Thursday, April 25, 2013
Late afternoon, two oystercatchers were on East Marsh at Dorney Wetlands. They spent a long time bathing. Then they might have mated (I was looking through the camera so I'm not sure). The male looked as though he wasn't sure either, and later tried again - only to be rebuffed.
They seemed quite relaxed. They went walkabout, and then one settled down on the gravel while the other one continued to feed. They flew off south-west when some people walked along the north bank.
I picked Greger up from his walk at Dorney Lake and we called in at the Pineapple. But sitting in the garden with a beer didn't seem such a good idea, since by then it was quite windy and cold!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
A red admiral butterfly was in the garden this morning. The plague of flies in the garden seems to be getting worse! I haven't seen birds showing any interest in these gnats and midges, but then they are out of sight most of the time. This one is probably a species of winter gnat.
At Dorney, a dead barn owl was near the picnic tables at the junction of paths near the black bridge.
A red kite floated towards me at the back of Monument Hill, carrying something long in its talons. A quick look through the bins showed something green, so it was almost certainly a grass snake.
Judging from the evident contortions of the snake, I'd say it was still alive ; so it was possibly genuine prey, rather than a scavenged food item.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Wherever you walk in our garden clouds of tiny, long-legged flies rise from the plants. Some are winter gnats (one of which I snapped recently); a second species was probably a midge; and this one (I think) is different again, although I can't give it a name yet.
This Gooden's nomad bee has appeared a day or two after the first mining bees. It will seek out their nests and lay its egg next to the host's egg, just like a cuckoo. Or perhaps it's more correct to say that cuckoos are like them. Which came first?
A brief walk in the corner of the common brought a willow warbler, several chiffchaffs, and two blackcaps - all singing. Two swifts were again above Dorney Lake's grounds, moving off towards the river. I didn't stay out long because I didn't feel well. Typical, just as the good weather arrives. However I did paint one side of a door this morning.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Round and about
I was chuffed to get a new garden species this lovely morning with a small tortoiseshell butterfly, feeding on the heather and sunning itself on the lawn.
There were three wheatears on the common.
In the car park at Boveney were two chiffchaffs (one giving an insect to the other) and a male blackcap. Driving away, I glimpsed the familiar sickle shape of a swift above and braked sharply. This is one of at least two, hunting over the tree-tops with hirundines and all drifting away towards Dorney Lake until I lost sight of them.
Two redshanks were on the Jubilee River near Taplow Lake; I'm not saying it's the first time they've been there, but it's the furthest upstream that I've seen them.
As I walked away two swallows came over chattering in a fast, particular way; and beyond the trees and soon out of sight, another sickle shape went flying past towards Taplow Lake. I can't be sure, but I think it was a hobby.
East from Bury Down
It's a long time since we walked this stretch of the Ridgeway, our usual impulse on parking at Bury Down being to head west. On Several Down I counted twelve wheatears.
The floods at Churn were only slightly diminished, and held two curlews and a lapwing.
We saw two whitethroats, one singing and displaying, and heard but failed to see yellow wagtails. As we made our way up a rough, little-used footpath through scrub near the A34, the pale shape of a barn owl rose from a tree ahead. It turned and flew over us; we had only a fleeting glimpse because of the trees and bushes - but what a glimpse! The owl looked almost translucent, a bright white ghost against the deep blue sky as it peered down, decided we were bad news, and floated away to the fields below.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
The long-tailed tit was snapped at Dorney Wetlands two days ago, busy around its cobwebby larder. Later: It could be collecting sticky cobwebs for its nest-making.
A tree bumblebee and a peacock butterfly were also seen.
Five wheatears were on the southern flank of Monument Hill.
This tiny fly couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 mm in length. I took a couple of pictures without much hope, but amazingly Greger's camera caught it quite well. It's a winter gnat (Trichocera hiemalis). I could see no details at the time (even with my specs) so without the photo I would never have been able to identify it. A first for the garden.
