Short-eared Owls and other Raptors, plus Hempsted Atlas survey

Saturday 23rd February 2008

Despite the unpromising conditions, i.e. windy, dull and some light rain, a trip to Great Barrington this afternoon with Andy and Mark produced exceptional results. A total of four Short-eared Owls gave superb views, plus a ring-tail Hen Harrier and a Red Kite, all of them obliging by flying over the county boundary into Gloucestershire.




Other sightings included 13 Tufted ducks and c80 Wigeon on the Windrush at Sherborne, and a group of eleven Corn Buntings at the Hawling triangle.

Atlas survey
Earlier in the day I carried out my late winter visit to SO81D around Hempsted. Here is the total count for the two-hour survey period:
Grey Heron 1
Mute Swan 1
Shelduck 2
Mallard 5
Pheasant 9
Common Gull 17
Herring Gull 263
Lesser Black-backed Gull 104
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Black-headed Gull 444
Feral Pigeon 3
Wood Pigeon 70
Collared Dove 4
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1
Grey Wagtail 1
Skylark 4
Dunnock 5
Wren 4
Blackbird 16
Robin 12
Great Tit 12
Blue Tit 7
Magpie 8
Jackdaw 10
Rook 2
Carrion Crow 107
Raven 16
Starling 128
House Sparrow 2
Chaffinch 8
Greenfinch 1
Goldfinch 5

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