This page was updated on Wednesday, 24-Jan-2024 15:30:06 GMT

WICK COUNTRY PARK WILDLIFE SIGHTINGS - November 15th 2023

This month's wildlife walk took place on Wednesday 15th November.

The next walk will take place on Wednesday 13th December at 10.30am, but, if you have been on one of these walks previously, you will receive an emailed reminder nearer the date.

Martin Singleton

Remaining dates for 2023

  • December 13th

Summary of sightings

Birds - 24 Species

This was a fairly quiet day with nothing unusual seen, but we did manage to identify 24 bird species which is pretty good now all of our summer birds have long departed and the winter birds have not arrived here yet. The highlight for me was seeing 3 Jackdaws flying over the car park road on our way home. These are not that common in the park or in Wickford as a whole but do seem to be increasing in our area.

Common Name Scientific Name Date Total Count Trip Notes
Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus 15/11/2023 43 A few at the lake but lots over the pavilion as we were leaving.
Carrion Crow Corvus corone 15/11/2023 2 Usual birds in the park
Common Blackbird Turdus merula 15/11/2023 1 Just one male near the bridge
Common Buzzard Buteo buteo 15/11/2023 1 One at the end very high up
Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus 15/11/2023 2 At the lake
Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris 15/11/2023 8 A small flock flying over the lake
Common Wood Pigeon Columba palumbus 15/11/2023 23 An estimate of birds in the park
Eurasian Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus 15/11/2023 5 A few active in the hedgerows
Eurasian Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto 15/11/2023 2 Near the main gate
Eurasian Coot Fulica atra 15/11/2023 2 At the lake
Eurasian Jay Garrulus glandarius 15/11/2023 2 In the hedgerows down from the bridge
Eurasian Magpie Pica pica 15/11/2023 14 A good number of birds in the park today
Eurasian Wren Troglodytes troglodytes 15/11/2023 3 All heard in the hedges
European Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis 15/11/2023 8 A few in the car park and others overhead
European Green Woodpecker Picus viridis 15/11/2023 1 Heard from the lake
European Greenfinch Chloris chloris 15/11/2023 3 Seen near the lake
European Robin Erithacus rubecula 15/11/2023 11 Quite active around the park
Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 15/11/2023 3 Overhead
Great Tit Parus major 15/11/2023 1 At the pavilion feeders
Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus 15/11/2023 2 Overhead with the Black Headed Gull flock near the pavilion
Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus 15/11/2023 5 A nice family behind the lake
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos 15/11/2023 2 At the lake
Song Thrush Turdus philomelos 15/11/2023 1 One heard near the teasel field
15/11/2023
Western Jackdaw Coloeus monedula 15/11/2023 3 Overhead along the car park road

Reptiles cumulative record since September 2022

In addition to the above, I also set out details of reptiles we have seen in the park over the last few years. My own reptile recording software has somehow gone awry, so I have started to use some online software (the record pool) for this and so far, we have 3 records:

Record date Record time Species Lifestage Sex Quantity County Nearest town/City Grid ref Lat Lon
01/10/2023 11:00:00 Common lizard Adult unknown 1 Essex Basildon TQ75969167 51.5964 0.53916
27/07/2023 11:30:00 European pond terrapin Adult unknown 1 Essex Basildon TQ75979167 51.59642 0.53924
21/09/2022 11:00:00 Adder Adult male 1 Essex Basildon TQ75969169 51.59658 0.53909