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Birds at North Fambridge in 1954
Notes from My Diary
BY JACK T. FRIEDLEIN
January. 2nd. Cold, frosty weather. Three Goldcrests working the
conifers. 6th. Twenty-five large Grey Geese flying over. 16th. About 200
Teal in the marsh. 30th. Very cold weather. A Water-Rail, quite tame.
in the Dairy ditch, where there is still a trickle of water. A little further
down were two large Snipe, which allowed one to approach as close as
three yards. 31st. A Woodcock in our spinney. The Water-Rail is still
about.
February. 6th. The bitter weather continues. Redwings are dying of
starvation. The local woods are littered with dead Redwings, their breast-
bones like razors and not a scrap of flesh on the bodies. 7th. Thaw sets
in, and all the surviving birds are happy at once. The Rooks inspect
their nesting sites with much clamour. The large flocks of Redwings which
could be seen before Christmas have quite disappeared.
March 4th. Mistle-Thrushes building in the orchard. 7th. Song-
Thrushes building in garden hedge. 17th. Heard a largish flight of
Widgeon pass eastwards at night. '20th. The first Willow-Warbler arrived
today. 20th. A flight of Widgeon passed eastwards at night. 21st. Thirty-
nine Widgeon flying eastwards at 7 p.m.
April. 1st. Our Mistle-Thrush has three eggs. 7th. Saw and heard
the first Chiffchaff and saw a Garden-Warbler. 10th. Summer arrivals
very slow. 15th. Two Swallows today. 16th. Willow-Warblers here in
force and singing. 21th. Swallows arriving fast. Willow-Warblers
numerous. 25th. The Mistle-Thrush fledgelings have flown. 29th. Two
House-Martins at 7 p.m. 30th. A Yellow Wagtail in our field. This has
been the driest April since 1912.
May. 1st. Sedge-Warblers singing by the pond. 1th. Heard Whimbrel
passing eastwards at night. 5th. Two Lesser Whitethroats today. Two
Nightingales near Wickford station. 11th. Cuckoos very numerous. Three
Nightingales singing in local wood. 12th. Saw II Whimbrel pushing
eastwards. Voting Song-Thrushes on the wing. Swallows still tilling up
the nesting sites in our sheds. 15th. First Spotted Flycatcher. 16th. A
Grey Wagtail cock collecting nesting material. 17th. Whimbrel calling
in flight at 11.30 p.m. 18th. Two pairs and one single Whimbrel passed
eastwards. This date is about the deadline for Whimbrel here. 20th. Two
Red-backed Shrikes on telegraph wire near Wickford. The weather was
cold, but at least three Nightingales singing near Cold Norton. 22nd.
Found Red-backed Shrikes' nest on railway bank. 21th. A Sedge-Warbler
singing all night in the Ferry Road hedge; it can be heard from a great
distance.
June. 3rd. Spotted Flycatcher at the old house. 5th. Blue Tits are
nesting in many of our nest boxes. 10th. Large numbers of Swifts every
evening over the farm; just standing against the wind as they feed. A
mile away from our tree-studded farm there are no Swifts to be seen; they
bunch up over us because, no doubt, insects from the heavily stocked
farm are abundant. 12th. Bullfinches feeding on Forget-me-not seeds.
29th. A pair of Oyster-catchers calling as they fly past.
July. 2nd. Baby Swallows on the wing from several nests. 3rd. Bull-
finches feeding young on Columbine and Myosotis seeds. 200-300 Swifts