Tuesday, February 25, 2014
As you approach Burnham along Taplow Common Road, there is a pull-in by a farm gate where a track leads to the houses on The Gore. I glanced over as we drove past this morning as I always do, because I used to play there as a kid; but I was quite unprepared for what I thought I saw.
We turned and went back and sure enough found a dead horse, which had almost certainly been dumped from a vehicle.
Greger reported it at Stomp Road Police Station and was astounded to find that of the three officers present, not one was a local or had any local knowledge. He had to draw a little map to show them the location! Anyway, they kindly called back later to say that someone had already informed the RSPCA directly, and that they were dealing with the carcass.
The poor thing looked emaciated; but apparently, neglect of horses and ponies has become commonplace since the recession, and I suppose it's highly unlikely that these particular owners will ever be traced.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Hanging out washing on this brilliant morning I heard a soft call from above and saw this bullfinch sitting high in the copper beech. I went inside and got the camera, but as I clicked away he tilted his head and checked me out; next moment he was off.
There was a queen bumblebee and a smaller worker in the heather, and I thought there were two honey bees as well. But a closer look revealed that these were drone flies - honey bee mimics.
Greger was insistent I go out and enjoy the good weather, and then he decided to come with me. In Egypt Woods he pointed out the ants' nest, where the occupants had come to life rather early. I generally see them first from mid to late March.
This is just one of several trees that had come down in the latest winds, because they weren't down last time I walked through. As we detoured round a larger one, we met a cheerful chap (without a dog - hooray!) who was the only other walker we saw in the woods.
Greger had hoped to see his first lesser spotted woodpecker, and in Dorney Wood he detected distant drumming that I'd failed to hear. However, having listened carefully we agreed that it was resonant and fairly short, and tailed away at the end; making it a great-spot.
In the Dimsdale Drive area of Burnham Beeches, where old wooden gateposts hint at lost grandeur, a single brambling was seen high in a beech tree with chaffinches. Through the trees, we could see white chickens scratching about, belonging to a house that you would hardly know is there and which in fact we couldn't see. But no luck with lesser-spot.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
A walk of eleven and a half kilometres in bright but windy conditions brought rosy cheeks, and a gathering of seven or eight ravens circling right above us. They can lose quite a few feathers from their wings at this time of year and still fly beautifully.
The raven circled above the trees for a while, uttering a call that transported me from the deciduous woods to wilder northern forests cloaked in snow. It must be from this particular call that the bird gets its Swedish name of "korp".
Greger watches four of the ravens drifting off to the north.
As we drove away from the crowded car park a large, long-tailed bird was spotted flying north. For a moment I was flummoxed, then I realised it was a pheasant. I've never seen one fly so high, and the effect was heightened by the dropping away of steep slopes beneath it. I wondered if it felt a bit giddy, finding itself suddenly so far from the ground - and then the car moved on and it was gone.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
There was a lot of scrapping over a dead perch on the Eton Wick flood this morning, between a heron, several crows, and a pair of great black-backed gulls.
One of the gulls snatched the perch from the heron and flew down the flood with it. The second gull followed and three crows got in on the act. The heron indignantly fought back and put the gulls to flight; but having gained possession again, the heron eventually discarded the fish and left the crows to share it!
Meanwhile the sulky-looking black-backs sailed around on the flood and indulged in a bit of light vandalism.
As I walked back along the Jubilee River they flew over me and landed - amid protest from black-headed gulls - on a tiny island on East Marsh.
But, mobbed by black-headed gulls and possibly fed up with my attentions, the great black-backs eventually flew off west. A skylark was seen in the grass on Monument Hill and later in the sky singing.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Wouldn't it be nice if this was the Eton Wick flood?
But the great white egret was on Hooker's Pit at Dungeness.