This morning I ventured to Dorney Lakes in the very strong wind. It was worth it for a hirundine fix. A sizeable flock was hunting both high and low, and consisted of swallows, house martins and sand martins.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Dungeness
Saturday was a washout. We sat in the car eating our lunch in the ARC pit car park, watching a tree sparrow, along with chaffinches and reed buntings, flew between a bramble patch and a feeder.
Sunday began with light drizzle. We went to the RSPB reserve where half the round walk was closed because of flooding and the pits were so brimful that all the islands were submerged. However we saw two yellow wagtails and two firecrests; nice surprises because as usual we avoided reading the sightings board while passing through the information centre. (The way the RSPB leads you through the shop both coming and going is reminiscent of IKEA.)
By this time the sun had come out and it was a fabulous day so we returned to the beach. We saw our first swallow and our first butterfly - a Small Tortoiseshell, I believe. A Buff-tailed bumblebee was on the wing.
This strange shingle headland is dotted with structures in various states of dilapidation - but it's photogenic dilapidation, and people wander around with cameras or sketch books to capture some of it before it vanishes for good. And some of them even manage to get the horizon level.
As Greger remarked: "Really, the place is a mess." Yes, but (and he agrees) it's an interesting mess!
Several Sandwich terns flew past. Six wheatears were seen on the beach along with two ringed plovers and two black redstarts.
Several of these marine mammals were feeding close in to shore. We could never get a good look at their faces but from one glimpse I'd say they appeared rather blunt-nosed. They were fairly small and I think they were harbour porpoises.
It was hard to tear ourselves away from this atmospheric place but it was time to go home. A nice weekend.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
A shopping trip to Sainsbury's this morning somehow involved a diversion to the Eton Wick flood. The black-tailed godwit was still there.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
On a late-afternoon walk I got out onto the common from the wetlands and walked over the dried-up flood towards the Roundmoor Ditch. Seeing waderish shapes striding about on the Eton Wick flood I looked through my bins to see two redshanks - and a black-tailed godwit. This was a delicious surprise.
Ten snipe were feeding on the flood. As I walked back along the Jubilee River, I heard a nasal sort of chorus and a bunch of snipe rose from East Marsh; there were probably 20 to 30 birds. By the time I'd wrestled the camera out of the rucksack they had all disappeared.
Monday, April 08, 2013
We had a man in today to repair the landing ceiling, where a leaking roof had made a sizeable hole. Knowing that tradesmen do not like women under their feet when they are working (my dad was a painter and decorator) I made myself scarce.
I couldn't resist another visit to the downland flood, only this time I drove right up to it from Blewbury village. This approach lacked the drama of seeing the flood unexpectedly from Lowbury Hill during a walk, but it was still quite impressive. It also meant I could use my scope; but alas, there were no tiny waders this time. And I wasn't lucky with oystercatcher, which another observer reported here yesterday.
There were half a dozen teal, two or three shelduck, and loads of fieldfare. I was a bit worried at one point, when I spotted a police car approaching along the narrow lane. I didn't know if you were allowed to park along here. Was I going to have to explain myself? However the car stopped in the lay-by, a uniformed man and woman got out - and lit up. Having had their smoke they turned the car and drove off again!
Two curlews were on another flood near the farm, and before I drove away I watched and photographed them for ten minutes from the car. This flood also held a lesser black-backed gull and two Canada geese. Lazy birding, but it meant I didn't spook the curlews.
Next stop was the White Horse Hill at Uffington where I saw one wheatear. A bird on a fence with what looked like broad white wing bars foxed me at first; but it can only have been a partially leucistic corn bunting.
Weathercock Hill was my final destination. I did a bit better here with with two wheatears, and went right over the hill and down the other side for exercise. As I turned back, a couple of horse riders were heading out across the still wintry fields at a sedate walk, from right to left of the scene. Climbing the hill again I looked back from the top to see this:
A bit cheeky to post these pics but the figures are distant, it all seemed to end well, and it was a splendid "capture" of the runaway horse by the other rider.
