Overton Biodiversity Society

April 2013

1^st

of the bigger birds being reported Little Egret, Red Kite and Grey Heron were the most obvious, though not to everybody!

2^nd

big was not necessarily big in the popularity stakes, especially when it came to some of the local spiders!

4^th

a Sparrowhawk made the most of a visiting Collared Dove in a Winchester Street garden!

5^th

a flock of c.100 Lapwing was seen to the north of the village several times during this week.

7^th

Red Kite, Buzzard, Brown Hare and Roe Deer were all active on or over fields between Frost Hill and The Harroway mid-afternoon. Blue Tit continued to visit nest boxes in at least one garden while another regular garden visitor, perhaps however not quite as appreciated, was a large Brown Rat!

8^th

a Raven moved low east over the filtration pools mid-afternoon where a Chiffchaff was in song

9^th

at least eight Yellowhammer continued to visit for food in a Winchester Street garden.

11^th

a Red Kite was seen to drop down to scoop carrion from the road at Frost Hill. Sun!

12^th

a pair of Nuthatch continued to visit Lordsfield Gardens feeders.

13^st

the puddling caused by yet more 'April showers' was not anywhere near as surprising as the Sparrowhawk seen stood in one at Frost Hill.

14^rd

Swallow were seen over farmland at Frost Hill and between The Harroway and Hilltop Road. Brimstone were again on the wing as the temperature moved up to the mid-teens. A Chiffchaff was singing in Silk Mill Lane.

15^th

a Swallow was again seen over the village, just briefly. One of the drake Mallard came to an untimely end on Bridge Street — will they ever place signs here to alert road users to the potential victims? A Chiffchaff was in song off Dellands Track.

16^th

five+ Swallow and a Red Kite were over the village mid-afternoon, the former moving north, the latter west. A pair of Blackcap visiting Lordsfield Gardens gardens became just a widower, the female being taken by a Sparrowhawk

17^th

three female Hairy-footed Flower Bee were nectaring on Lungwort in a Greyhound Lane garden while good numbers of bees were to be seen about pussy willow. A Cormorant headed high south-west over the village early afternoon. The Peacock remained in good voice!

18^th

heavy rain and thunder from early afternoon, and then hail a little later! A count of three Dunnock in one garden was unusual — though if you read up on their sex life it's perhaps not so unexpected! A Jay was seen in Dellands Track where a Chiffchaff was in song. Yellowhammer were in song nearby, in the hedgerows about the 'dog field'.

19^th

Elder were seen to be in bud, this also being picked up on, literally, by the local Woodpigeon. Ground Ivy was at last in flower.

20^th

a 24-spot Ladybird, Peacock, the butterfly, and Brimstone were about one garden, the former the first to be seen by the finders. Peacock and Brimstone were also seen in a Glebe Meadow garden on a day when the sun was almost continuous — spring at last, perhaps?

21^st

the Dawn Chorus walk about the village saw 18 attending and c.30 species of bird being recorded, including Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Grey and Pied Wagtail; this all before the important part of the 'event', breakfast! Peacock was again seen in a Greyhound Lane garden, this time however the visitor being one of the local, vocal and sadly unpaired lotharios. Red Kite were again obvious over the village.

22^nd

a pair of Mallard and their ten duckling were on The Test off Kingsclere Road.

23^rd

Orange-tip was the latest butterfly to be added for the year. Tawny Mining Bee were visiting at least one garden. A further female Blackcap was at feeders in Lordsfield Gardens, as was a male; both perhaps now migrants rather than over-wintering birds. Further duckling were seen off Kingsclere Road, the adult in attendance this time however being one of the Aylesbury.

Right: Tawny Mining Bee, Andrena fulva. - Picture: Mike Duffy

24^th

a Lapwing was harassing a Buzzard over its territory late afternoon, a Red-legged Partridge nearby lingering where its mate had become the latest Parish road casualty. A Red Kite over Foxdown was not appreciated by the residents of the local rookery, being 'encouraged' on its way by them.

25^th

two Swift were seen over the Greyhound Lane / Red Lion Lane crossroads area at midday, the first of the year. The warmest day of the year yet, the temperatures perhaps even topping 20°C.

26^th

two Red Kite and a Buzzard were lingering about the Hill Meadow area early evening. Both Chaffinch and House Sparrow were seen in the allotments off Kingsclere Road — have you seen anything there since the redevelopment of this site? A Seven-spot Ladybird at Foxdown was one of very few as yet found this year. A Red Kite was over Sapley Lane during the afternoon.

27^th

frost and rain today, just for a change!

28^th

a Red Kite reappeared over the northern side of the village, only to be yet again mobbed by the Rooks from the Copse Road rookery. A Moorhen was on The Test by the tennis courts. Further frost, though this not, as yet, destroying the grandiflora-type Magnolia blossoms.

29^th

two Lapwing were harassing a Red Kite north of the village late afternoon.

Contributors: Jill Aburrow, Julian Aburrow, David Backers, Helen Backers, Mike Duffy, Brian Elkins, Alison Hutchins, Peter E. Hutchins, Veronique Kerguelen, Ken MacKenzie & Tamsin Williams.