Daily Parish Nature Update

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February 2004

1st
a female Blackcap was joined briefly by a male in Copse Road, the former acting aggressively towards all other birds.
3rd
4 Roe deer and 2 Brown hares were in fields off Court Drove.
5th
the male Blackcap was back in Copse Road gardens where several bumble-bees were on winter-flowering honeysuckles.
6th
77 Lesser black-backed gulls were seen loafing in a field immediately north of the village mid-morning, the largest gathering noted locally for some time.
8th
it was the turn of the female Blackcap to appear in Copse Road again whereas in Station Road a male Chaffinch fed from below the bird-table.
9th
a male Blackcap was again in Copse Road whilst 4 Long-tailed tits were seen visiting gardens in Station Road.
10th
a Wood pigeon was singing in Woodlands at 03:30!
11th
30 Gadwall were seen flighting over the village late afternoon, presumably having been disturbed from either the Station Road filtration pools or Laverstoke Park Lake. A Grey heron was also seen in flight, this time over London Road. The Copse Road female Blackcap returned to feed. Stinking hellebore was in flower in Bridge street.
13th
2 Brown hares were in fields leading to The Harrow Way. A female Blackcap was amongst the commoner birds noted in Copse Road.
14th
a Kestrel was seen over fields east of Turrill's Hill. A female Blackcap was again amongst commoner birds noted in Copse Road.
15th
the feral duck Scaup had returned, for another winter visit, to the pools off Southington Lane.
16th
a pair of Long-tailed tits was seen in Copse Road.
17th
a Kingfisher put in an appearance at Flashetts. The pair of Long-tailed tits was still to be seen about Copse Road.
19th
a Painted lady was feeding on Primroses and Violets in Copse Road; one of many reported in the south as an early over-shooting 'migrant' from even further south.
20th
a Kestrel was over the field east of "the dog field", at the southern end of the village. Little egret
22th
the Copse Road Blackcap tally today consisted of the returning female.
25th
Bumble-bees were seen to be feeding from Hellebores. A belated report came in of a Little egret at Flashetts the previous week.
Right: Little egret Egretta garzetta, an increasingly common visitor and certainly an attractive addition to the local avifauna.
27th
2 Kestrels were over the fields between Station Road and Straight Lane. The wintering female Blackcap appeared again in Copse Road. 3 Blackbirds were in a Station Road garden. Dotted borderA Dotted border was found on a house in Riverside Close.
Right: Dotted border Agriopis marginaria, one of a relatively small number of moths to be found flying this early in the year.
28th
a Grey heron was on the Test bank by the golf course. Nearby a Grey squirrel was seen tightrope walking telegraph wires by Church Road.
29th
a Roe deer was in a field off Straight Lane.

Thanks are due to the following for their input to this report: Brian Elkins, Margaret Elkins, Lindy Hatchard, Margaret Rainford.

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