June 2019

As we walked back from the Village Hall recently, we saw a very large egg partly hidden in the grass by the entrance to the church.  There was no sign of any nesting activity, and no sign of any large birds anywhere.  The most likely parent is a greylag goose.  These have been seen flying over the area, and the distinctive thing about their eggs is that they are white when laid but gradually become stained as they age.  This egg was mostly white with some staining and has become more stained since we first saw it.  One theory is that geese could jettison their egg in flight for some reason, perhaps because the bird was ill or injured, or maybe just exhausted.  Apparently, the population of greylag geese in the south-east don’t migrate and are resident throughout the year, but it is possible that it could be from a bird that was returning from its Mediterranean wintering ground to more northerly breeding grounds in say Scotland.  I guess that it’s a mystery that will never be solved, the only certainty is that sadly, this particular egg won’t be hatched. 

I was delighted to see a red kite fly over the garden in the last day or two (mid-May), not least because it gave me a break from digging the garden as it meandered slowly past.  They are magnificent birds and the reintroduction of red kites to the UK has been very successful.  Starting in 1989, young birds were introduced, mostly from Spain, to the Chilterns and to Northern Scotland over a five year period.  Since then there have been several more reintroductions in the Midlands and in Northern England.  Though red kites are now seen regularly throughout the UK, the one that I saw may not have been from a reintroduced population, it could equally well have been a migrant from northern Europe which also has a thriving population of red kites.  Though they are raptors and will take live prey if they get the chance, they are mainly scavengers taking carrion and any other scraps they can find.

Barn Owl (Not the local one, this was seen in Norfolk)

Last year we saw a barn owl carrying prey over to a nest on the far side of the field at the back of the house, and eventually saw one fluffy fledgling sat out on a branch of the tree.  A couple of weeks ago, we saw the barn owl again (or maybe another one) carrying prey in the opposite direction towards Pannel Valley.  No doubt it has a young family to feed somewhere in that direction.  The breeding season is certainly in full swing at the moment and we have seen blackbird and sparrow parents feeding their chicks in the garden.  The sparrows have re-used the artificial house martin nest box I put up a couple of years ago, that has never been used by the martins.  The martins seem to prefer to refurbish their old mud nests, which they are doing at both the front and the back of the house.  The swallows seem to be investigating the carport for nesting, but it always takes them a long time to settle and start nest building.  As in previous years, there are three swallows involved.  We assume that this is a male, a female, and one of last year’s juveniles.  There seems to be no squabbling as between two rival males and so the third bird is probably a family member.  We also assume that it is the same pair that return each year, but that is unlikely as most swallows only survive for about four years, though some have been recorded up to eleven years old.

Swallow chicks from 2012