March 2010 - Lakeside

Tuesday 30th : It's been a lousy week so far, cold and rain....so much for Spring! So on the way to our local Supermarket, I made detour over to the lake to check on the wild life. I had heard that a Mediterranean Gull had been seen a few days earlier. Maybe a faint hope that it is still in residence amongst any Black-headed Gulls there. Well I didn't find it but I did come across 4 Meadow Pipits that were most obliging. They were perched in saplings on the edge of the lake and let me get a few images but then I pushed my luck too far and tried to get closer. Off they went! but a very good showing using bins!


The air seemed filled with some kind of small flying insects. The rain had stopped and the familiar buzz of those Summer visitors, House Martins, was everywhere in the sky. There must've been circa 50-60 House Martins all over the sky! I took a load of photos, but trying to capture these fast flying, quick turning and diving ariel acrobats was frustrating! The above image is the only one worthwhile showing!.


A couple of Pied Wagtail were close and seemed to be a pair as they always flew in tandem. No pics unfortunately. Some Mute Swans, Tufted Ducks, Mallards, Canada Geese, Coots and a lone Greylag Goose but unusually not too many waterfowl about...very quiet just like our garden at the moment.

March - Kirkmoor Plantation Wood

Saturday 27th: A lunchtime walk around my local wood and after an unusually long Winter, Spring is slowly starting to breakout. The buds on the trees are still wrapped tightly but given a few more days and some warm weather, they will flourish. It's been a while since I've been birding in this wood and though small and dilapidated in some parts, it supports a wide variety of wildlife. A couple of Chiffchaffs, presumably, recently arrived from their 3,500 mile flight from West Africa have already taken up residence, one at either end of the wood, their familiar calls ringing out in response to the other. It's incredible that those Chiffchaffs that migrate, (some tend to stay), make this journey across the Sahara, mountains and seas to get here. The two images here are of the same bird as it was very obliging for me. Below is a short movie with sound of the Chiffchaffs song.

Long-tailed Tits are in abundance. I've noticed that there seems to be one flock that works its way up and down the wood, moving from tree to tree.

No Bluebells yet, still too early but there are sporadic island of Daffodils that have bloomed. Blue Tits, Great Tits, Wood Pigeons Goldfinches, Wrens and Robins were seen around the wood. As I write this today (Sunday 28th), I can report that I also saw a Treecreeper, female Chaffinch and astoundingly two male Goldcrests resplendent with their red display skull caps quarreling with each other in an attempt to entice the attention of a female Goldcrest a short distance away. Unfortunately I could get a photo of these two birds. I must admit that I have never ever seen male Goldcrests with red display plumage.

Friday 26th: The female Blackbird that we have called "Nice Misses" has laid two eggs in the same nest she used to rear her 3rd brood last year. This is amongst the pyhracantha attached to the wall of the House. She still comes into the kitchen on a regular basis to feed on mealworms. There is another Blackbird pairing nesting in the conifers at the bottom of the garden. During the Winter, there were at least seven Blackbirds in the garden but the others have now dispersed to find their own territories.

Thursday 25th: The majority of Frogs that return each year to our pond, have now left after spawning, leaving only about half a dozen resident Frogs. Both male and female Frogs came back to the pond on or about the 20th, paired up and spawned before disappearing to wherever they stay for the remainder of the year. This year due to the harsh Winter they returned late, usually its been late February or early March. During the time they were here, Mel counted 100+ and the females have deposited approximately 50+ clumps of spawn. Now the majority of this spawn will not survive as the Goldfish are partial to it as are Blackbirds and maybe small pond beasties and some will just not mature to tadpoles. Some that do mature to tadpoles and froglets will succumb to any resident much larger frogs. Unfortunately the mature females that come back do not always survive the mating process as they get either drowned or suffocated by the competing males. This year we have found 4 dead females.

March 2010 - Fairburn Ings RSPB

Sunday 21st: It's been 10 years since I last visited Fairburn Ings. Yes it was 2000. I and Neil (now in Dawlish) went up there. Well Neil, today I traced the exact same route we took around the lake as we did 10 years ago. Unfortunately no Sand Martins or Swallows, too early in the season but I expect to get another visit or two in this year. The layout of the Reserve is basically the same but with modernised facilities, such as the car park! Late March and just seen my first Daffodils of the year anywhere, so I had to photograph them for posterity!

