Cromwell Bottom & Towpath 7/1/08

Not too much of any great interest around this morning sadly and what there was was very difficult to watch due to the high winds. I topped the feeders up on Tag Loop and spotted a small flock of Chaffinches & Bullfinches underneath the feeders picking up fallen seed. I got good views of a fox as I came down the track from the top of Tag Loop as it walked round the path on Brookfoot loop with a dead Squirrel in its mouth ! I suspect this was a young Squirrel moving across CB looking for a home territory of its own and the Fox bagged it on the floor. I have now started placing a mixture of Sunflower, Pinhead Oats and Peanuts on the fence posts on the fence that runs alongside Tag and the river. I also scatter some of the mix in the hawthorn hedge. There is a quite nice sized population of finches & tits now using this area regularly. There is also a pair of Pheasants around most days, I know this because the dog usually starts to dash around and flushes them out and back over the river to North Bank Loop. Hopefully the male of the pair is the same bird that used to appear in the compound on North Bank to scrounge sandwiches from people working the site. The Heron was in its usual spot on the river despite it being up to around the 1mtr mark on the measuring stick this morning. I have noticed a distinct drop in Goosander numbers this year with a pair or four or five birds at most. Most I had was 18 together in early autumn.

Walking back up the towpath home I had good views of the two regular Roe Deer I see near Knowles Pipe dump. There was also a Fox sunning itself. Best spot of the day was courtesy of the dog again which flushed another Woodcock from the woodland between river and canal just above Rawsons Pool. I did have a report of another Woodcock lower down the canal near Crowther bridge a couple of weeks back.

Finally; I have had reports of two van loads of men with terriers seen in the anglers car park on Sunday 30th December. I don't suppose anyone from the blog spotted these and took numbers ? They are no doubt sussing out fox dens in the area to dig out vixen and cubs in the next few weeks and I would like to get the numbers to the local Badger Watch group as Fox diggers are invariably involved in Badger baiting as well in my experience. We have not had much trouble with the terrier brigade in recent years at CB, if they are around again I would dearly love them to get nicked by the police and nip any problems in the bud. If anyone sees anything suspicious please phone the police ASAP and take plate numbers as there are Badgers in the area as well as Foxes. I would strongly advise that you do NOT approach anyone you see behaving in this manner and leave it to the police to handle as they are likely to turn violent if confronted.