January

A few bits from January 2023 I haven't shared here yet. 

Longham Lakes was pretty quiet on New Year's Day but there appeared to be an especially large number of cormorants. 

Also present were a pair of little grebes which are always nice to see.

A visit to Blashford Lakes on 21st January provided me of distant views of many, many pintails. I've seen these ducks on occasion but never in the enormous number I saw on this day. Doubting myself, I checked the ID on the boards in the hide and the label said that large numbers of pintails flock to the lakes when the Avon Valley is flooded, which it was after the huge amounts of rain we had in the first half of the month. I can't quite work out why the flooding causing them to come to the lakes though. 

It's difficult to make out a they were all some way from the hide but there loads of pintails in this image

I saw most of the other expected duck species during my visit including some close views of a pochard. 

 

Robins are known for often being quite brave around humans but during this visit to Blashford one happily sat within touching distance of me for some time. This allowed me to get some really close-up shots. 

I also captured a decent view of a redwing. My feeling is that there has been an especially large number of these birds locally this winter though I don't know whether that's supported by proper records or not.

Finally, here's a wren in poor light at Moors Valley last weekend. 

Ringwood, 15.1.23

I did my old walk along part of the Castleman Way near the centre of Ringwood today. I've walked this path many times over the years and I have never seen the river levels as high as they are right now. The fields are just completely underwater. 

 

The flood water seems to have attracted a large number of gulls who are acting like the fields are one huge lake. 

 

Not much else could make use of the fields but I did spot four pheasants who managed to find a slightly higher patch near the path which wasn't underwater. 

There were still plenty of small birds making use of the trees lining the old railway line including both blue and great tits. There were plenty of robins in song too. 

Not far from an industrial estate I spotted a group of three bullfinches (2m, 1f) feeding on the brambles. 

It is also worth noting that I saw my first butterfly of the year today when walking through the town centre-a red admiral. It's likely this individual had been holed up in a building somewhere and was prompted to take to the wing due to the slightly warmer temperatures the sun brought out today.  

Poole Parks, 2.01.23

Every so often I head over to Poole Park which is often interesting for bird life. I tend to park at Whitecliff Park, walk along through Baiter Park until reaching the edge of Poole town centre before then doing a lap of Poole Park's boating lake and then returning back the way I've come. It was a glorious morning on this particular visit. 

At Whitecliff Park there always seem to be quite a few crows and with a new camera to play with I took some decent photos of a couple of them. 

 

 

This winter there seems to be good numbers of brent geese on this side of Poole Harbour. 

This winter there also seems to be quite a large number of oystercatchers around the parks. The recent heavy rain means the grass is quite waterlogged in place which is ideal for them to feed on and also means they are less likely to be disturbed my humans. 

There were a small number of greylag geese in Poole Park- today was apparently the first time they had been seen here for a little while with the overwintering birds returning from wherever they had been. The greylags are being studied and I always try to spot the rings if I can. The only one I could identify today was U062 which is actually the goose which has been resighted the most times in the project and has never been spotted outside of Poole Park.

As usual there were a number of Canada geese on the edge of the car park near the Ark café but amongst them was a single turnstone. It looked quite vulnerable amongst the birds that are many times bigger than it but it was darting around so fast it never really looked like it was in any danger. 

The lake was fairly quiet today with mostly the common birds there but there were two shelducks in the little lagoon. 

30 Days Wild 2020 Part Two

This month I'm taking part in the Wildlife Trusts' 30 Days Wild challenge. The idea is to do something 'wild' every day in June. I've been sharing what I've been up to on social media a little but I thought it would be good to do a slightly more detailed summary. Part One is here so this is days 16-30.

Day 16: I had a close look at some local hedgerows. Often when people talk about watching wildlife they are referring to bird watching or looking for our larger mammals. But I find just standing next to a flowering hedgerow just as fascinating. There are so many species of invertebrates that you will almost always see something new and it's great to observe this tiny world we often overlook.

Day 17: I was sat in the garden and was surprised my cat seemed interested in something in the bushes. To my surprise, it was a small grass snake! We haven't seen one in our garden for well over ten years and it's a sign our efforts to attract more wildlife is working. Grass snakes are high up in the food chain so that means we likely have most things below it. 

Day 18: After a day at work, I went for a walk in the evening and noticed there were lots of rabbits out in the field so I stood for a few minutes and watched them. They look well at the moment and there were quite a few kittens around. 

Day 19: I wrote a poem about blackbirds:

Morning has broken, 

A song enters my sleeping ears.

A charming melody,

As the blackbird appears.

Hopping across the lawn,

Digging up worms and food,

The sight of the yellow beak,

Always lifts my mood.

A blue/green eggshell,

Seen on the floor,

Sprinkled with brown speckles

And the promise of much more.

Then the bird has a shadow,

Hopping after it's Mum.

Brown, speckly and clumsy,

And keen to fill its tum.

The family made me happy,

Whilst I was stuck at home.

There's a smile on my face, 

When I watch the blackbirds roam.

It's not exactly Wordsworth but it was a fun experiment.

Day 20: I found this stunning, iridescent feather in the garden which I think came from a magpie:

Day 21: A trip a bit further afield as I visited Winchester Cathedral to see the Peregrine falcons that have been nesting there. They've had a successful year and have managed to raise five young and I was lucky enough to see them on all resting on the side of the cathedral. 

Day 22: Another garden encounter and a really close on too. Suddenly a wood mouse ran under my feet and made it's way around the garden, even climbing up the wall behind the bird feeders. I wondered if it was going to eat from them but it didn't and climbed down again before vanishing in the undergrowth.

