I have spent a few sessions birding at Nethergong campsite in the past few days and it may be my new patch for 2015, we will have to wait and see. Situated just north of Grove Ferry, Nethergong campsite has 26 acres of various habitat including 1 large lake, 1 small lake and 1 small dipping pond. It is bordered on all sides by streams, dykes and ditches and has small areas of woodland and open grassland and a Poplar plantation. To the north, east and west, there are open fields which have a good view over the area with plenty of fence lines and areas of trees. Owned by Christine and Jed Jenkins who themselves very much love wildlife, they have given me permission to bird the area and see what species inhabit the area. No one really birds the area here and I will be able to enjoy doing this on my own without the worry of 'what am I missing' etc. Camping starts at the end of April through to the end of October so I will have a lot of time to bird the place when its empty and when campers are on site I will just have to be careful where I walk and work around them. A few good birds have been seen here in the past including Glossy Ibis, Grasshopper Warbler and Golden Oriole to name a few no doubt. I spent two days in the past week seeing how many species I can see on my rounds in 3 hours. Another point I like here is that I can walk the whole area and cover everything well and do it a few times as well in 3 hours. I was very happy in the two session to record 55 and 52 species. For quite a small area this is an excellent total I think for late October and I think this has got some real potential to get a few good birds and hopefully 110+ species. I think it will be challenging for photography as you cannot get that near to most birds and when campers are about, I don't think they will want me pointing my camera in their direction but I will see how it goes. Some of my highlights in the past few sessions have included Common Buzzard, 3 Cetti's Warbler, c150 Cormorant, 4 Water Rail, 1 Siskin, 5 Fieldfare, 2 Yellowhammer, 4 Ring necked Parakeet, 1 Treecreeper, 1 Kingfisher, c30 Redwing, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Corn Bunting, 4 Marsh Harrier, 3 Red legged Partridge as well as most of the commoner species. However I have failed to find any House Sparrow and Coot in my search so far. The lakes only hold a few Mallard and Moorhen but I hope a few things will land or fly over as they leave or fly towards Grove Ferry. I also noted 3 Willow Emerald today and the pond and lakes hold a good variety of dragonflies and damselflies. All in all this is a superb place to see birds and wildlife and if all works out well, I could be birding here next year.
The East Boundary
Hopefully Bird filled Woods
The 'Small' Pool
The 'Larger' Lake
The Northern Boundary
Long tailed Tit
I'll bet that is a new one alright, the water will excite you. All are filled with dragonflies. And the Long-tailed Tit, that's a wonder.
ReplyDeleteFantastic site Marc, you've done well, nothing better than your own patch, especially during those quiet winter months and it looks like a great mix of habitat. Understanding will be needed when it comes to sharing it with other people with other interests though, in this case campers, their children and possibly dogs, something some bloggers cannot do.
ReplyDeleteLooks like an excellent place to start a bit of patchwork Marc, I look forward to seeing what you find there, maybe even throw in a few stats after a a year or so!
ReplyDeleteVery promising area indeed!
ReplyDeleteI love the LT tit shot, exquisite!
I saw quite a few in my garden today :)