Nature notes; March 2015

Nature Notes: March 2015 

Birds

Snippets of interest:

A jay (Garrulus glandarius) on the Roman Road.

A kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) on the conker tree.

A crow (Corvus corone) chasing a barn owl (Tyto alba) on the Roman Road.

Two yellowhammers (Emberiza citrinella) in an oil seed rape field near B.

Yellowhammer 

Up to four buzzards (Buteo buteo) near B woods.

A sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) on the bird table and one wet evening it kept coming back to perch on the pergola above the feeders.

A kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) was spotted twice in the ditches near the second wood on the Roman Road at 16:45 on the 12th. I watched the blue flash of rump fly up the ditch when I was on my way down and again on my way back.

Two pied wagtails (Motacilla alba) fighting on the roof of the garage.

A one eyed great tit on the bird table.

 

A great tit but a poor eye

Mammals

I saw five deer (Capreolus capreolus) and two hares (Lepus europaeus) on the 6th when I was walking on the Roman Road.

The oddest site I saw was on the Saturday afternoon of the 7th I met a fox hunt coming up the Roman Road. There was perhaps two or three men in red coats riding the boundaries of the fields with a pack of dogs but they looked like they were out of luck trying to raise any foxes. The main body of the hunt were composed of 20 to 30 riders all plodding along chatting dressed like gentry in their best fox hunting costumes. A very odd pastime.

April 2014 Nature Notes

The need for water for the birds to drink and bathe in became more important as the days grew warmer.

Great spotted woodpecker having a drink to wash down all the suet 

Early in the month the GSWs were arriving thick and fast at the bird feeders, sometimes up to four at a time then a lot of chasing and calling would ensue.

There was a lot of birds visiting the garden at the beginning of the month, some of which rarely if ever came into the garden in the winter time such as magpies, crows and even a jay. The jay was chased off from the birch tree by a blackbird.

The blackbirds are the most industrious of birds. They really burn the candle at both ends. Evidence of their productivity was evident when the first of their offspring could be seen begging for food from the male. It was always the male that fed the young.

Feeding time....

....and a drink to follow.

On Sunday 13th at 18:00 a flock of about 12 goldfinches came to feed. They show the usual pecking order of the top two sitting on the niger seed feeder and the others squabbling about the places on the other seed feeder. 

I spotted two bullfinches on the Roman Road. I also noticed a rather large greenfinch which looked old or ill. I though the birds may be getting some sort of disease but he still visits weeks later and still looks the same.

He may look ill  but he has no loss of appetite

There has definitely been a reduction in the number of tits visiting although two long tailed tits have been spotted flitting from feeder to feeder. One of them rather bravely pecked at the GSW which was feeding on the suet block.

On Tuesday 15th I saw the first (rather distant) swallow of the year.

Two yellowhammer females often visit the garden at the same time. However, I have not seen the male as much as of old. I suppose birds are busier at this time of year with mating and rearing young than the single mindedness of feeding that occupies them in the winter.

On Sunday 13th at 09:45 I spotted four buzzards flying over Junk woods.

 I watched gannets diving in the Firth of Forth.

I also caught this thrush singing on a branch near the buckthorn.

By the 25th the U lake had many ducklings, goslings, baby coots and probably some young great crested grebes.

Mammals

The mice were still out and about picking up seed etc at the bird table. Unfortunately so was the larger more unwelcome rodent the rat. I suppose seed always attracts rats.

The last I saw of the cat was a few weeks ago when he was settling down for a sleep in the afternoon sun.

Come back pussy you have some work to do!

Plants

April was a good month for blossom and bluebells.

Cherry in blossom at the U

Blackthorn in blossom near B woods

Bluebells in B wood

How about a nice millipede to end the month on. 

 Polydesmus coriaceus (?)

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.