What have you seen
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OH saw a Great Egret yesterday down on the Flats👍 Little Egrets, Marsh Harriers, Gadwall, Bar Tailed Godwit, plus more usual waterfowl and Gulls. No Osprey though……
We saw dozens of Curlews on mudflats near South Ferriby, never seen so many in one area, and lots of Shelducks. Have heard Bitterns booming, but not spotted one………yet😁
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My first thought was Jackdaws might untie any string🤣 We have squirrels that delight in taking tops off feeders and depositing contents on the ground!
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Sitting in the sunshine outside the caravan listening to all of the usual chatter from the hedgerow birds but can also hear a Skylark and a Yellowhammer from the farm field opposite us.
Heard the House Martins making a commotion and saw them mobbing a Hobby. Brave little things.
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Good to hear these birds WN as they are rare in some parts of UK.
The Hoopoe has arrived here one of my favourite birds here in our plot.
Also seen Black Veined-White butterfly today a bit earlier than last year, also Small Copper and Pearly Heaths seen must be the sunshine and a bit warmer.
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More cuckoos calling over by The Big Pit today, heard lots of Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs, and a Treecreeper around by the Garn Lakes nr Blaenavon, and our first Marsh Orchid for this year.
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No cuckoo's in Start Bay but plenty of other birds to see and hear. Cettis Warblers quite active. Lots of Swans on Slapton Ley.
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I had a visit from the Neuro-Physciatrist a few days after my stroke back in mid October and she asked me if I had any goals for recovery. One of them mentioned was the ability to both hold and use my binoculars, impossible at that time and we had a chat about "managing expectations" but finally today was the day when everything clicked into place and my own expectations had finally been managed. No pain in the shoulder and ability to turn the focus with my previously useless hand.
It's been a long haul but today made it worthwhile especially as we were at Bempton. We walked along to Flamborough and had an exceptional days birdwatching....
There was Gannets and Guillemots and Razorbills and Puffins and....breathe... Kittiwakes and Fulmars and Rock Doves and...Skylarks and Meadow Pipits and Tree Sparrows and Sedge Warblers and Whitethroats and 2 Hares chasing each other and.... best of all a Pod of Dolphins slowly making their way northwards.
The walk was good for me as well.
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Great news about your focussing abilities, and some grand spotting too.
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Walking along by the Brecon canal today saw both Mallard ducklings and Canada Goose goslings, lots of the usual warblers singing and caught sight of a Kingfisher, not flying along the canal but across an open field away from the canal to a small copse through which a river flowed, so I guess that was where it was heading.
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Not a good photo but saw Female Merganser with young on the grass bank/waters edge - river Avon Stratford Sub Castle north of Salisbury also this commemorative stone not far from Old Sarum Castle.
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We spotted a mother Merganser and 5 young on the R.Usk this afternoon, going like the blazes as something must have spooked them.
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Out on Lakenheath Fen today. Hobby, Bittern, Marsh Harriers, Whitethroat, cuckoo spotted just to name a few. A fellow watcher pointed out a fleeting distant silhouetted large bird and announced it was a crane. I wasn’t confident to claim that, my eyesight is not what it was but I have seen them here on previous visits. Watching the hobbies passing dragonflies to one another in mid air and the bitterns flying over the reed beds were the highlights for me.
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We were at Lakenheath in June last year Micky and the Bitterns were flying then, mainly to get food for the young. We did see Cranes as well but also saw a Purple Heron so your big bird could well have been that or a Crane. Lovely place though.
We moved site today but were treated to 2 Bullfinches feeding on seed heads just outside the caravan whilst we were having breakfast. Currently listening to the evocative calling of Curlews on the moorland behind the site along with a calling Cuckoo.
Have to say the blossom has been wonderful this Spring wherever we have been.
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I don’t know how successful the cranes have been Oneputt since we first visited about a decade ago. The young then were predated. Also, Golden Oriels, several pairs, bred here regularly (with in my life time) but have long gone. One was heard briefly this spring apparently but not seem. Sad but true, what can we do to undo the damage caused? The staff have adopted a no mow May in as much of the reserve as possible which could help kickstart the bottom of the food chain. Let’s hope so!
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We went for a stroll alongside the River Hebden today. Plenty of songbirds in the trees and the usual suspects on the fast flowing rapids and stream but the one thing that stood out for us today was perfection in a small way.
It was a Beech tree and its leaves were blemish free and we admired them in the sunshine as flawless. Sheer beauty and lovely to see such a healthy tree.
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Visited Lynford Lakes and the Arboretum. Both owned by Forestry England. Some truly spectacular tree specimens to admire and a lovely walk out. Once again many areas left to no mow May and the wildflower areas were buzzing with insect life. Little grebe adults with babies on the water along with great crested grebes. Again several cuckoos calling.
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We've seen them taking Chaffinch chicks from a nest built in the Ivy of a tree. He came back 3 times and just ignored the protestations of the adult birds. It happens.
Grand day out. Walking next to a river we were crossing a bridge when we saw a Water Vole. Not for long though as he soon disappeared. Grey Wagtails nd Dippers on the rougher sections. Lots of Pink Purslane out.
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I’m surprised by the amount of cuckoos heard and seen during our present tour. In recent years I’ve witnessed very few. Possibly just in the right places at the right times. Fascinating breeding behaviours, females arrive first and go about finding suitable nests to deposit eggs. Male arrives and sits high in trees calling to all females to visit him and partake of his services. Neither parents take any interest in their offspring leaving that to the unsuspecting fosterers. The hatched cuckoos then remove any occupant eggs or chicks from their now home. Parent cuckoos having never seen their offspring then leave for sunny shores overseas. It’s nature and it’s fascinating.
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Whilst in Villefrance yesterday and parked next to a diy store saw about 30 Swifts flying about the most I have seen together for a few years and then saw 2 Pergrine Falcons flying about and ignoring the Swifts and then 1 did a dive down and not sure whether it got a bird possibly a pigeon as a few were flying around made my day then had to do some diy shopping heyho.
Got a lot of Black Veined White butterflies about today had 4 on a tall Scabious plant tried to photo them but they just moved away.
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We had moved from the wooded area where there were lots of warblers of different varieties to an area of open countryside, so the birds are different, Skylarks and Yellowhammers, Red Kites and Buzzards, plus an odd Hare in the wheat fields and the night before last watch a fox watching us as we walked by on the road. No longer hear the Cuckoo's either.
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Beautiful to look at tinny but they do make a mess of the feeders which in a positive from negative light helps the Dunnocks, Robins & Doves to get a share👍🏻😊
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See, they’re helping their mates😀
There are various Woodpecker living across the road in the wooded area but it’s rare for them to venture into the garden. One flew into our closed window last year but, happily, recovered after a few minutes and flew off again👍
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A nuthatch visited the tree behind our pitch and gave a good display for several minutes. Another green woodpecker on the grass finger between pitches and a buzzard being driven mad by a group of rooks. Damsels and dragons out hawking and the buzz in the tree canopy a reminder of childhood. May be my hearing has deteriorated in latter years, also yet to clean bugs off the car windscreen like of old. Even remember cleaning them off mid journey, not these days it seems!
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We had two grand days walking by the R.Wye where we saw and heard stacks of Warblers : Garden, Sedge, Willow, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, plus Reed Buntings, Long Tailed Tits, Sky Larks, and on & over the water Egrets, Messangers, Sand Martins, along with perhaps 20 Swan, and a Marsh Harrier.
While having our picnic lunch today we had an unexpected guest, but I am not sure of its identity, see the photo, anyone help?
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