Common Mullein and the winter bird food crop 2nd November 2024
The start of the month was mild, cloudy and overcast. The goats escaped from the Main Field and were collected from a neighbour on the 2nd, they were shut in Kiln Close whilst we tried to discover how they got out. There was a Barn Owl in the Kestrel provision of Wildlife Tower on the 3rd . Later that day a Kestrel was seen hunting over winter bird food crop. On the 4th 11 Chaffinch, 6 Linnet, 6 Yellow Hammer, 4 Goldfinch were counted there. The second Field Shelter in Kiln Close was finally finished on the 4th. It now has Swallow cups, small bird boxes, bat boxes and a mouse feeder.
On the 5th there were 100+ small birds on the crop late morning. Ground conditions on the LLP were poor necessitating the tractor having to be used to move the trailer in the Orchard.
During a walk around on the 7th there were 30 Linnet, 20 Chaffinch, 3 Buzzard and a few Goldfinch flying over the crop. A Yellowhammer was seen in Blackthorn of Pennsland hedge and a male Greater-spotted Woodpecker in an Ash tree. A Sparrowhawk flew along the hedge between Kiln Close and the Main Field.
The island in the Flo Pond was cleared on the 8th by Josh and Harry and 4 cold Mallard eggs were found amongst the vegetation. On the 11th Harry continued strimming of the lower part of Forde Orchard and on the 12th he worked with volunteers Steve, Tim & Jane. They cleared all the old fencing wire and the brash between the orchard and the river, creating a great view of the river. A dead hedge was created with the brash in the bottom corner of the orchard to provide cover for hibernating small mammals and reptiles.
Volunteers Steve & Sebastian worked with Harry to move stones and rocks from the banks next to the Field Shelter in Kiln Close, these were used to build up a muddy dip in the bottom of the field. In the afternoon they added new straining wire to the fence near the shelter in case this was where the goats were escaping. On the 19th Harry HH finished the fence work in Kiln Close, hopefully retaining the goats.
A male Sparrowhawk was hunting small birds, chasing in and around the Remnant Hedge, between Kiln Close and the Main Field on the 20th. A Kestrel was hunting in winter bird food crop on the 21st and there were 3 Stonechat around edge of crop. There was a notable increase in amount of Goldfinch c40 in finch flock, with equal number of Chaffinch, a dozen Yellowhammer and a few Linnet. Small flocks of Fieldfare around hedges with Redwing and Mistle Thrush. 20 Meadow Pipits around lower slopes of field and 2 Marsh Tits in mixed tit flock along river and visiting feeders.
On the 22nd Harry, Pip and volunteers Chris and Steve continued hedge laying in Main Field, the hedge parallel to Pennsland Lane, around 15 metres.
In the pouring rain brought by Storm Bert on the 23rd a Grey Heron flew across North Park. The River Ashburn was in spate and covered the abstraction point and flowed under the gate into the bottom of Forde Orchard. We had over 70mm (2.7”) of rain. In a break in the rain on the 24th a Pheasant flew out of the bird food crop. There were 15+ Goldfinches and 10 Chaffinches around the gateway between the Main File and Kiln Close. Several Meadow Pipits flying up out of the rough grassland and about a dozen Blackbirds feeding on the path at the bottom of Kiln Close. Sorm Bert brought us another 40+mm (1.5”) of rain so we had over 110mm (4.3”)over the two days.
On the 25th Harry strimmed around the Oakley Pond in Forde Orchard.
The mean temperature for the month was 9.2°C, above our 19-year average of 8.9°C. We had 21-days with rain, the average here for November is 18.9 days., with a total of 209.6mm, significantly above the average for the month -148mm. This is the fourth highest rainfall we have recorded here with 277mm in 2009 over 28-days, 347mm in 2022 over 28-days and 2579mm in 2023 over 24 days. Three of the four wettest November months have been record in the last 3 years.