Day 23: I did some bat detecting. The bat detector is one of the best presents I've ever been bought; it converts the inaudible sonar of bats to a sound audible to the human ear. It's actually quite useful as a tool to help you see bats that are flying over. This wasn't the best night but I still managed to get a few pipistrelles flying over. 

Day 24: On my walk today I came across a family of swans with four young cygnets. I walk this way regularly but the river winds into private farmland so I suspect they are normally not visible from the path. 

Day 25: Today I spotted a beautiful demoiselle, a stunning species of damselfly and one of the less common (though not rare) ones. 

Day 26: I visited my grandad and outside his block of flats this gull chick was wandering around. I can only assume it fell off one of the buildings though it appeared to be uninjured if a little confused.

Day 27: A walk close to home led me to a pair of red-legged partridges on the edge of a field. These are an introduced bird for game but are one of our best looking game birds.

Day 28: Today there seemed to be a mass emergence of red admiral butterflies. I've saw well over a hundred along a row of bushes. It generally appears to have been a good year for British butterflies. 

Day 29: On a walk in the New Forest I saw a few dragonflies, always magnificent, including this golden-ringed dragonfly. 

Day 30: A wet day so I just did a short walk and attempted to fill as much of an alphabet of wild things. I didn't complete it but it wasn't too bad an effort given the poor weather.

That's it for 30 Days Wild 2020! It's been especially timely this year as having a motivation to connect with nature during lockdown was wonderful. Whilst I have been out and about a lot, this challenge ensured I did wild things even if I was working or the weather was poor which was great. Is it June 2021 yet?

30 Days Wild 2020 Part One

This month I'm taking part in the Wildlife Trusts' 30 Days Wild challenge. The idea is to do something 'wild' every day in June. I've been sharing what I've been up to on social media a little but I thought it would be good to do a slightly more detailed summary. 

Day 1: A walk around the local fishing lake led me to an encounter with a family of moorhens. Initially I just saw the adult on the footpath ahead of me but it was soon followed by three chicks. They headed into the lake and were kept undercover but I could still see them clearly. 

 

Day 2: I was sat out in the garden in the afternoon and to my surprise a hedgehog appeared under the fence. Hedgehogs aren't normally seen out during the day and it can often be a sign they are unwell. At this time of year though breeding females will venture out in order to gather resources. This one had a long drink and ate some cat food before eventually returning under the fence and going under next door's shed where we think she might be breeding. It's likely that the really hot weather during May had made it really hard for her to find food so she was forced to try during the day. 

Day 3: It rained for the first time in months and I enjoyed being outside in it with the gorgeous smell of petrichor as strong as I'd ever smelled it. The rain had kept most people indoors which meant this grey heron was very close to the bridge. 

Day 4: I had one of my occasional days at work during the pandemic and ate my lunch outside by a flowerbed which had been left untended since lockdown began. In the flowerbed were loads of insects including these bugs, Aphanus rolandri which is a species which is nationally scarce in the UK. Fun fact: Linneaus, the scientist who invented the system of latin names we know use, named this species after a man called Daniel Rolander after the pair fell out over money- the name means 'Obscure Rolander'. 

Day 5: After work I attempted to find a rainbow of colours in the natural world, though taking pictures proved tricky in the strong wind. Red as a poppy, orange a rusty stream, yellow a St. John's Wort flower, green a leaf, blue the sky and a thistle and stinking iris were the purpley colours. 

Day 6: I spent a few minutes listening to the birds in the garden and recorded this video: 

Day 6 of #30DaysWild: Spent a few minutes listening to the birds in the garden. @30DaysWild pic.twitter.com/ASegVRLB87

— Naturalist Dan (@NaturalistDan) June 6, 2020

Day 7: I visited a few local places and saw lots of butterflies including these silver-studded blues. This is a heathland species which relies on ants to feed it's larvae. 

 

Day 8: I visited Martin Down Nature Reserve near Fordingbridge, a place I'd seen online which looked really special. It more than exceeded my expectations as I saw lots of different species of butterfly including small tortoiseshell, small and common blues and a dark-green fritillary. This was because it's an excellent habitat full of wildflowers including lots of different species of orchids. I also saw some good birds too including skylarks and a red kite. 

Day 9: I checked on the local swan nest and was surprised to see that only two of the four eggs remained. At the time of writing another egg has been lost and it appears the culprits are rats who are stealing easy meals. 

Day 10: I went for a short walk in the New Forest before the rain came in for the day. As soon as I left the car park I could hear a cuckoo calling and after a few minutes spotted it on a telephone wire. Just as I tried to photograph it, the bird was disturbed by some walkers but it actually flew closer to me and posed on a nearby dead tree. 

Day 11: It was a gloomy morning and I walked around Avon Heath Country park and despite the gloom I managed to see some sand lizards trying their best to heat up in the breeding vivarium. 

Day 12: It was quite a wet day so I didn't venture far today but my wild time was spent watching some wildlife webcams, specifically those made available by Springwatch which were turned off at the end of the day. As much as I love getting close to nature, it's sometimes nice to view it from the comfort of your own home. 

Day 13: We've been doing some work in the garden over lockdown and whilst we were clearing away some bushes today we discovered both a toad and a frog on the drain in our front garden. I've seen both species many times before but never so close together!

Day 14: I\planted some pollinator friendly plants in the garden and had a look at the insects that were already there. I was pleased to see loads of honey bees on the honeysuckle which had just come into flower and found this mullein moth caterpillar on the buddleia. This species will pupate underground for up to five years before it emerges as an adult moth. 

Day 15: On a lovely sunny morning I walked around Stanpit Marsh in Christchurch. The wildlife I saw wasn't particularly unusual but I had some good views of birds like herons, shelducks and this reed bunting. 

I will share the second half of my wild experiences at the end of the month and as I'm working a bit more I'm not sure what I can fit in so we'll have to see what I can manage!