Casual Visitors –
Some Notes, Taken from Henry Edmunds’ Notebooks
Black
redstart Seen twice – a pair by the Estate office
in March 1996 and a single bird in May 1998 near Scotland Wood.
Brambling
Small numbers seen most winters, mixed with flocks of chaffinch,
feeding on the waste corn that is placed along hedgerows to help
sustain them.
Canada
goose Two pairs come into the lake every spring, but
breeding has not been attempted.
Common
crane One overflew the Estate in July 1990. Initially
flying at about 400 feet (120m), it circled the walled garden,
dropped and flew east, calling continually.
Common
sandpiper Once seen in very wet weather, when a track
had turned into a rushing stream. Also spotted a few times around
large static puddles.
Cormorant
Occasionally seen flying over, probably crossing between the rivers
Test and Avon.
Corncrake
Seen in the 1960s, flushed from a field of red clover, and once
flying past a full harvest moon. The Estate’s Victorian
game book records ‘land rails’ in the bag on several
occasions.
Curlew
Occasionally seen during the spring. Ten curlews were seen feeding
on a spring barley field in April 1996, probably on their way
to Braydon Forest in north Wiltshire.
Fieldfare
Large autumn and winter flocks. They first eat the hawthorn berries,
then work their way through the privet and buckthorn. Spindle
is not eaten. In mild weather grass fields can be covered with
huge numbers of birds seeking worms. In the spring they gather
in flocks.
Golden
plover An occasional visitor in the winter. Usually seen
on arable land and often forming mixed flocks with lapwing and
starlings. Taken by sparrowhawks.
Great
grey shrike Seen once in a hedge near Thruxton Farm in
October 1979.
Grey
heron An occasional visitor to the lake and a frequent
fly-over.
Gulls:
greater black-backed, lesser black-backed, herring, common, black-headed
All seen behind the autumn plough.
Hen
harrier Both males and females are seen most winters.
Hoopoe
One record – on the Shipton Drove 1970.
Little
egret Seen for the first time in 2001, probably flying
between the rivers Test and Avon.
Merlin
Regular winter visitor. Few things match the low-level, high-speed
run of this spectacular small falcon. Conversely, the competitive
aerobatics of the merlin and skylark are spectacular – the
lark is able to turn even quicker than the merlin, rising even
higher, singing all the time, to be lost out of sight, while the
falcon gives up and dashes back to seek easier prey at near-ground
level. To see a merlin, scarcely bigger than a thrush, skimming
on set wings, with the aerodynamics of a jet fighter, through
a mêlée of yellowhammers and then shifting with astonishing
rapidity into a vertical, soaring twist through a barricade of
trees is a sight once seen, never forgotten.
Montague’s
harrier Lower Mist Pond in March 1995. A bird of surprising
grace, flying like a giant swallow.
Mute
swan Seen normally on an annual basis as a fly-over,
but on one occasion two birds were caught after they had come
down by the side of the A303 in thick fog. They were released
in a more suitable place.
Nightjar
Seen once, sitting tight on the ground in Tower Field in May 1997.
Nutcracker
A living bird was picked up in Quarley Park in a very emaciated
condition in April 1968. Despite efforts to feed it, it died and
is preserved at Cholderton Park.
Peregrine
falcon A very occasional visitor.
Pied
flycatcher Recorded once, in April 1998.
Pochard
Seen once only, on the River Bourne.
Red
kite Seen only once, and then pursued by a pair of buzzards
– which it had no difficulty in outpacing.
Redshank
Seen on a couple of occasions flying between the rivers Test and
Avon.
Redwing
An autumn and wintering bird – sometimes in huge numbers
– feeding on close-cropped grass fields, often with livestock,
and in the berried hedgerows. Their calls are the epitome of an
autumn night when the leaves are turning and the last swallows
are on their way south.
Reed
bunting Occasionally seen in the winter with flocks of
yellowhammers and other small birds.
Short-eared
owl An occasional winter visitor.
Snipe
A few birds are seen in the winter, sporadically, but especially
during very wet weather.
Teal
A pair were seen on the Bourne stream in February 2002.
Water
rail A dead bird, found tangled in netting at the Victorian
pond in Cholderton Park.
Wigeon
A drake seen wandering around in a field of lambing ewes in December
1996 and found dead a couple of days later. In emaciated condition,
it was either very old or wounded.
Woodcock
A game species, but not shot at Cholderton for 25 years. Woodcock
are winter visitors and usually disappear during February. They
are commonly seen at night, feeding in fields with livestock and
also around salt licks. Woodcock favour woods with thickish, low-growing
scrub and bramble for shelter, together with areas of taller trees.
Numbers have steadily increased over the years; it is common to
see up to 20 birds in Scotland Wood at one time, and many of the
other woods could hold two or three pairs
Yellow
wagtail An autumn visitor, seen every year, feeding among
the cattle, sometimes within inches of the head of a grazing cow.
They normally arrive in late August or September. It is common
to see 20 or 30 birds around the cattle, and in one very wet spell
more than 100 were counted.
