Nature Notes: November 2014

Birds

With the shorter days came less time for viewing nature. 

November was rather grey, wet and mild. 

However the cooler shorter days are bringing the birds back to the garden. All the usual species are back in at least low numbers, except the greenfinch (Carduelis chloris), which has only been spotted once this month. I also don't see them on my local walks either.

I did see a bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) at Junk Woods on the morning of the first.

A mixed flock of sparrows often dominate the bird table. They seem to be about 60% house (Passer domesticus) and 40% tree (Passer montanus). There is also the odd hedge sparrow or dunnock (Prunella modularis) which is a more solitary individual.

I spotted at least five goosanders (Mergus merganser) on the River Wharfe at Tadcaster, 

Goosander 

Three buzzards (Buteo buteo) at B woods, and a murmuration of starlings (Sturnus vulgaris)at the flyover. I spent some time filming the murmuration on the afternoon of the 29^th. They started about 15:50 and it was all over by 16:30. They dropped out of the sky to roost in the shrubs around the pond. There must have been about 500 of them. Quite a spectacular spectacle.

Whilst this was going on there was a kestrel hunting in the field nearby.

Cock pheasant through the kitchen window

Mammals

A tortoiseshell cat was seen in the garden on the 1^st but after a couple of other visits has now disappeared again.

Although we used to have rabbits in the garden every day in the summer they are now a very rare occurrence, only one has been spotted in the last couple of months.

Plants

I took some photographs of plants that were still in flower on the last day of the month. I suppose this is testament to the mild weather.

Buttercup in perspective

Nasturtium

Geranium

Fungi

The wet weather has also been good for the fungi.

Part of the fairy ring?

The common name of Auricularia auricula-judae - 'Jew's Ear'-may have come from 'Judas' Ear'. This refers to a common belief that Judas hanged himself from an elder tree, the common host of this fungus.

Winter sunlight captured through a fallen sycamore leaf

October nature notes

Birds

The  great spotted woodpeckers (Dendrocopos major) have started to return to the garden. Both males and females have been seen feeding on the suet.
Goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis) are on the increase with up to four on the Niger seeds at one time. However I did spot ten of them on a telephone wire near B.

A tawny owl (Strix aluco) can sometimes be heard during the night calling from the chestnut tree.
On the down side there was a dead barn owl (Tyto alba) on the road verge between Buckles Inn and Bilbrough services.

Bird on a wire..........

Mammals

We still have evidence of hedgehogs (Erinaceous europaeus) in the back garden. Judging by the amount of droppings there must be quite a few or at least one very incontinent one.

 There was only one sighting of a stoat (Mustela erminea) in the garden this month, although I did see one on the way to work. That is I was on the way to work not the stoat.
There was a dead badger (Meles meles) on the A64 near the race course.

Insects

Fox moth caterpillar in Scotland at Yellow Craig. Time to hibernate.

September Nature notes.

Birds

September has been even quieter than the preceding months. The hour long bird count that I do at the start of each month came up with the grand total of two great tits (Parus major). Apart from the tits there is a flock of sparrows and the odd goldfinch. There is only one starling (Sturnus vulgaris) that comes to the feeders. This starling looks like it still has some down from it's juvenile coat.

Mammals

The squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is in the garden burying some chestnuts. One hare (Lepus capensis) was spotted in the garden. Apart from this there was a dead rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and a few dead mice.

Insects

I'll end on a positive note with a picture of a shieldbug that was crawling up the back door.

Woundwort Shieldbug (Eysarcoris fabricii)

August Nature Notes

It has been another quiet month concerning bird numbers and species variety. There has still been a number of sparrows, blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) and great tits (Parus major) visiting the bird feeders.

However some of the other species to visit have been a an early morning visit from a juvenile moorhen (Gallinula chloropus), a bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) on the fat balls and a juvenile goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) being fed by a parent.

Young goldfinch

I have only seen one great spotted woodpecker in the garden this month and that was a male feeding on the fat balls.

Other sightings have been three jays (Garrulus glandarius) in the trees near B wood.

In Scotland I saw a few snipe (Gallinago gallinago) in the potato field after the harvest. Nice to see this species as they have undergone a decline in the numbers in recent years. 

Scottish snipe 

Buzzards (Buteo buteo) could also be heard calling and I managed to capture this image of one far off in the distance.

Mammals

The usual rabbits and the odd hare come into the garden. There has also been an increase in the rat population. This is perhaps connected to the harvest clearing the fields of any cover and probably making a few rats homeless.

However the most interesting visitor to the garden this month was a stoat (Mustela erminea). I saw it on a couple of occasions hunting through the garden.  

July 2014 Nature Notes

Birds

A month when most of the birds have deserted the garden to pursue their interests in unknown places. The grain harvest started on the 14th and the oil seed rape on the 17th, which means there is spilled grain and wide open spaces for the birds to investigate.
However, some birds have remained in the garden; mainly members of the tit family.

Juvenile blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus).

On the 7th seven young starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) were seen on the bird table. They barge and jostle each other like young boys waiting in line for school lunch. By the 21st I saw 15 of them at one time in the feeder area.

Other juveniles that have been spotted were three young robins (Erithacus rubecula) on the bird table on the 5th.

 The same evening I saw four blackbirds (Turdus merula) chasing a barn owl (Tyto alba) down the farm road.