It was only on my second traverse of Weathercock that I realised the tree on the crown of the hill was gone. This leaning tree (beech?) was a landmark for us. On our round walks we could see it from Uffington, and marvel at how far we had come (and despair at how blooming far we still had to go!).
Otherwise my thoughts today have been with Dorn and Terry down in France, where Terry is undergoing a second hip replacement operation. Hope everything's gone okay.
Sunday, April 07, 2013
Floods at Blewbury Down
When I googled the above phrase I got an exact match. A photograph of the floods taken in January appears here: geography.org.uk/photo/3315718 (with the usual prefix).
The photographer posts under the name of Fly, and Fly also gives the following interesting information:
"The chalk aquifer which feeds the River Pang has become saturated, causing the groundwater to rise in many springs and pools. This northern headstream of the Pang seldom appears above ground."
In that case, I'll post a few more pics (although Greger was more interested in a nearby tractor).
He said he couldn't understand why the driver was using such a narrow harrow. Then he saw that he was harrowing without having previously ploughed, which makes it a heavier task. This apparently is becoming more common and is better for the soil compared to ploughing, which turns the soil over completely but can destroy vital nutrients.
I'm not going out today. Yesterday was one of those days that was so brilliant that I feel I have to stay in as a sort of penance. Anyway, I've got a headache.
Saturday, April 06, 2013
A pleasant surprise
"A rubbish shot of a curlew near water," I hear you cry. "So what?"
Yes, but this was unexpected water, a chain of sparkling pools in the heart of the downs.
As well as gulls, lapwings and pied wagtails, there were two tiny waders. They landed, seemed uneasy, and flew to the other end of the flood. I was unable to relocate them, but it seems likely they were dunlin.
Greger sat on the bank and had a coffee while I walked further along the track. There was a sudden "whoosh" which made me instinctively duck, and I was aware of a small bird speeding away from me over the fields while a larger bird crash-landed in one of the bushes. It was a sparrowhawk. I just had time to admire its blue-grey plumage before it disentangled itself from the twigs and flew off over the flood - spooking everything as it went.
We stopped to look at something and a short-eared owl rose from the rough grass at the side of the track. It floated low over the ground and landed in the middle of the field, where it was dive-bombed by gulls.
Two stone curlews were seen well from the track.
The sunshine was brilliant - almost too much. But the wind is still icy; and the bad news is that this persistent wind from the north-east is probably a result of the Arctic warming up (which in turn is a result of global warming), and is therefore all our own fault!
Monday, April 01, 2013
We got down to the coast midday on Friday, and took a short walk from the Beachy Head car park down the cliff to just above sea level. It was blooming freezing! The only notable wildlife sightings were a redwing, a flock of Brent geese arrowing low over the sea, and a briefly seen weasel or stoat spotted by Greger.
Driving through Eastbourne we stopped by the Martello tower near Pevensey and I snapped these great black-backed gulls in bleak conditions. A merganser flew low over the water to the east. We drove to the Premier Inn where we were spending a couple of nights; it was tantalisingly close to wetlands known as the Willingdon levels, but alas I had neither the time nor the energy to explore them.
On Saturday, our plans for our much-loved walk along the cliffs were thrown into disarray by the discovery that the 13X would not run. This bus, popularly known as the Beachy Head loop, takes you from the Seven Sisters Country Park to East Dean, where it leaves the main road and takes you on a lovely roller coaster of a ride round to Beachy Head. It runs on Sundays and Bank Holidays only; we knew this, but assumed that for Easter they would run it on Saturday as well. Not so.
This seemed a bit daft; but we devised a route missing out Beachy Head itself, catching the Number 12 bus along the main road, alighting at East Dean and crossing the fields to reach the South Downs Way just east of the Belle Tout lighthouse. This satellite photo (courtesy of Greger) shows the whole walk.
