25th January - Wherwell, Bransbury Common and Fishlake Meadows, Hampshire

This morning I was meeting Ian in the village of Wherwell, which lies to the south east of Andover in north Hampshire.

Wherwell sits on the River Test, which has more than one channel nearby, and a wide flood plain, which flows through the village in parallel with the High Street.

The name Wherwell is thought to derive from its bubbling springs resulting in the Middle Ages place name “Hwerwyl” noted in AD 955, possibly meaning “kettle springs” or “cauldron springs.” Pronunciation of the name has ranged from “Hurrell” to “Wer-rel” to present-day “Wher-well.”

Before the Dissolution, the parish of Wherwell was in the hands of an important abbey of Benedictine nuns, whose abbess was Lady of the Manor of an area much larger than the existing parish.  Today there is Wherwell Priory.

The village is associated with the Cockatrice, a mythical beast, essentially a two-legged dragon, wyvern, or serpent-like creature with a rooster's head. The story is that the cockatrice terrorised the village until it was imprisoned in the dungeons below Wherwell Priory. A prize of land was offered to anyone who could kill the creature. None were successful, until a man named Green lowered a mirror into the dungeon. The cockatrice battled against its own reflection until exhausted, at which point Green was able to kill it. Today there is an area of land near Wherwell called Green's Acres. For many years a weather vane in the shape of a cockatrice adorned the church of St. Peter and Holy Cross in Wherwell until it was removed to Andover Museum.

We we were here for the reports of up to twenty Hawfinch around the churchyard of St Peter and the Holy Cross, We walked down Church Lane and crossed the river and then into the churchyard with a view in the winter sunshine of the church spire.

As we entered the churchyard we met a lady coming out who told us she hadn't seen any that morning.  Not the best news but we continued on.  The church yard consists of yew trees and tall beech trees at the back.  As we came around the church the top of the beech tree was in the sunshine and a Hawfinch flew on to the top of the branches.

We then discovered a group of Hawfinch in some trees away from the churchyard, we counted at least fifteen, in this picture there are eight.

They were mobile but would return to the trees where the sun was catching the branches, it was a cold morning.

We walked around the area and managed to get some different if distant views, here eleven Hawfinch

We had seen photographs of the Hawfinch feeding on the ground in the churchyard, but walking around the Yew trees appeared to be berry less now, so the Hawfinch were feeding elsewhere and unfortunately this was completely out of sight of us.  We spent the time looking up at the tops of the trees with this view.

We persevered for some time, walking around the village.  At least we were able to appreciate the thatched cottages and neat gardens.

Walking around a Buzzard drifted over along with a Red Kite that came quite low to check us out.

We decided to move on and took the short drive to Bransbury Common, an area of bog and farmland on either side of the river Dever.  You park off road and the walk down a footpath to an area of the river that used to be a ford.  In the fields on the way there were all five thrush species, a Goldcrest, a Brown Hare and good numbers of Roe Deer.

The river was flowing fast but was still not too deep, but deep enough to prevent crossing in wellies.

Ian found a female Kingfisher on the other side of the river, perched on a fence by a still part of the river.

There was little about, a Cetti's Warbler was calling from the reeds and there was a brief burst of song and we saw it move from the bushes.

Overhead there were Buzzards and distant Red Kite.  Eventually two Red Kite came overhead

Both birds were calling.

Then interacting, not sure if this was display or annoyance.

One flew off, the other staying overhead.

With little about we decided to head back, but stopped for a Muntjac Deer that was in a nearby field.

The small, Chinese muntjac deer was introduced to Woburn Park in Bedfordshire at the start of the 20th century and rapidly spread into the surrounding area. It is now a common animal across southeast England and can be found in woodland, parkland and even gardens. Muntjac deer are notorious browsers, eating the shoots from shrubs, as well as woodland herbs and brambles. This clearing of woodland understory has been linked to declines in species such as nightingales.

A very small, stocky deer, the muntjac deer is about the same size as a medium dog. It is gingery-brown, with a pale underside, darker stripes in its face, and small, single-pointed antlers.

Male muntjacs have short, unbranched antlers that slope backwards, and a pair of long canine teeth. They breed all year-round, but females usually only have one kid at a time. Muntjac deer are also known as 'barking deer' because of their dog-like calls.

Unnerved by us it ran away in a comical manner, a bit like a dog trying to run and then leap like a Roe Deer.

We had lunch and then decided to spend the afternoon at Fishlake Meadows.  From the car park we walked the canal path.  At the first view point a Great Egret was perched in the dead trees.

It was very quiet along the path until we reached the gate to the cross path.  A Marsh Tit was vocal and showed well around the bramble by the sub station

Despite its name, the Marsh Tit actually lives in woodland and parks in England and Wales. It is very similar to the willow tit, but has a glossier black cap and a 'pitchoo' call that sounds like a sneeze.  They're so hard to identify that ornithologists (scientists who study birds) didn't realise there were two species until 1897.

Walking along the cross path a Buzzard sat in one of the trees alongside the river.

The path to the screens was quite deeply flooded in places, the only birds were Gadwall and Teal in the pools and another Cetti's Warbler.  At the screens there were Greylag and a single Shelduck.  A Buzzard flew across the water, at first thought to be a Marsh Harrier.

From the back of the water a Great Egret flew towards us.

As it reached the reeds close to us it threw out its neck and called.

We made our way back to the canal path where we finally managed to see a female Marsh Harrier, but she quickly dropped into the reed bed.

Back home, later in the afternoon the sunset was quite spectacular and worthy of a mention here.

Some good year ticks today, but not the views I was hoping for.  The month is coming to an end, what will be next?