Birds

28/12/14

A sunny day following the early frost.A Coat Tit was giving its distinctive call near Dragonfly Bridge in Area 5. A small flock of Long tailed Tit were in the riverside bushes. Redwing , Balckbird and Song Thrush were feeding on the grass. A dog walker told me that a Little Egret had been seen in Area 4 earlier in the week.

25/12/14

A nice bright start Nuthatch and Great spotted Woodpecker were calling in Area 5.

21/12/14

Moorhen and Mallard were on the Emm. The Grey Wagtail was again in Area 4 on the balancing pond.

1512/14

A Kingfisher was seen flying downstream in Area 5 at 10:30 between Ripplestream and Dragonfly Bridge. 3 rattling Mistle Thrush flew over and the Redwing had increased to 10.

1312/14

Not a lot of change as you would probably expect at this time of year. A solitary Redwing was feeding near Dragonfly bridge in Area 5 with 4 Blackbirds A Tit flock was feeding nearby with Long tailed Tit , Great Tit and Blue Tit moving through the bushes .

08/12/14

As I left for work this morning 5 Redwing flew over calling with its 'tseep' call. .

0712/14

A milder day, and a bit of a wander along the Emm. In Area 10 at the Lavells Lake car park field, approx 300 Black headed Gull and Herring Gull were milling about. A Green Woodpecker was also seen . In Area 8 off Old Forest Road a flock of approx 15 Long tailed Tit were feeding in riverside trees. In Area 7 a large flock of House Sparrow were noisly calling from Brambles. In Area 5 a Great spotted Woodpecker was feeding on my garden fat feeders.

06/12/14

A frosty start to the day, saw plenty of members of the Thrush family feeding on berries and in the leaf litter under trees in Areas 4& 5 .These were mainly Blackbird , Robin and Song Thrush . A stunning male Bullfinch was feeding in the bushes by Dragonfly bridge, At the balancing pond in Area 4, birds were taking advantage of the shallow water in the channel to bathe, drink and pick up food. Seen were Grey Wagtail , Pied Wagtail, Greenfinch and Goldfinch . A Red Kite was looking for an early breakfast as it was patrolling the Area 5 skies at 07:40.

Insects

14/12/14

Only a few insects can been seen on the wing even in the middle of winter. These dancing clouds of minute midges that go up and down as if on elastic are actually a displaying groups of male I Winter Gnats < trying to attract females.

Plants/Trees

Fungi

21/12/14

A walk through Area 1 and Gorrick Woods produced the commonly named Yellow Stagshorn Calocera viscosa . It can be found always growing on dead and rotting coniferous stumps and logs, or appearing to grow from the soil, but this is due to underground rotting wood.

Molluscs

Other Wildlife

Fish/ Crustacean

Mammals

16/12/14

Again seen in Area 10 adjacent to the Emm Brook in the Lavells Lake Nature Reserve seen by Ian Paine was a Red Fox Vulpes vulpes , this was later replaced by a Roe Deer Capreolus capreolus .

07/12/14

In Area 10 this morning at Lavells Lake adjacent to the Emm was a Red Fox Vulpes vulpes . -

Amphibians

For a review of the sightings along the Emm for the first 8 months of 2014 click here May - August 2014 Sightings