We also have a large flock of sparrows which can number up to 50 at a time. They love to bathe in the dust of the farm track on dry days and can be heard squabbling among themselves in the clump of conifers as they settle down for the evening.

I don't often see the wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) coming into the garden but I spotted this one hunting around the gate.

Mammals

On the evening of the 1st at 21:00 I saw two roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) fawns and their mother at the end of the farm road near Junk woods. I also saw four hares at the same place and time. Hares (Lepus europaeus) became a rarer sighting once the fields were harvested. However I did see a group of hares chasing each other and standing up on their back legs in what appeared to be an almost 'pronging' movement.

Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are still visiting the garden and a rabbit proof fence had to be installed around part of the veg plot to keep them out. Rabbit scrapes are proving more of a nuisance than what they are nibbling.
Mice can be seen scuttling about and one mouse used the tall dahlia stems as a ladder to the bird table so that he could eat the spilt seed.

Insects

I caught this couple in the field margin near B woods.

Soldier beetles (Rhagonycha fulva)

A common beetle found throughout the UK between March to October and feed on small soft-bodied insects.

 It's quite rare to see them singly. More often they are seen as mating pairs, earning them the nickname of 'bonking beetles'.Ref: 1

Their brown, maggot-like larvae live in soil and leaf litter.

These wasps decided that a bird box would make a great place to build a nest.

Fungi

Dryad's Saddle (Polyporus squamosus)? growing on dead beech tree (Fagus).

June Nature Notes

June 2014

I think I will start using Latin names for the species which will be an aid to help me learn them and as a way to avoid confusion between species.
So far we have not seen many corvids in the garden although there are plenty in the area around us. However they have started to venture more often into the garden now. By 08:40 on the 6th I had seen three jackdaws (Corvus monedula), a rook (Corvus frugilegus)and a jay (Garrulus glandarius). They are very cautious and don't stay long.
This was another month for the sighting of many juvenile birds visiting the feeders usually in the company of at least one parent. Here is a list of some of the sightings;
8th Coal tit (Periparus ater) and great tit (Parus major)
20th Three blackbirds (Turdus merula) on the bird table being fed by the mother. The young could be mistaken for thrushes because they have similar breast patterns.

21st Tree sparrow (Passer montanus) feeding the young with seeds. These were part of a flock of mixed sparrows numbering at least 30. A young starling was seen on the same day being fed with mealworms.
23rd A baby robin (Erithacus rubecula) on the bird table.
We were also treated to the arrival of our first juvenile great spotted woodpeckers (Dendrocopos major). The first sighting was on the 5th. I could see the male parent taking suet to feed a bird on a distant branch. Eventually the juvenile came closer but still kept his distance from the feeders and waited for the parent to bring the food to him. On the 10th a juvenile was feeding alone on the fat balls.

 On the 15th the two juveniles were on the feeders together with a female GSW. One was feeding independently. However by the 18th the two juveniles were fighting each other over access to the fat balls.
One of the juveniles had a narrow escape when a sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) swooped past the feeders. Another bird did not have such luck and was seen spread spreadeagled on the ground, pinned down by the sparrowhawk, whilst it pecked at. I couldn't see what type of bird it was but it seemed to have wide narrow wings like a swift or swallow. After about five minutes it flew off to the chessnut tree with the dead bird. A few minutes later I saw it fly towards the farm with a very limp looking body gripped in one tallon.

The goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) has been absent from the feeders in the numbers that were present in the past but I did shot this one out the living room window.

Mammals

There is a hare (Lepus europaeus) that comes up the farm road to just outside the garden and then walks back down again, he sometimes ventures into the garden if the gate is open. I don't think there has been a time when I have walked down the farm road and not seen at least one hare. On the evening of the 24th I saw seven.
The mouse is out and about under the feeders from time to time.

There is usually no more than one at a time.
Two or three rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are making themselves at home in the garden.

Three squirrels  (Sciurus carolinensis) come to the garden. During the winter the squirrel never bothered the feeders but now likes to take his fill. Perhaps the food he had stored last autumn has ran out and a new source has not come to fruition.

I saw a fox on the farm road. It was late in the evening in the area where many rabbits gather. This was the first sighting of a fox since we came here.
Insects
The damp brings out the slugs and I spotted a fine example of a leopard slug (Limax maximus).

Time to end with a nice pair of tits.

May Nature Notes

May 2014

The birds who survived the winter and were successful in their breading are now moving into the next phase of their life cycle. That is to say they are putting all their efforts into bringing up the next generation. The starlings were picking out any meal worms from the bird table mix to feed to their offspring the 'starlets'. There has been up to three at any one time pestering the parent.

A speckled starling

Get a beak full of meal worms

Feeding time

Young birds could also be seen on the U lake.

Black swan with cygnet. 

Great crested grebe chick

Parent still on the nest

Mallard ducklings

Coot and cootlet

 However, birth was balanced with a couple of deaths.
On the 16th I found a dead barn owl on the path next to the A64 towards Askham Bryan. It had no rings on the legs so i threw it over the hedge.
On the 19th there was the head of a greenfinch on the stones under the bird feeders. I thought it might have been the cat because I had seen it in the garden a couple of days before.
I found the culprit the next morning as i witnessed a sparrowhawk swoop in and miss the birds on the table but he then hopped into the bush and plucked a bird out. It then landed with the bird in its grip, where it kneaded it a couple of times before flying off.