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.

Alder catkins

Female kestrel

Ivy Tree

Alder pine cones

Robin

Goat willow catkins

Wednesday 29th October 2015

So today was just for practising photos of the autumn colour. But Couldn't really ignore the birds.

Woods :- Large flock of goldfinches feeding on the ground in the pony field by raza and redwing seen.

Raza :- cormorant and first female tufted duck back.

Autumn Leaves

Autumn Fern

Autumn sunlight

Wednesday 3rd June 2015

Weeather :- cloudy with sunny spells, 1 quick rain shower and a light breeze

Woods :- Usual suspects - woodpigeons, nuthatch, blue tits, great tits, blackbirds etc

Canal :- Coots - 2 nesting, 2 with 2 young and another 2 with 3 young.
Greater-spotted woodpecker heard drumming, chifchaff heard,
female blackcap showing well. Domestic mallard has 4 ducklings and a mallard with 7 ducklings.
21 house martind and a feral pigeon.

Coot nest building

Mallard Ducklings

Coot chick

Linnet

Netherton Hill :- 1 buzzard soaring, 3 swifts low over the gorse, 2 linnets showing well.
White throat and blackcap heard.

Raza :- quiet - coots, lesser black backed gulls, mallards and a great crested grebe.

Flowers include :- hawthorn blossam, foxglove on canal bank, buttercups esp on Netherton hill,
Yellow iris on canal, red clover, herb robert, plantain, daisy, orange knapweed, wild strawberry, ragwort, oxe daisy, common vetch, forget me nots.

Wildflowers

Insects include :- white tailed and red tailed bumblbees, small white butterfly, speckled wood butterfly, carder bees, orange tip butterfy.

Red tailed bumblebee

Tuesday 19th May 2015

So I've been really bad at keeping the blog updated, so need to try harder.

Brief walk this morning, due to a pied flycatcher turning up in the woods. Singing really well, with brief views.

Robin also showing well, with 2 young.

And while looking at the bluebell - which are now starting to die off, I got by best ever nuthatch photos, who are still nesting in the same area, when this little one landed right next door to me.

Sunday 6th July 2014

So today wasn't supposed to be a birding day, I had way too much to do to go out. However, after a tweet of a cuckoo being spotted by Daphne's pool, my plans suddenly changed. 

After managing to find the pool - I usually get lost in this part of the reserve, I lucked out on the cuckoo. It was a couple of hours post tweet, so either moved on, or sitting in a tree laughing at me. Probably the second reason. Not all bad luck though, the reed warbler was still calling away quite happily.

So not a full birding outing today, due to lack of time. 

Weather :- cloudy with sunny spells.

Netherton hill :- 2 grey herons - both sitting in trees behind the pools, chiffchaffs - 2 heard, song thrush, swift and a brief view of a whitethroat. 

Canal :- 2 buzzards soaring over, another 2 chiffcahffs. Mallard with 3 ducklings, 2nd mallard with 6 ducklinga and a domestic duck with 5 ducklings. Moorhen with 2 juveniles. 

Daphe's Pool :- reed warbler heard, another chiffchaff and a coot with a juvenile. 

Insects :- lots of ringlet butterflies (50+), brown hawker dragonfly, lots common blue damselflies, small skippers, small tortie and meadow brown butterflies, comma butterflies and 7 marbled white butterflies. 

Flowers include :- buttercups, red and white clover, foxgloves, tufted vetch and spear thistle.

Marbled white butterfly

Monday 16th June 2014

Weather:- Stared off with blue sky and sunny, but soon went cloudy.

Woods:- All the usual, (if quieter now ), blackcaps, bullfinches, chifchaff, green woodpecker. Great tit nest found and adults feeding. 2 buzzards flying low over, scaring off the woodpigeons. 

Canal:- Same as normal, female blackcap, grey heron and chiffchaffs. Mallard female with 6 duckliongs.

Raza:- very quiet, 14 lesser black-backed gulls, great-crested grebe and 6 coots.

Netherton hill:- chiffchaffs, buzzard, greenfich, amongst the usual. 1 wren seen taking food into scrub.

Lots of flowers including - yellow flags, wood-forget-me-not, waterlily, spear thistle, poppies, celerey head buttercups, herb robert, dog rose, hedge woundwort and foxgloves.

Also lots of insect including - ringlet, speckled wood and large skipper butterflies, red and buff tailed bees and tree bees. Lots of common blue damselflies around.

Mammels - few grey squirrels, 2 goats on canal bank and a fox.

Not sure who was more surprised, him or me.

I've waited ages to get good heron photos before, now have loads.