of Blue Tits, Great Tits and Long Tailed Tits at the moment. They are lovely to watch, flitting here and there. Every move they make is fast and furious. Blackbirds and Robins seem to be increasing in number and we do often see a lone song thrush and hope that it is a different one each time and one day we will see more than one at a time. |
| 16 March: I heard the first Chiffchaff in my garden, exactly a month earlier than last year. Susan Everitt No sign of Simon Stirrup's Turtle Dove. |
| 14 March: Mark Alsop just telephoned to say there is a Red Kite near the mast on north hill as well as a Buzzard. John Burgess. (Probably Aldreth bird roaming now further afield. PM) Turtle Dove 1 singing Stocking Lane, Aldreth (9th March)! One of the earliest ever recorded in Cambridgeshire. Below are images of a Peacock butterfly and Blackthorn blossom taken in Aldreth. Simon Stirrup   |
| 13 March: Red Kite reported over Aldreth Hill by Windmill by Roger and Celia Fyfe Barbara York has said the albino blackbird shown in picture is not like one she sees on a regular basis. So that means Haddenham must be breeding them! There could be a third if reports from another place in village are correct PM |
| 12 March: It seems that the partial albino Blackbird has been around Aldreth Road since at least last November. Clare Presnell has provided this picture taken through a conservatory window. We are now wondering if there are three different ones round Haddenham according to reports. PM  A quick trip round to see if migrants were coming through out on the fens in sunny weather but none seen. These early flowers were found along The Boot, Aldreth. Common (Field) Speedwell and Lesser Celandine. Spring is here. PM   Oak Polypore fungus. The Boot. PM.  |
| 11 March: Seeing partial albino Blackbird more often now in garden early mornings but still cant get a half decent photo as its more aware than the normal male Blackbird. I suppose it must know that a Sparrowhawk would soon pick it out for a meal!!! PM |
| 10 March: What a difference on Monday after the lovely warm Sunday. So we went out on Aldreth/Haddenham fens and didn't see what we hoped to find...early migrants and had to watch the local ones but it was good to sit in car and had 4-5 male and 2-3 female Reed Buntings finding something to eat on the concrete road along Dambank. Cant imagine what they find but there were about 20 Linnets there also. There is something that attract these birds all winter. I'm sure its not dropped wheat etc. Also seen were Redwings and Fieldfares but little else. Not heard Turtle Dove as it must be shivering now!. PM & ID (Are you sure that the concrete track isn't a HLS supplementary feeding site (wheat, millet, canary grass etc dropped 1-2 times per week)? Or maybe they're after grit? - from Richard Broughton.) I have seen two bullfinches, a male and female in the flowering cherry trees at the back of the garden, first seen last Wednesday. Brimstone friday morning in the garden again. John Burgess. Warm weather seemed to bring out moths as well: To MV in garden last night - 2 Hebrew character, 7 common quaker, 4 clouded drab, 1 grey shoulder knot, 2 early grey, 1 double-striped pug. Barbara York |
| 5 March: Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education have invited HCS members and website visitors to enrol and attend some relevant courses. Click here for details. |
| 3 March: 2 Brimstones in garden, and blackbirds appear to be feeding young in our hedge. Spring has sprung! Ian and Sheila D. |
| 1 March: Just seen partial albino Blackbird in my front garden. It was very skittish and I was not quick enough to get picture. It is almost white on top half including head. It does a bit of flycatching and really does not look right.!!!! PM |
| 28 February: The Red Kite over Aldreth Road orchard . Belated report of 5 redpolls in Linden Way garden in January. Been a poor winter for them generally. Weather not very cold so probably stayed further north. PM |
| 23 February: Signs of spring with Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock butterflies around. Queen Red-tailed Bumblebee also. PM |
| 19 February: Half decent day enabled us to get out and found a nice collection of birds out there. Long Drove 2 Kestrel, 3-400 Fieldfares with some Redwings. 10-12 Skylarks, 1 Little Egret, 2 Stonechat, 80-100 Linnets, 2 Corn Buntings, 50 Lapwings, and… a Red Kite. PM & ID |
| 12 February: Red kite drifting south over West End, Haddenham 10.00 a.m. Maybe the Aldreth one but can't be sure. PM. |
| 6 February: Trip round windswept fens. Ewell Fen. Common Buzzard. Adventurers Fen. Common Buzzard, 1500 approx. Lapwings flighting. Small birds keeping down in strong wind. No sight of Kite but I am sure its still there. PM. |
| 3 February: Red Kite now seems well settled in at Aldreth and is often seen out on fen too. Belated report of a male Hen Harrier about a week ago, described as grey with black wing tips. PM Attached are 3 images of the Red Kite taken on 2nd February over Aldreth. Apparently, in the morning it was watched eating a rat. Simon Stirrup.    |
| 30 January: Good to see the Kite is still here. It has been seen towards Nine Acre Wood so is obviously not tied to the village. Simon Strirrup. |
| 29 January: Yesterday I had the first Lesser Redpolls of the winter, 5 of them feeding on nyjer seed. Today, the first Reed Bunting of the winter, feeding on red millet. Plenty of House Sparrows - about a dozen at any one time feeding on everything, but so far no Tree Sparrows. A regular flock of Longtailed Tits, 4-5 mostly, seem to prefer the peanuts and the fat balls. Also, along with the usual Collared Doves and waddling Woodpigeons, nature's answer to the vacuum cleaner, I get a pair of Stock Doves most days too. The paddock below my garden, an old ridge-and-furrow field that has flashes of standing water, is regularly visited most days by flocks of up to forty Common Gulls, but they soon disperse when the first dogwalkers and ponygirls arrive. Jake |
| 28 January: 5 Redpolls in garden feeding on nyger seed. Jake Allsop |
| 27 January: Red Kite still present. Seems to be mostly at north end of village sometimes behind gardens. PaulM |
26 January: Attached is an image of the Red Kite taken at the north end of Aldreth in terrible light (towards dusk and in the rain). It looks even scruffier in flight. Simon Stirrup. |
| 25 January: Following a tip-off that the Red Kite was still present I walked up the street and had a male Peregrine fly low over the village heading west. Continuing on at the north end of the village the Red Kite was riding the wind over the rough grass field. Simon Stirrup |
| 23 January: WIND FARMS - A serious threat to our Bewick and Whooper Swans, Plovers and Hobbies, amongst other birds. Have your say at Haddenham Arkenstall Meeting: Details |
| 20 January: Red Kite around Aldreth for last 5 days at least. On Saturday was perched in low trees behind a garden on north east side of High Street.Several reports. PM I've just had a really large Male Bullfinch at the bottom of Fairchilds Meadow. Much larger than piltea. Bright pink with extremely bright white vent and wing bars. Not dark pink though. So large variation? Chris Boness. |
18 January: A couple of sightings for today. A female-type Merlin on Ewell Fen and an immature Red Kite over the north end of Aldreth. The Kite has been around for several days and has been coming to food put out in one of the gardens. Simon.   |
| 12 January: At least 3 Tawny Owls hooting away around the parish. Two Kingfishers present on Guppy's Pond. Red Kite over Haddenham and Aldreth. Wendy Lanman, John Burgess and PM |
| 3 January: A Lesser Redpoll on niger seed in our garden, Aldreth. And 30th December Pair of Buzzards prospecting, near Aldreth, Roe Deer 3 Berry Fen. Happy New Year. Simon Stirrup. Quick troll round Dambank and Long Drove. Quiet except for about 250-300 linnets in two flocks at corner. Then top end of Long Drove about 1000 Lapwings. PM.  |
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