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.

March Nature Notes

March

The month started with a slight frost which lead to a sunny day. Nothing like a bit of sun to get everything out and about. I noted the first daffodil in the garden to flower, the first bumble bee, fly, and the first time a magpie visited the garden. The magpie is a nervous caller, only briefly stopping on the table to gulp down some nibble before darting off again. I also watched him try to take flying bites from the hanging suet block.

A pair of starlings are now regular addition to the many garden feeders. They are also showing some interest in a bird box above the garage which is also getting attention from the house sparrows.

The small birds such as the tits and finches are usually the most numerous. The goldfinches topped the chart on the one hour bird count at the beginning of the month. The seed feeders in general being the most popular.

A couple of new additions was a pied wagtail and a possible sighting of a siskin on the niger seeds....just a brief glimpse. However the yellowhammer visits much more often now and has on occasion been seen with a female. They are always feeding on the ground so far.

Yellowhammer male

I shot a video of a yellow hammer singing on a branch on an early morning walk near B woods.

I saw two blackbirds mating on the log pile on the 8^th and a pair were building a nest in a conifer bush at the front of the house on the 31^st. I also found a large dead baby bird on the drive on the same morning, I'm not sure what species it was as it wasn't well developed.

There was an increase in the number of visits by the great spotted woodpeckers (GSW). We now have at least four different birds but there could be more. The more that I watch the more I can see differences between the different birds. These include the more obvious red patch that separates adult males from females but there is also other characteristics such as the number of white bands on the tail and colouring of a 'nose' band and chest. I propose that the more mature birds have a deeper ruffous colouring to these parts.

I heard three GSWs 'drumming' in B woods and shot some film of one that was just in range of my zoom.

Other sightings

A black cap chirping on a branch in Spring Lane.

Two pairs of great crested grebes nesting on U lake.

Ten or so goosanders on U lake. A mixture of males and females. They came last year but didn't stay for more than one weekend. 'These birds have been here most of the month now. 

These handsome diving ducks are a member of the sawbill family, so called because of their long, serrated bills, used for catching fish. A largely freshwater bird, the goosander first bred in the UK in 1871. It built up numbers in Scotland and then since 1970 it has spread across northern England into Wales, reaching south-west England.' http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/goosander/

On Sunday the 30^th there was a toad trying to get out from an empty plant pot in the glasshouse. I gave him a lift and deposited him under some geraniums where I have seen frogs / toads before.

Mammals

If I took an average of the deer and hares seen on my local walks then the deer would be 3.25 per walk and 1.25 hares.

No mice were spotted until the 7^th when a new larger mouse was seen taking seed from the ground. Then the little mouse was back out on the 10^th at his usual patch. Then on the 14^th he had two companions. Made me wonder just how many were in the area around the feeders? There certainly are a lot of mouse holes in the soil. I thought we were in for a summer of many mice but the long haired Siamese (LHS) discovered there existence and probably put an end to it. I saw him sitting in the dusk looking wonderfully eerie. There was no sighting of a mouse until the 30^th. Even if he did eat them all, I suppose with a good niche like the area around the feeders it wouldn't be long before another mouse family would move in.

Nature Notes: February 2014

February

The month started with a slight frost leading to a sunny day. It was the first day I saw a GSW male take nibbles from the bird table or a robin feed from the seed feeder.

The female GSW is not as regular a visitor as she was but still makes an appearance on the peanuts. The two males have been seen arriving at the same time and chasing each other off.

A pair of starlings have started visiting the feeders but don't stay for long. This is also the case with a male yellow hammer which sat by the water bath on the 28^th for about ten seconds and then flew off. We also had our first visit of two long tailed tits on the 19^th. Unfortunately i didn't get any photographs but here are some other tits.

Blue tit

Coal tit

On the 23^rd I counted ten goldfinches feeding at the same time; the norm was usually about five or six.

A house sparrow was seen guarding the garage nest box and once away a starling entered the box and left again.

The bird count for this month showed that the finches were the most numerous with the goldfinch and chaffinch taking the top two spots.

There was a big decline in the number of sparrows.

The seed feeders were the most popular.

Mammals

The only sightings this month were three deer on a local walk and the long haired Siamese (LHS) cat. He was sighted in the garden for the first time at 08:00 on the 6^th.

A very distant deer

Other sightings

I uncovered two frogs that were living under a dense mat of damp dead Geranium leaves when I was raking about. I put the leaves back on them and hoped I hadn't disturbed them too much.

Average temperature 6°C

Total rainfall 66mm

Nature Notes for January 2014

January 2013

The sparrows were making the most of the spilt seed as a flock of 15 of them hoovered it up.

