Putnoe Wood Survey 20/10/2013

I had to squeeze the Putnoe Wood survey in on Sunday morning no matter the weather and unfortunately it wasn't any better than it had been the previous week. Heavy rain and wind was the order of the day and the birds were keeping their heads down. Highlight was the Goldcrest and of note was the absence of Blackbirds for the second month running:

Blue Tit 7
Carrion Crow 3
Goldcrest 1
Great Tit 5
Green Woodpecker 2
Jackdaw 1
Magpie 2
Robin 10
Song Thrush 1
Treecreeper 1
Woodpigeon 7
Wren 6

Total Bird Species: 12

That's the lowest species count for the 2 years I have been surveying the wood.

Box End Park WeBS: 13/10/2013

It was grim at Box End Park this morning for my monthly WeBS count. Although still quite warm it was raining heavily with a strong northerly breeze. There were a small number of Redwings in the area, no sign of any passage today.

The survey results were as follows:

Black-headed Gull 24 (37 Over West)
Cormorant 8
Great Crested Grebe 2
Grey Heron 1
Lapwing 1
Mallard 27 (22+ Over NW and 12 Over N)
Moorhen 1
Mute Swan 8

Total number of species: 8 Individuals: 72

I had planned to survey Putnoe Wood as well but decided to put that off, given the conditions the end of the Grand Prix seemed the better option :-)