Snow fell on the 23rd/3/13
Highlights flying over
- 2 mallards
- 2 canada geese
- 1 buzzard
- 1 perigrene
- 1 female sparrowhawk
- 5 redwing
- 1 little egret
Garden highlights
- House sparrows
- collard doves
- Wood pigeons
- Chaffinches
- wrens
- Starlings
- Jackdaws
Berkeley shore sightings on the 24/3/13
- 2 redshank
- 2 oystercatchers
- 10+ dunlin
- 2 canada geese
- 12 shelducks
- 2 curlews
- 2 mute swans
- 3 mallards
- No Whetear or swallow past through between the Power station and the farm (south) although 3 whetears at Oldbury Power station
Other highlights
- 2 short eared owls at Slimbridge WWT on the
- 1 imm male goshawk at Slimbridge WWT on the
- 1 chiffchaff at the Little river avon (Between Ham and Berkeley) on the
- 2 little egrets at Berkeley Castle entrance on the 23/3/13
- 4 grey herons at Berkeley Castle entrance on the 23/3/13
- 4 little ringed plovers at Slimbridge WWT on the 23/3/13 (1st ever sighting)
Other garden hopes
- 1st swallow of the year for me in 2012 was at Aust Warth from Moterway on the 1/4/12.
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Spring migrants
- Hoopoe- 1 overwintered in the UK in Dorset
- Common Rosefinch
- Sand martins
- Whetears- 1 sighted at Berkeley Shore (Berkeley) on the 23rd
- White wagtails
- Swallow
- Sandwich tern
- House martin
- Gargany- 1 drake at Slimbridge on the 23rd/24th and a pair at Cotswald water park on the 24th.
- Stone Curlew- 1 arrived on the 23/3/13 at Northwick Warth but wasn't sighted on the 24th
- Whimbreil
- Redstart- Arrived first on the 24/3/13in Scilly
- Artic tern
- Osprey- 2 sighted on the 24th at Blagdon lake
- Common tern
- Little ringed plover- 4 at Slimbridge WWT on the 23rd/24th (3 at Holden tower+ 1 on tack piece)
- Hobby
- Spoonbill- 1 at Slimbridge WWT 23rd/24th
- Ring ouzel- 5 at Middle hope NR (somerset)
- Turtle dove
- Pomaraine skua
- Great skua
Migrants
Roughly 9 more days until the first Wheatear arrives. 11th March.
Then arrives Britians first sea bird, the sandwich tern on the 22nd March
A few days later, comes the sand martin on the 25th March.
After March the first swallow will arrive normally in the middle of April. 1st sighting for me in 2012 was on the 1st April at Aust.
Then House martins and swifts arrive later on in April. 1st house martin sighting for me in 2012 was on the 15th April sighted from my garden. 1st swift sighting for me in 2012 was at Chew Valley lake on the 20th.
Garden sightings 2/3/13
- 2 chaffinches- 1st of the year
- 5 house sparrows
- 2 ad males and 2 ad female blackbirds
- 1 wood pigeon
- 1 juv pied or white wagtail on the roof
- 2 blue tits
- 1 starling
Other sightings from the garden
- The 10 feral pigeons
- 10 starlings
- 10 chaffinches
- 10 goldfinches
- Jackdaws
- 2 magpies
- House sparrows
- 1 Yellow legged gull adult flew north with 3 adult herring gulls. Originally sighted at Oldbury Power Station flying upriver towards Berkeley where i saw it.
- 1 GLAUCOUS GULL 1st winter flew south with 3 adult herring gulls on the 3/3/13. Very high up and not sighted again down river. This may be the bird which was sighted at Slimbridge WWT earlier in the year.