A male house sparrow

I also had my first sighting of a male chaffinch pecking at the hanging suet block.

Six greenfinches were all jostling for position on a seed feeder. The greenfinches are wonderful sleek looking birds.

A male greenfinch

The GSWs made multiple visits to the garden but there isn't that much difference to tell between the males except that one appears to be more shy / cautious compared to the other. One of them was always turning up at 08:30 every morning. The female still preferring to eat peanuts.

The strangest bird sighting this month was a moorhen perched in a tree beside the garden. I have never seen this before or since.

The hour long bird count showed that the sparrows and great tits were the most numerous. The peanut feeders were the most popular.

Mammals

I spotted a very small mouse coming out from some ivy covered rocks to pick up a seed and dart back under the protection of his rocky home. I had noticed mouse holes in the soil around the base of the feeders but I had never seen any activity. Perhaps he is a harvest mouse. He certainly spent a very busy day harvesting the spilt seed. I also saw a larger mouse in the garage. I put out a line of four sunflower seeds and in the morning they were gone.

However a new cat has been spotted in the vicinity. This is a large feral looking cat but that perhaps comes from very posh stock. He (I say 'He' but it could well be a female, although it would be rather large for a female cat.) has a long crean coloured body and chocolate brown face and tail. A search on the internet makes me think that he is a long haired Siamese (LHS). He hasn't ventured into the garden yet in the day time but the car has shown paw prints on it in the morning.

I have only spotted two roe deer this month but I have seen four hares. Two were in the fields and the other two in Junk woods.

Other sightings

I saw a couple of buzzards and seven partridges on a local walk. The paths and fields are sodden now with all the rain we have been having.

There were a few tree creepers in B woods and the first signs of spring as a few green shoots were poking up through the leaf litter. In the garden the snowdrops are flowering.

Average temperature 6°C

Total rainfall 97mm

Nature Notes December 2013

December 2013

The month started with the call of a tawny owl in the chestnut tree early in the morning. With the dawn comes the first visit of the great spotted woodpecker (GSW). The male usually arrives before the female. He uses his beak like a nematic drill and chisels off chunks of suet from the block that hangs from the feeding station. Suet seems to be his preferred choice but he sometimes will hammer away at the peanuts for a while when the suet runs low. He then flies to the nearby telephone pole to either clean his beak or is he stashing some of the suet in the poles crevices. He is followed by the female who does not touch the suet but always sticks to the peanuts.

Later in the month I noticed that there were in fact two male GSWs in the garden as one was pecking at the apple tree while the other was on the suet.

I counted as many as eight goldfinches feeding at one time. Two usually sit on the Niger seed feeder whist the others jostle for position with the greenfinches on the seed feeders. 

The finches also forage on the ground for the spilt seed and bits of suet and here they are joined by the chaffinches, blackbirds, sparrows, robins, and a couple of collard doves. These birds can also be found visiting the table where they pick at the suet nibbles. Interspersed among all these species are the tits who dart between all the feeders picking at what ever they can get before darting off to the safety of the nearby bush. I have seen great, blue and coal tits.

In an hours count of the individuals visits that each feeder type received it was the table with the suet nibbles that had the highest number of visits; the peanuts came a close second. The goldfinches like to sit on the Niger seeds for up to 15 minutes at a time. I suppose once you have got your place you don't want to give it up.

A rather glossy male pheasant ambles through the garden on a couple of occasions and a solitary swan flew over.

On the 29^th which was a sunny Sunday I noticed a pair of sparrows defending the nest box above the garage. Male was outside and the female was inside.

Mammals

A squirrel comes into the garden and snuffles in the grass as if he is looking for some tasty treat that he buried there in better times. The other mammal that has been spotted in the garden was a slim black cat. However in the local area I have seen as many as three roe deer together in the fields and some more squirrels in the woods.

Other sightings

A flock of redwings and fieldfares sit in the trees around the farm and in the winter wheat field at the side of the Travelodge. It is not easy to get a good picture of them because they take flight as soon as they see you, only to land just out of reach.

I have not noticed any corvids entering the garden although they do inhabit the area surrounding it. I did notice some rooks harassing a pair of buzzards that had the cheek or bad luck to land in a tree that they were perched in. The buzzards made a quick retreat.

In Scotland I found a dead cuckoo ray on the beach. I have walked that stretch of beach on many occasions and I have never seen one before. 

There was the more usual sightings of redshank, oyster catchers and eiders.

Redshank

Eiders female and male

Average temperature 7°C

Total rainfall 52mm