This page was updated on Thursday, 14-Apr-2022 21:17:42 BST

WICK COUNTRY PARK WILDLIFE SIGHTINGS - September 16th 2020

The weather for our September wildlife walk was warm, but cloudy, which made it very pleasant to be out and about. From entering the Park gates, birds were very active, with both Blue Tits and Long Tailed Tits in the hedges and this was a feature of the day, lots of common birds, some in large flocks. It looks like many of our birds had a good breeding season. A Chiffchaff was also singing here but it won't be long until they have flown back to Southern Europe or North Africa for their winter holidays. We met as usual at the Pavilion and set off towards the boardwalk, when we saw a large flock of Goldfinches fly from the hedges, very nice to see. Robins were singing and the usual Magpies and Woodpigeons were flying around. A Migrant Hawker was seen flying past us - the only dragonfly we saw - and a couple of Small Whites flapped around the grasses. We heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker and briefly saw it bounding away over the hedge. Across the field we saw a few Carrion Crows, more Wood Pigeons and Magpies, and a single Stock Dove. In the hedges a couple of Chiffchaffs were calling but not really singing their usual song. At the lake, the Canada Goose flock has reduced to 8 and we also saw, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, and a single lonely Black Headed Gull here. At the back of the lake several Speckled Wood butterflies were very active and we also saw a few Large Whites here. As we wandered back towards the Pavilion, lots of small birds were in the hedgerows, Blue Tits, Great Tits and more Long Tailed Tits. These birds flock together for most of the winter and it looks like they have already started doing this. Here we also saw my highlight of the day, a fabulous Common Blue butterfly in perfect condition (see photo) and then a tricky Small Copper that I eventually managed to photograph. We really have seen some great butterflies in the Park this year. As we reached the Pavilion, we had a warbler ID conundrum to resolve. A couple of brown warblers feeding in the garden were not readily identified....a quick look on a phone ID page led us to identify these as Reed Warblers. Later back home, looking through my books, I think these were Juvenile (1st Winter) Reed Warblers - possibly fledged from the lake reedbed this year (see photo excerpt from my ID book.) These too will soon be on their way to Africa for the winter. A good end to the day and more decent sightings this month to add to our list.



Martin Singleton



common blue small copper juvenile reed warbler

walk Sept 2020 walk Sept 2020 walk Sept 2020 walk Sept 2020t walk Sept 2020

Birds: Total Number of Species: 19  

 
Common Name Scientific Name DateTotal Count
Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus 16/09/2020 1
Canada GooseBranta canadensis 16/09/2020 8
Carrion Crow Corvus corone 16/09/2020 8
Common ChiffchaffDelichon urbicum 16/09/2020 3
Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus 16/09/2020 4
Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris 16/09/20207
Common Wood Pigeon Columba palumbus 16/09/202017
Eurasian Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus 16/09/202022
Eurasian Coot Fulica atra 16/09/20201
Eurasian MagpiePica pica16/09/202011
Eurasian Reed WarblerAcrocephalus scirpaceus16/09/20202
European GoldfinchCarduelis carduelis16/09/202023
European Robin Erithacus rubecula 16/09/20207
Great Spotted WoodpeckerDendrocopos major16/09/20201
Great TitParus major16/09/20202
Long-tailed TitAegithalos caudatus16/09/202016
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos 16/09/20205
Rock Dove (Feral)Columba livia 'feral'16/09/20206
Stock DoveColumba oenas16/09/20201


Butterflies: Total Number of Species: 5  

 
Common Name Scientific Name DateTotal Count
Common Blue Polyommatus icarus 16/09/20202
Large White Pieris brassicae 16/09/20203
Small CopperLycaena phlaeas16/09/2020 2
Small White Artogeia rapae 16/09/20202
Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria 16/09/20206


Dragonflies: Total Number of Species: 1  

 
Common Name Scientific Name DateTotal Count
Migrant HawkerAeshna mixta16/09/20201