Catch-up 2016 & 2017 (part 2)

February 2018: catch-up 2016 & 2017 (part 2)

June 2016 saw me collect a lost racing pigeon from my workplace. For a few days, a pigeon was seen wandering about the car park. Knowing that I was into nature, the receptionist gave me a shout. At the end of the day with the security guard, we trapped the bird in a cardboard box. taking it home, my wife examined the rings on its leg and managed to track down the owner from the north-east. Apparently, the pigeon was racing from near Mansfield back to the north-east. A journey that should've taken a few hours at most. Well this bird got lost and made its temporary home in our car park. After a quick call a local "pigeon fancier" offered to home the bird for a few days and then release it back to continue its journey.

The 'Racer' rescued from the car park.

Well, he did this and sure enough, the pigeon returned to the car park. Once more we retrieved the bird and I took it home and rang the chap to collect it. This he did and said he would hold onto it for a week or more and then release it. Well it did return to the car park some time later but then as quickly vanished, presumably back to the north-east and home!

In August, another 'Racer' landed on the roof of our house. This bird looked more of a seasoned-pro. It had a steely look in its eyes as though it had a had a plan. The Pigeon was clearly resting before continuing the race. The pigeon only stayed for a couple of hours or so and then disappeared from the roof at dusk.

'Racer' number two.

The Summer months tend to draw in a fair few moths. This summer was no exception. Below are a selection of months that I snapped during those warm evenings.

While sorting the garden at my Mother-in-Law's home, I tend to come across this type of spider. Now our home is 3 miles away and have never seen any of these where I live. I would think that this type of spider prefers a different type of soil and yes, this spider has two legs that are twice as long as the others. The entire body is flat and they always seem to move close to the ground. I've always seen them in a garden at soil level, in amongst the planets and never near a web. I am unable to track down the name of this arachnid.

        

Back in our garden, I snapped this photo of a young Robin. I suspect that the Robin was about 2 to 3 months old. As you can see here, it appears that the right foot had become entangled in something. This more than likely happened in the nest when it was a chick. As you can see, one of its toes is part of the foreign body and is deformed. We saw it in the garden for a couple of days, having great difficulty in moving about. After two days it was not seen again.

Catch-up 2016 & 2017 (part 1)

February 2018 - Catch-up review of 2016 & 2017

Apologies to you all out there. I have neglected this blog over the past two years or so. Since my last update in March 2016, I have taken a few snaps of critters, both small and not so small. So let's begin!

"Waggy", the Grey Wagtail that has been spending the Winters since 2010 in our garden, vacated the garden for her breeding grounds by mid-April 2016. The male Wagtail that had appeared the previous two Winters, failed to arrive for whatever reason. Will "Waggy" return for a sixth Winter? Who knows? But as this author blogs (February 2018), "Waggy" has not yet returned. I would suspect that the Wagtail had reached the end of her life-cycle. It was fun when she returned each winter and spent the days on our pond, coming to the door to be fed live meal worms. Having duels with the resident Robin and tussles with the female Blackbird. I find it very intriguing that this small bird would return to our garden each year, at more or less the same month and depart each April.

Where did she go? Did she raise offspring each year? We know that she hooked-up with a male for two consecutive seasons. This was the definitely the same bird returning each year. My wife or myself would call "waggy" and she would appear at the door to be fed. She wasn't scared at all by us. A different bird would be wary of coming to the door to be fed. Goodbye Waggy.

Siskins arrived arrived in the garden during January and February 2016. They regularly stopped-off at the feeders on they're way to somewhere else.

On and off throughout 2016 and 2017, we have been getting the odd visit from Goldfinches. These colourful birds always add colour to the garden. They tend to spend time on the feeders eating sunflower hearts. Normally we only get flocks of House Sparrows and Starlings together with Wood Pigeons. speaking of which, the numbers of House Sparrows and Starlings that we used to get in the garden have dropped dramatically. This I would say reflects the national decline of these once common birds.

In March 2016, I got to talking with a work-colleague. Simon told me that  he would  go to Hatfield Moor to photograph Adders in the Spring and Summer. Well, in all the visits I had made, I never saw one. So, we agreed one Sunday to go early in the morning.  Unfortunately, this trip we didn't see any but Simon spotted a "reddish duck" sailing on the still water. I only managed to get one shot! A Mandarin Duck and a male at that! The image below shows the bright colour of a Mandarin Duck, classified by the Birding Authorities as an "Escapee". That is, not native to this country.

May, and we went again. A warm sunny morning. This time we glimpsed a Lizard, a juvenile adder and around lunchtime on our way back to the cars I saw an adult Adder coiled as a circular-pyramid! It was large snake of at least a metre with a thick girth! I called to Simon who was further down the path. Turning to take a photo, I just got the rear of it as it quietly slide into the hedgerow!

The photos below show the Lizard and an Owl Pellet (the excreted remains of a meal).

And while there, we stepped into a bird hide to get some close views of the Mandarin Duck.

Also while there I snapped this shot of a Speckled-Wood Butterfly.

Meanwhile back in the garden, the familiar sight of a Sparrowhawk  had arrived. This was to be the first of many visits made by the raptor in the coming weeks. The Sparrowhawk has been a regular visitor to the garden these past years due to the feeder tables and abundance of Starlings and House Sparrows in past years.

A creature that looks like something from another world was also found in our garden... a so-called May Bug or Common Cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha). This one is a male, he has seven 'leaves' on his antennae. They spend 3 to 5 years buried in the ground as grubs. When they pupate and emerge as an adult beetle, they will only live for another 6 weeks.

