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.