I'd just embarked on a session of hand-washing yesterday morning (since our new washing machine won't be with us for another week!) when Greger suggested a trip to Dungeness. He'd noticed there was another house for sale out on the shingle. It's affordable and would leave us lots of spare cash to go travelling with. On the other hand, it was pretty small and we would have to get rid of half of our possessions.
We didn't have much time for birdwatching. Skirting the power station we made our way up the bank to look at the sea but the wind was too strong for comfort, so we drove to the RSPB reserve and had a short walk. We bought a dressed crab and some prawns at M and M Richardson's near the Pilot Inn, which we ate when we got home. Delicious.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
A beautiful day and the downs were calling! We walked from Warren Farm, Streatley, along the Ridgeway to the old railway bridge. The River Pang headwaters have risen again; but they're a bit too early this year for wader migration.
Back near the car park, we counted twenty-five large raptors floating around in the sky and dropping now and then onto the field. I can only think they were worming, unless there has been a sudden outbreak of voles. Three or four were buzzards; the rest were kites.
A little way up the slope was what looked like a large stone; but a closer look revealed a hare, lying ear-flattened and motionless in its form.
It could, I suppose, have been in danger from the proximity of so many birds of prey; after all, buzzards sometimes take rabbits.
And as if they weren't enough, I was about to remark that we weren't going to be lucky with ravens this time when one called, and through the twigs of the hedge I caught a glimpse of two birds flying west.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
I was looking into the sun, but a grey wagtail still made a nice splash of colour in the mud on Dorney Common.
I only noticed the gull when it was flying away west. Its flight was slow and laboured as it gained height over the floods, and that along with a truncated appearance to the tail made me think it could be a great black-backed gull. Looking at the picture I'm pretty sure it was a biggie.
A kingfisher and two Cetti's warblers were also seen.
Monday, February 10, 2014
I woke up this morning with pleurisy pains, so I turned over and went back to sleep. When I woke up half an hour later I felt better. Cheerfully gathering an armful of washing I took it down and put it in the machine, switched on - and nothing. We've only had it for four years; and, naturally, the warranty has just run out.
So we spent the morning buying a new washing machine. Boring! John Lewis at High Wycombe has been hugely extended, and we got lost. I also bought a new pair of running shoes there, so no excuses now. Less birding :o( and more training! I've got to get lean and mean again before it's too late forever. The young chap who served me was keen to show us the latest technology; I had to run on a treadmill for about 30 seconds while he filmed my feet and ankles. By pausing the film here and there and running red lines down my Achilles tendons he could see that I "pronate" (go over onto the sides of my feet) very little when I run. This was nice to know - and even nicer when I realised I didn't need the expensive structured shoes but could get away with the cheaper ones. Now that did cheer me up!
The flooding towards Marlow and Bisham was unbelievable. How people get back to normality having been flooded out, I don't know. Sheer misery. On the way home we drove through a sudden fierce shower of rain and hail. That'll help.
Yesterday, the floods at Dorney were enormous.
A woman was in the field throwing a ball for her dog (she'd just gone out of shot when I took the pic). The shelduck looked slightly uneasy, but they stood their ground.
As I continued downstream of the weir, a tenth shelduck flew across the river from Wood Lane towards the EW flood. There were chiffchaffs in the flooded willows on the sewage farm near the weir along with loads of winter thrushes; and a buzzard cruised over low.
Sunday, February 02, 2014
Today I went what Greger calls "off piste" up the woods, and consequently found a little group of wild cherry trees I'd never seen before. Also known as gean or bird cherry.
They are striking trees, their smooth dark bark patterned with horizontal pores known as lenticels (learnt from various websites).
A bullfinch was seen briefly and photographed badly.
Likewise this brambling, one of at least two feeding with chaffinches on the ground. I had flushed them all up into the trees, but as I walked away they were already dropping down again.
I enjoyed my walk but there was no tiny woodpecker to gladden the heart today. A raven was calling from somewhere nearby, evidently in flight, but it failed to materialise in the few patches of sky I could actually see!
