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EFC Centre at Wat Tyler Country ParkOur centre is available for visits on a pre-booked basis on Wednesdays between 10am - 4pm. The Club’s activities and displays are also usually open to the public on the first Saturday of the month 11am - 4pm.

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The weblog below is for naturalists to use to report interesting sightings, ask questions, report on field meetings and generally post pictures and any information or questions generally relevant in some way to the wildlife and geology of Essex. You will need to register and be logged-on to post to the forum, and you need to upload pictures first, for use in posts. Find out more


Sat 28th July 2012 19:20 by Mary Smith
A Wood Pigeon
I have just had a very strange experience with a Wood Pigeon. Our house is an old one, with 4 chimneys still with 4 pots on top on the roof. Every now and then, usually in a storm, we hear a fall of sand or similar down the one that goes to our bedroom, and this is the only one that can still be opened at the bottom.  The other 3 are all bricked up. We thought they were all covered with wire mesh, but today's experience shows very clearly that at least one is not. As I went into the bedroom, I heard a fluttering, as of a bird behind the cover that closes the hole. So I pulled one corner gently ajar, and there was a Wood Pigeon, very much alive and anxious to get out. I am very familiar with chickens, and I thought that getting hold of a Pigeon would not be that different from my daughter's Bantams. But the Bantams are fairly tame, and this Pigeon was certainly not.  I grabbed one wing, and then the other, but he/she would not let them lie flat but stretched them fully out into the space that was now exposed, namely our bedroom.  I had taken the precaution of opening the casement windows wide before trying to catch the bird, and this Pigeon had immediately seen an opportunity and took it quickly.  So, while losing a feather or five, it went straight outside. Then I looked at the accumulated heap of sand etc in the old grate. It included a very long dead Pigeon, no meat or flesh of any kind, but a sort of dessicated bird. This one had clearly fallen in but many years ago.  And we never knew it was there.  Our next step is to call the roof man to cover the chimney pots in order to avoid a repeat.  Although I am no friend of Wood Pigeons, I would not want to kill them by starving to death in my chimney. Has anyone else had this happen before in their home?
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