The highlight for me was seeing a male Goldeneye accompanied by two female Goldeneyes. He looks resplendent in all white with black highlights. This photo doesn't do him justice, it is a severely cropped long-range image. In my scope the detail was just fantastic and so elegant to see.

Other highlights were the male and female Bullfinches, my first of the year! The male always looks good in his red suit and black head. Unfortunately the photographer again didn't do him justice.

A fair few Tree Sparrows were about and I got some great views at the feeding station where I counted 11 but I suspect there was many more! Also there were Blue Tits, a male Great Tit along with Dunnocks and a Pheasant pair. Elsewhere there were Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Cormorants, plenty of Mallards and Mute Swans with Teal and Tufted Ducks with one lone Black Swan.

Later I wandered over to the Lin Dyke hide which was more a drive in the car about a mile up the road. Here were loads of Lapwing, Teal, Mallards, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, Shelduck, Shoverlers and 3 Redshanks. But peering through my scope, I'm sure I saw two little Egrets. And the biggest surprise was counting fifty-odd Cormorants (or were they Crows, heck I'm not sure now) all perched in leafless trees alongside the lake!

March 2010 - Hatfield Moor

Friday 19th: The day started with bright sunshine and the early Spring warmth could be felt in the air. By lunchtime the weather had started to turn. This was readily noticeable at Hatfield Moor as the breeze off the lake became colder. Gradually the clouds started to form. But this didn't distract me too much as I hiked around a small area of the moor. Plenty of fling things such as Oystercatchers, Mallards, Canada Geese, aeroplanes and various Passerines.......oops, did I say aeroplanes? Well, yes, Finningley airport is just three short miles away to the south and the planes fly low over the moor on their approach.

As you can see in the above photo, two of the five Oystercatchers were caught in flight. These estuary birds are normally quite placid creatures but today there was a great amount of screeching and sqwarkings are the five quarrelled. This resulted in three of them flying away. During my hike around the lake I counted two pairs, both nesting, but the fifth was nowhere to be seen.

Reed Buntings and Chaffinches were seen was a hide overlooking a bird table and a couple of feeders. A Robin and Dunnock along with the proverbial Wren were noticed ti the wooded area. Adders can be found here on the moor and there are a couple of signs that warn visitors. It's too early in the season and still too cold yet to see these wonderful creatures. I have yet to see one in the wild but hope to this year.

I had to pass through a field where there was a Conservation project in progress. A field full of Sheep....more precisely...RAMS! Well they were giving me the evil-eye so I decided to walk away and closer to the lake shore. Unfortunately. I found myself on the wrong side of the fence and had to walk around by the shore back to the car.



On the way I came across a freshwater mussel shell, one of many littering the lake shore. Now this was a surprise to me as I didn't know that mussels frequented freshwater lakes. But yes they do and here in the UK, the Swan Mussel (Anodonta cygnea)is abundant. Apparently one can tell its age by counting the rings on the shell just like on tree trunks. One ring for each year of growth. Swan Mussels can live for between 10 to 40 years. Now what drags it up from the bottom of the lake, opens the hinged shell and removes/eats the mussel then deposits the empty shell on the shore is anyone's guess.

Comments please?

March 2010 - Tawny Owl in garden last night!

Sunday 7th: At 11pm last night Melanie opened the back-door only to glimpse an owl perched on a feeder bar! She saw enough of it before it silently took flight. After discussing the shape, size,colour and ID-ing the raptor from the Internet, we are 99% sure it was a Tawny Owl. I believe this is not unusual as a few years ago I too also saw an Owl perched on the feeders in the garden and that was while I was doing some astronomy and operating the telescope. I suspect that Owls pay regular visits to our garden and others during the course of the night. Unfortunately no photo was obtained of last night's apparition. But we will get one sooner or later!


The Robin pair were again sighted in the garden this morning by Mel and it looks like they are setting-up a nest near to last years' nest.






Our friendly Wren has again been around all day and never seems to go far from the back-door. Yesterday I saw him (not sure if it is a Him or Her), go into the kitchen on two separate occasions as I was working outside, to get some mealworms. Today, the Wren has paid regular visits to the kitchen and on one occasion a female Blackbird stood over the bowl of mealworms so he had to wait.

This female Blackbird is the familiar "Nice Misses" as we have called her. See earlier posts about her raising broods last year in the garden. She paid at least two visits that I saw and possibly others that I didn't see.