Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Taplow
Getting my car out of the garage early afternoon, I noticed that the air was full of humming insects. These turned out to be honey bees.
I drove down the car park and watched the bees settle in two clusters in the Kousa dogwood.
I went back later to find only the right-hand cluster - of which this is the tip.
I've been complaining recently about not seeing any honey bees in the garden (we usually have about a dozen at any one time). There must be a few hundred here!
In his book Fauna Britannica, Stefan Buczacki includes the following wise old country saying:
A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay;
A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon;
A swarm in July is not worth a butterfly.
Like most wise old country sayings, probably complete bunkum. However, at a time when honey bees are in trouble, this was a heartening sight.
Dorney
A common tern was a new one for my Eton Wick flood list yesterday.
A redshank was also present.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Cliveden
I paid a morning visit to Cliveden to look for firecrests, but got side-tracked by a family of stoats which kept popping up out of various holes. It was a bit like Whack-a-mole except that I had a camera instead of a mallet. The pics aren't cropped - the stoats were just a few feet away. I should have zoomed out and maybe got better focus, but there was no time. There never is.
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Compensation for not going walking
A great spotted woodpecker brought his chick to feed at our peanuts this morning. The chick, fluffed up, looks larger than its parent.
The adult hung awkwardly from the base of the feeder as he's too big to squeeze through the squirrel-proof bars; but he was obviously able to reach in far enough to get some titbits.
I had time to note the washed-out pink of the juvenile's vent compared with the bright scarlet of the adult's; while the juvenile's cap was a darker red than the adult male's nape patch. This juvenile red cap is a trap for the unwary, leading sometimes to the wrong identification of the young bird as a lesser spotted woodpecker.
Friday, June 14, 2013
On East Marsh, a lapwing chick strides determinedly across what another birder has dubbed Plover Island.
A redshank chick was also there, busily foraging along the water's edge. It was as awkward as ever bending down to watch through the ridiculously placed openings of the hide/screen but I didn't let it spoil a very pleasant half-hour. The common terns objected to the chick's presence when it strayed too close, although they ignored the parents.
Despite the strong wind, it felt like summer at last. The banks of the river are a tangle of daisies, vetches and clovers, and more bumble bees and butterflies were seen than on my last visit. A cuckoo could just be heard above the drone from the motorway.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
A walk to the flood yesterday brought two drake teal, with a couple of redshanks and a well-grown lapwing chick on East Marsh. The hobby was near the car park; swifts and swallows were keeping clear, but like them the hobby was more interested in insects.
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
I looked out of the kitchen window yesterday morning, and saw - a rabbit! This was a huge surprise as our garden is enclosed by a six-foot wall, so goodness knows how it got in.
It ranged over the whole garden, nibbling at everything. It came close to the house and at one point jumped up against the patio door as though trying to get in. Aargh! Beseiged by a killer baby bunny!
Greger coaxed me out for a walk in the evening and we went to Dorney Wetlands. There had been a huge hatching of Mayflies, and swifts were flying incredibly low to hoover them up. Four common terns were also feeding on them. A "swoosh" of wings advertised a flock of at least 150 starlings lifting from the bushes. The EW flood held a pair of redshanks with one, possibly two, wary chicks. But the common flood has once again dried up.
Monday, June 03, 2013
I decided to rest at home yesterday while Greger went off for a route march along the river. The bullfinches were snapped through the (rather dirty) window.
I then decided I would do the garden blitz. I went outside, got cold, got ratty with the insects which kept flying away whenever I got anywhere near them with the camera, went on the BBC's website and found it too complicated anyway, and ended up grumpy and with pains in my ears. And still no ladybirds.
Greger came home with a picture of the Dorney Common flood, which had shrunk to a large puddle.
Saturday, June 01, 2013
We walked seventeen kilometres in strong winds and sunshine today. Two hares came dashing towards us, one chasing the other, and they practically ran over our feet. They swerved at the last moment and disappeared into long grass. I just couldn't get the camera onto them both, and had to zoom out. Looked serious business.
Birds were scarce generally but a pair of Montagu's harriers made up for that.
A probable third one was seen. I was shattered and headachy when we got home, and my plan to start the garden bio-blitz for Springwatch was abandoned. I think I'll stay in bed tomorrow.
