A Barn Owl had a narrow escape at 7am on the 1st when a Goshawk tried to catch it (and missed) whilst hunting over the Top Field. Barn Owl seen again over the Top Field and at the Wildlife Tower.
Harry and 5 volunteers from Francis Clark LLP (Chartered Accountants) cleared a scrub patch in the rewilding area – creating a scalloped edge to allow for maxim diversity.
More Fly agaric fungi (Amanita muscaria) seen along the Apprentice Path on the 4th and the Kiln Close Field Shelter mucked out on the 5th.
Another group of 7 volunteers from Francis Clark LLP worked with Harry on the 3rd to clear the lower stone wall in Forde Orchard and they also collected sacks of apples – to reduce the weight in the canopy and store to use as a late winter food source.
On the 7th Harry and Daniel pruned three apple trees and finished filling the apple sacks. Mateo saw 30 Siskin fly east across Ashburn valley. A Kingfisher was heard again on the 8th along River Ashburn (has been for past 2 weeks) and a Marsh Tit was heard near Tawny Aviary. 30 Meadow Pipit were counted in old the crop and rough grassland, 3 Pied Wagtails were seen on the Top Field. On the 9th Harry and volunteer Steve started clearing the fence line on Pennsland Lane ready for new fence posts to go in. They also continued pruning some of the Apple trees. A Kestrel was seen over Top Field.
There was more ringing on the 10th bringing the total to 988 new birds ringed here since February using mist netting, of which 344 were Linnets. Pip and Harry hung the gate on the 3rd Field Shelter in North Park. There were 30 linnets over North Park and a Green Woodpecker flew up out of the grass on the top path. At least two of the young Barn Owl that fledged in the Polebox in the Main Field were still around on the 11th and recorded on a trail camera.
Volunteers Tim, Issy and Dylan pruned all the remaining apple trees in Forde Orchard and cleared the brash piles on the 14th. At 18:45 on the 15th a Barn Owl flew out of the Polebox in the Main Field into the trees and on the 16th Harry and Pip burnt up all the brash in the orchard. Southern Hawker dragonflies were very active and frequently seen around the Flo Pond. The first Redwings of the autumn (flock of 30) were seen. There were flocks of Siskin with small numbers of Lesser Redpoll around Orchard and North Park. Kingfisher heard again along River Ashburn from Office (present most days through the month) and a Grey Heron by Flo Pond. There had been a notable increase in finches and thrushes around.
Autum had arrived by the middle of the month with the grass stalks browning, the trees changing colour and leaves crunching on the ground. The valley had a very different feel.
A Dormouse was recorded on a trail cam investigating one of our nestboxes on the 19th.On the 20th Redwings and Fieldfare were heard above Solar Panels. And there was a mega flock of 17 Long Tailed Tits around the Solar Panels. A moth trap on the 21st in Kiln Close caught 12 species and 31 individuals – LLP first record of Merveille du Jour. 15 Meadow Pipits in Top Field with a handful of Linnet. The finch flock around old and new crop had seemed to have moved on. On the 22nd Fieldfare were seen and heard over Top Field, also 2 Skylark. 15 Goldfinch seen in the North Park hedge.
There was more ringing in 3 areas of the reserve on the 22nd – 40 birds (including 7 retraps) of 9 species: 11 Long-tailed Tits, 11 Blue Tit (inc 4 retrap), 6 Coal Tit (inc 2 retrap), 3 Blackbird (inc 1 retrap), 2 Wren (inc 1 retrap), 2 male Firecrest, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Great Tit and 1 Dunnock. 4 Redwing bringing the total of number of birds ringed using mist nets to 1,023 birds of 32 species ringed on the LLP since February. Fieldfare seen and heard over Main Field, also 2 Skylark. There were 15 Goldfinch in the North Park hedge.
A female Kingfisher was seen on the river below the office on the 27thand again on the 30th when there were a dozen Redwing around orchard, plus small flocks of Meadow Pipit and Goldfinch around Top Field/North Park.
October didn’t break any of our weather records but the mean temperature for the month was 5% lower than our 20-year average of 12.3°C at 11.6°C. We had 20-days with rain and accumulated 123.8mm, slightly lower than our average for the month (131.5mm).