March 2015: Catch-up

Much has happened since last I updated this blog. Let me try to bring you guys up to speed!
The Grey Wagtail that has been visiting our garden pond since she was a juvenile way back in 2011 is still here. "Waggy", as we have affectionately called her, still arrives in the garden each autumn/winter until the following spring when she moves away to find a mate and raise a brood.

Over the successive seasons, she has matured into an adult Grey Wagtail, capable of evading threats from aggressively territorial Robins and hunting Sparrowhawks. She continues to spend the winter months on the garden pond, coming to the back door to accept live mealworms and spending the daylight hours in our garden.

Forward to 22nd March 2014, out of the blue sky, a male Grey Wagtail appeared on the garden lawn. Larger and with bolder colouring, the male departed and returned each day with the female over successive days until April 17th, which turned-out to be the last day that they spent time here. After that we have to assume that they flew to the summer breeding grounds to raise a brood.

December 3rd 2014 saw the female Grey Wagtail return to our garden pond and to be fed a regular intake of live mealworms. As of writing this account (Sunday 8th March 2015), "Waggy" is still here, but last Wednesday 4th, a male Grey Wagtail landed in the garden.

It too accepts live mealworms and will walk right up to the back door to accept a meaty morsel. As the male has arrived early, you will notice that his black bib has not fully developed compared to last year.

Now there are two Grey Wagtails in residence, this has given the resident male Robin much to think about. Whereas before, both the Robins (there is a resident pair) would continually chase the female Wagtail, now both species are evenly matched! The male Robin will still vent his spleen at any and all House Sparrows but particularly hates the resident Dunnock!

While all this is going on around us, the daily comings and goings of the Wren, Blue Tits, Blackbirds, and occasionally the Sparrowhawk, makes for intriguing observations.

Last Summer, our garden hosted the regular visits from two Hedgehogs. Each night both Hogs would spend time in the garden and share a bowl of live mealworms. Through May to October, the two Hedgehogs would eat and spend their nights in our garden. We purchased a couple of Hog-Houses, Mel fitted them out with hay and dried leaves. Both Hogs, for a few weeks, spent the days in the houses. This year we're hoping that one of them will return.

June 2012 - Red Damselfly & Blackbird fledglings in the garden.

Saturday 30th: A lovely warm day. This is the first of the summers' Damsel\Dragonflies that we have seen in the garden this year.

The Blackbird pair have successfully fledged a couple of young, their 3rd brood of the year.

The female now comes into the kitchen with the male and she will perch on the chair while he has first dibs at the bowl of mealworms.

June 2012 - RSPB Bempton Cliffs & Seabird Cruise

Saturday 2nd: A 90 minute drive to the East Riding of Yorkshire and the RSPB NR at Bempton Cliffs was a perfect opportunity to test-out my new camera with its 35x zoom lens. This was Sandra's first visit to the NR and she was eager to see as much as possible. A "head-for-heights" is a must as the vantage points are at the cliff edge. Colonies of Gannets, Razorbills, Guillemots, Kittiwakes and of course... Puffins are clustered on the cliff faces.

Above: This Puffin was easily seen in a scope but just a small black and white speck on the cliff-side to the un-aided eye. The camera that Mel got me for my birthday easily zoomed onto the bird.

Getting there for 9:15am, we only had 4 hours or so to look around before leaving for Bridlington and the Seabird Cruise. Farmland and open fields enclose the NR as the variety of birds is numerous. First sightings were Tree Sparrows, a large colony is resident, Jackdaws abound and when we were eating our sandwiches, four Jackdaws congregated around us and Sandra fed some scraps of bread which they took.

Skylarks were continually flying upwards in the vertical line, all the time singing only to hover for around 30 seconds and then descending to a favourite perch for a few moments before dropping down amongst the tufts of grass and weed.

At the cliff edge as expected were hoards on Gannets, Guillemots, Razorbills and Kittiwakes, clusted in their separate groups. Immature Gannets flew close to the cliffs and hung in the breeze in order to entice a mate. Many were already on nests perched precariously on the cliff-side.

The Puffins were harder to spot. There are considerably less in number than previous years and the ones that are here are hidden in crevices and burrows from predators. But they can be seen with careful scanning of the cliff-face. Finding them is another matter as trying to spot a Puffin amongst all the thousands of Guillemots and Razorbills is like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

 Razorbill perched on the cliff-side.

Bempton Cliffs

A 20-minute car journey later and we were in the holiday town of Bridlington. As you'd expect, the town was busy and 30 minutes later managed to park the car on the promenade! At the North Quay, we waited with others for our boat, the "Yorkshire Belle", which would take us on an RSPB cruise around the "Head" and to the foot of Bempton Cliffs for some sea-watching. It wasn't long before the boat was sighted emerging from around Flamborough Head on its return from the previous cruise.

RSPB cruise boat "Yorkshire Belle"

As you would expect, the boat was crowded with sightseers eager to experience the sights and sounds from offshore around Bridlington, Flamborough and Bempton Cliffs.

 Flamborough Head Lighthouse

We were warned by the RSPB Wardens on board, that the seas were very choppy and that anyone who would feel the slightest "queesy" should not board! Needless to say, everyone boarded and myself, Sandra and the other experienced the massive swells of the coastal seas!

 Bridlington Harbour

Two hours later, the "Belle" was back in Brid Harbour. An exhilarating sea cruise, very cold and damp and very, very choppy seas! Time for a meal: and what else but fish & chips at the quayside!