Saltwells Nature Reserve: 2017

Saturday 22nd April 2017

Day off and time to make the most of the lovely,sunny, spring weather.

Woods:- usually bunch around including male great spotted woodpecker, wren, chiffchaff on tabletop, goldcrest collecting caterpillars and 3 buzzards soaring.

Raza:- mallards, coots - one pair nesting, 2 great crested grebes and usually gulls.

Canal:- include coots 2 pairs nesting, greenfinch, mallards and one with 9 ducklings, whitethroat heard, male and female blackcaps showing well, song thrush, another chiffchaff.

Netherton Hill:- include buzzard and 2 swallows, linnet, pair of whitethroats showing well, grey heron, female kestrel.

Insects:- include several orange tip butterflies, speckled wood butterfly and painted lady butterfly, carder/buff tailed and red-tailed bumblebes, holly blue butterfly, small tortoiseshell butterflies and an unidentified red damselfly at the settling pools.

Flowers:- include buttercups, germander speedwell, pond water crowfoot, cowslip, red champion, herb robert, white nettle and of course lots and lots of bluebells.

Coot doing his/her daily aerobics

Sunlight bracken

ok, not wild but the goats were around

Netherton church and gorse in full flower

Bluebell

Wednesday 1st March 2017

Weather :- Sunny with cloudy spells, with a cold nip in the air.

Woods :- Goldcrest showing really well, 2 nuthatches at their usual spot, not far from mousesweet brook. Greater spotted woodpecker heard drumming and a mistle thrush spotted along with 2 jays.

Canal :- Usual bunch - coots, moorhens, mallard and 3 domestic ducks. Also 5 house sparrows, goldfinches, greenfinch heard and male chaffinch singing. 5 more goldcrest showing quite well.

Raza :- 2 cormorants, 36 coots, low numbers of mallards at only 4, 56 black headed gulls - all moulting into breeding plumage, 4 herring gulls and 5 lesser black backed gulls.

Netheton Hill :- 6 buzzards up over the hill. Female kestrel seen flying and relocated perched in tree, with a male kestrel perched in another tree. Male then started hunting - caught 1 item, before both flying off together. Hope they return.

Flowers :- Snowdrops, gorse flowering, alder catkins and goat willow catkins budding. Also bracken starting to grow and Herb Robert leaves out.