wildlife watch
Hamstead Marshall
Hamstead Marshall is rich in wildlife,
thanks to the river Kennet, the canal, the park, the relatively
high proportion of woodland and the 325-acre organic farm in
the centre of the village. Below are detailed some of the less
common species which can be seen locally. Please send
in your sightings, of these and
other species, saying when and where they were spotted.
The common
buzzard has long been a
regular sight locally. They can often be seen circling high in
the sky; ground sightings are more rare. Both adults and young
make an unlikely cat-like mewing sound.
In recent years the red kite has also
taken up residence, probably spreading from its reintroduction
site in the Chiltern Hills. It can be distinguished from the
buzzard by a different flying patten, reddish plumage and, most
characteristically, its forked tail.
Barn owls used
to be more numerous, and at one time nested in the church
tower. When they were evicted several years ago nest boxes were
set up in surrounding fields and gardens, but sightings are now
very rare.
Other birds of prey include kestrel and sparrowhawk.
Pheasant and partridge are
reared for local shoots. The former are ubiquitous, the latter
mostly on higher ground.
Herons
inhabit the park and they also frequent stocked garden ponds. Kingfishers can
be seen from the canal towpath, and sometimes visit garden
ponds.
Nightingales have
been heard near the canal, but are increasingly rare.
Larks, lapwings and plovers are sometimes to be seen on higher ground.
Mallard ducks on the river have for several years been
accompanied by a single white domestic duck. Swans also patrol the
canal, and a few years ago they raised six cygnets in a nest
visible from the bridge near the mill. Canada geese are
ubiquitous on the park ponds and on the canal, as are coots and moorhens.
Roe deer are
numerous throughout the parish because Hamstead Park was, in
medieval times, a deer park. Until the Second World War there
was also a herd of red deer in the park, but these did not
survive the troop encampments.
Muntjac deer arrived
in the twentieth century. They are smaller, and sometimes look
like a small dog because they run more often than they leap.
© Jonathan Pointer
Water vole
and mink inhabit the canal banks, but are rarely
spotted, being very shy.
Hares can be
seen on the higher ground in the village, such as the fields
above Whitehill.
Copyright Penelope Stokes
24 September 2009
Polecats, extinguished
by dutiful Victorian gamekeepers, have made a local comeback in
recent years.
One of the first signs of spring used to
be hedgehog roadkill. However it is badgers rather than cars that have been
responsible for their vastly reduced numbers in the last few
years.