After all our moaning, it was quite nice to vary the route a little; and after walking up the road from the village we set off across high fields in high spirits! This shows the first part of the route, and the "Beachy Head loop".
Quite soon after leaving the road, a distant wheatear was seen on the earthworks of an ancient field system. The walking was splendid, and great for poling.
From Long Down, Greger looks back north over the walk so far.
As we descended to the road, a movement in a field to the left caught my eye. There on rough grass among gorse bushes were at least two wheatears, three stonechats, and a couple of meadow pipits.
We crossed the road at Shooter's Bottom where a man walking down through the scrub to the lay-by greeted us with a smile as he passed. He had binoculars round his neck, and I commented to Greger that he was very cheerful and friendly for a birder. Greger pointed out that the Land Rover he got into belonged to the Beachy Head Chaplaincy, whose members patrol the cliffs in the hope of preventing people from leaping to their death. So the bins were probably for the spotting of potential suicides rather than birdwatching.
At Birling Gap there seemed to be an Easter Egg hunt going on, but we saw very few families taking part. Too cold, I should think. The last house to the left of the white track going up the cliff beyond was to give me a bird sighting in an unexpected place.
We had just passed this house when I saw a Brent goose flying in towards the land, very low, before being hidden behind the building. I thought that it could only have gone down on the lawn of the house, and asked Greger if he would mind me "just popping back" to have a look. Dear, patient Greger, who probably wanted to get on, kindly agreed.
At first I thought I was mistaken as I could see only a jackdaw on the huge lawn, which stretches out to the cliff edge. Then I saw the goose by a pool and thought it had come down to drink; but it started to peck at the tuft of bright green vegetation growing between the paving slabs. I backed carefully away, wondering if the people in the house were birders. What a garden tick!
Next came the lovely Seven Sisters, undulating chalk cliffs giving more grand walking. This is looking back to the Belle Tout lighthouse, seen on the skyline. Just below it is the Birling Gap, where the hotel and the coastguard cottages are in imminent danger of being lost to the sea.
We saw one pair of fulmars among the gulls, while three or four rock pipits were very active near the path.
We reached the last sister (once again I neglected to look for the trig point) and took the steep chalky path down to the beach. Walking south of the lagoon we flushed a pair of stonechats. A rock pipit was on the small pool between us and the shingle bank.
On the lagoon were three avocets and a couple of little egrets. The egrets were engaged in a sort of stretch-display. Their necks were extended and their bills pointed skywards so that their heads appeared very slender; and keeping this posture the birds stalked past each other in a slow and stately fashion, turned, and passed one another again, "noses" still in the air.
Setting off on the last leg of our walk along the meandering River Cuckmere, we heard then saw a raven, soaring high above. A peregrine appeared and circled the raven warily. They never got close enough to one another for a joint photo, and all the shots I got of the falcon were rubbish (even for me). A couple of birders who had also stopped to watch greeted us cheerfully in passing - which made me eat my earlier words about miserable birders!
By this time we were very cold and very tired, and felt that the best part of the walk (and possibly the best of the birds) was behind us. It was now just a case of turning our backs to the sea, and plodding along the level valley bottom to the car. On a distant gravel spit I could see redshanks and ringed plovers, and on the silvered water just off the spit several little grebes were feeding.
As I scanned them without much hope, it seemed to me that one had a more slender bill with a slight upturn; but the birds were constantly diving and it was difficult to be sure. They all came a little nearer and I was certain that we were looking at a black-necked grebe. The photos were shot into the sun but this one (much worked on) shows a steep forehead and a delicate retrousse bill, indicating that my ID was correct.
There could be no better end to our 13km walk - well, apart from reaching the car and being able to sit down out of the wind! And Greger then took great delight in driving back to Eastbourne via Birling Gap and Beachy Head - a road he particularly likes to drive along at something a little faster than a walking pace.
