Week 2 - 04 - 10 January 2026

-

I managed my first, and likely last for a while trip around my so called "Rockbeare Loop" on Sunday the 4th January. I love this little 3 mile route, as it maximised my time out gets in the countryside and away from housing.

A nice walk though with several new species added to the patch list. On Gribble Lane a Common Buzzard was sat in a tree, Eurasian Jay seen likely helping itself to one of its acorn caches, and multiple Common Linnets with some birds singing in trees to the east. I only came across Linnets half a dozen times on the patch last year, with no sightings until May in 2025.

While on Rockbeare Manor permissive paths, two Goldcrest foraging low in scrub beneath the recently coppiced trees gave great views (within 5 metres), a Song Thrush was foraging in leaves, and a gang of Rooks passed overhead calling.

On Monday 5th January, only a short walk around the Ecology Park at lunch time. It felt quiet in terms of bird life (I often think there is a midday slumber), but I met plenty of people to chat to, including a couple feeding suet to House Sparrows, I'm sure there is a big bird feeding scene on the go in Cranbrook.

Many highlights came from the walk on Tuesday 6th around Cranbrook and the Country Park. The first Coal Tit and Meadow Pipets of the year were seen just south on London Road. The tern-like flight highlighted me to the Black-Headed Gull near the Education Campus. 

But for sure the best bit of the walk was the mass of Lapwings flying overhead towards the southwest. following the first group of 30 I checked images of Lapwing in flight, broad rounded wings etc... which I was then able to confirm as the second group of ~50 flew over 10 minutes later, and then 2 low flying stragglers followed about 30 seconds behind these. I suspect the cold weather across Europe and the northeast UK has driven this cold weather movement towards the milder southwest of beyond...an amazing site to see though and a surprise for the patch list!

On the 7th a short lunchtime walk with Ollie around the east of Cranbrook saw the first Stonechats of the year. Male and female birds using the temporary fencing around the building site just south of the education campus. 

A couple of days off daytime dog walking then followed, due to work, weather, and childcare commitments.

 

A wooded margin looking southeast across Rockbeare Manor pastures

Finally on Saturday the 10th the Rockbeare loop was repeated, but this time a daybreak on a cold and frosty morning in a clockwise direction. On Gribble Lane (closed to traffic) alone I picked up 25 species within 30 minutes, adding a Sparrowhawk (see twice in flight pre-sunrise) and Common Pheasant on the margins of arable fields. Three Songthrush also seen including a pair together, it's nice to see good numbers of these wonderful thrushes around. 

A cold and frosty morning looking across the arable fields to the east of Gribble Lane (10 Jan 2025)

At the end of week 2, the patch list for 2026 stands at 42. Next week the new bird numbers will significantly reduce, so I'll start to write more about habitat in different parts of the patch. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 6 - 01 - 07 February 2026 (Nuthatch and visit from a Sparrowhawk)

-
Image
The common theme for 2026 was repeated, with it again being a wet week where I pulled over 40 mm of rain from my rain gauge, to add to the 221 mm that fell in January. However, this week I did manage my biggest dog walk (a 2 hour effort) in the dry, and had a cracking garden visitor! On Sunday the 1st Feb, I planned to explore much of the Cranbrook part of the patch during my work lunch break. The dog had his own ideas and disappeared off for 20 mins curtailing the ground I could cover. A fairly unremarkable walk, with the only oddity being the largest flock of Meadow Pipets  (35) I've seen since October (when they were enjoying the recently tilled fields). They were within the Great Meadow, picking over the recently flooded patches. Working in the office in Exeter meant no daytime walk on Monday 2nd, so the next was a very soggy lunch time walk on Tuesday 3rd with either light rain or light drizzle near continuous through Rockbeare skirting the edges of the manor estate. I did man...
Read more

Week 5 - 25 - 31 January 2026

-
Image
Another very wet week, limited my 5 daytime dog walks on the patch beneath waterproofs most days again. On Monday night into Tuesday, we had an exceptional rainfall event (Storm Chandra) when around 50 mm of rain fell within 12 hours, and resulted in some of the most severe flooding in Devon in the past 30 years. Out local streams that run through my patch respond very quickly (both rising and falling) peaked in the overnight hours, but I did pop down to Clyst Honiton a couple of miles west of my patch to watching the exceptional flood peak pass on the River Clyst (with the gauge recording the highest level on record). Although I was unable to see the flood peak live in Cranbrook, I did get out in the subsequent days to see the damage done to the Country Park by the flooding. The newly expanded lake (with bare banks) became a river channel, with the inflows and outflows at either end of the lake damaging the banks, paths and drainage works considerably. Such a shame as I was hoping thi...
Read more

My 2026 patch

-
Image
My 2026 patch, a 1 mile radius from home Around a year ago I returned to bird watching after a 5-6 year break. Time pressures of family life meant some of my other hobbies were unsustainable, and bird watching just fitted into my daily routine of walking my dog (Ollie). And a 1 mile radius includes all the circular (~3 mile) walks I can do from home within the hour. The local 1 mile radius patch for 2026 I've had a great year in the local area, and this year have decided to try and document what lives in a passes through a new town / housing estate / and neighbouring village bordered by arable land in Southwest England in 2026. Cranbrook Cranbrook feels a fairly special place for nature for a new town, large sections of the town are flood plain, hence it can't be built on, and has become a Cranbrook Country Park and nature reserve . It's 35 hectares (and in the plans set to grow) and has a nice range of habitats, streams, lakes, ponds (including small reed beds), scrapes, v...
Read more