Petersfield Heath Nature Notes - Spring and Summer 09

APRIL
This year the Mute Swan pair built their nest in the Sussex Road reed bed and from day one of this month the female began her six week incubation period. On the pond at this time were a small flock of Tufted Duck that had over-wintered here and one or two Great Crested Grebe. Migration was already underway but the appearance of Willow Warbler and Blackcap was within a day or two of their usual arrival time. By mid-month further arrivals were Reed Warbler and Common Sandpiper. Two pairs of Coot had produced broods and a week later a Mallard hatched a brood of eighteen ducklings. In previous years on the pond early Mallard broods are generally small in number and rarely survive, so I expected the same fate to befall this family. In the last days of the month a pair of Teal and a Little Grebe made an all too brief appearance on the pond and two Whitethroats (migrant Warblers) were singing from the Gorse out on the Heath.

MAY
Nature has a habit of repeating itself for on the first day of May I noted a flock 20 Swift just as in 2008.The following day 5 Common Sandpipers were recorded and this species of wader continued to drop in at the pond until mid-month. A pair of Canada Geese hatched a brood of 5 goslings from a nest on the island. These Geese always use the island, I have never seen them nest in the reed beds. A few years ago 2 pairs attempted to nest on the island at the same time and because of the foliage there, it was difficult to see exactly what was going on, but the outcome was a dead Goose and the victors left to raise a brood. The Mute Swans hatched their brood of 7 cygnets a week later. A small number of Carp were seen spawning in the shallows this month so this should help their numbers recover. These Carp are quite obvious because of their size but whether the smaller species such as Bream, Perch or Rudd still exist is anybodys guess. The month ended with a pair of Little Grebe, 2 Common Terns and a Lesser Black backed Gull all present on one day. Readers of these notes may think I spend hours at the Heath but this far from the reality and I miss quite a number of good sightings. In this month alone some noteworthy sightings relayed to me by reliable sources have been a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, a Garganey (migrant duck) and a Cuckoo.

JUNE
June is normally a quiet month at the pond but not for the Canada Goose goslings who were whittled down to one in number by the Mute Swan cob. The sole survivor of the brood became remarkably adept at diving and swimming away from danger when attacked and resurfacing at a safe distance leaving the Swan somewhat bemused. A good ploy – in fact a life saver! Later in the month a single Snow Goose arrived and as the name suggests its plumage is identical to the Mute Swan. The Goose resisted the attention of the male Swan for a few days but then left the pond. Further Mallard broods appeared this month making it one of the best for this species for some years. With no predators above or below the waterline all the broods survived to adulthood. This included the 18 strong brood hatched in April who were helped in no small part by Mrs. Parri’s daily feeds.

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