A walk from Conningbrook to Home

Posted on 18th September 2017 by Richard

When fully fit and motivated I can walk from home to the furthest lake at Conningbrook and back with no problem, a distance of some 5 miles.
On Saturday I was lucky enough to get a lift to the Julie Rose Stadium where I did the one way route alongside main, eco and northern Lakes then over the fields next to the Great Stour and home.

Some Fungi in a small copse close to home

Due to some Canoeists on the main lake, beside a group of nine Egyptian Geese and some Coots, it was very quiet, as were both the Eco and Northern Lakes.
No small birds visible but the northern field came to the rescue with a Great Spotted Woodpecker sitting on the tallest twig of a tree and about 50 plus Starlings.

Greater Spotted Woodpecker – Yellowhammer

Alongside the Great Stour some 30 Swallows were active weaving and skimming the water and surrounding fields…and me ! Some coming within six feet. Taking a photo was an impossibility !

The best sighting of the day though was in the hedgerows of the fields just below my house, some 20 plus Yellowhammers, easily the most I’ve seen at any one time in the 18 years I’ve been here.
Being of res status,, very encouraging indeed.

The Nuthatch saw me coming!!

Eastwell Lake

Needing to go down town on Sunday I made a detour on my return journey to Eastwell Lake. Here well over 300 Greylag and Canada Geese all mixing in.
Beside some Mallards, just a parent and juvenile Great Crested Grebe spotted.

Mother-and-juvenile-Great-Crested-Grebes

Parent and juvenile Great Crested Grebe

No shortage of Geese!

As usual, the Graveyard produced some Nuthatches but little else about.

Tomorrow I’m off to Godmersham for the Launch of the Stour Project, for which I have volunteered as a River Warden.
The river being just a few hundred meters away, this will be a joy to do and I’m sure I will be learning a lot more.
News to follow!
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End of May down the Lane

Posted on 31st May 2017 by Richard

The second part of May continued to be good for wildlife down the Lane and the fields below; the House Sparrows nesting above the back door fledged and no sooner had they and a second lot started !
Also fledged were the Blue Tits in the Box at the top of the Garden and all around young Wrens and more were appearing.

The fields were just as busy; Yellowhammers, Reed Warblers and Whitethroats numbering more than anything else

Young Jay – Just fledged Blue Tit – Ladybirds in Spring!

Female Reed Bunting – Female Yellowhammer – WhitethroatA trip to Dungeness proved very good to see the Damselflies and Dragon Flies coming to life.
The Scrapes were pretty quiet though, just many Common Terns, Avocets and the usual. Two pairs of Egyptian Geese gave birth on the Islands, nice to see but some avid Dungeness Birders not too happy about the invasion. All Gods creatures !

Four Spotted Chaser – Blue Damselfly – Green Damselfly

Avocet Dungeness – Trout in Stream down the Lane – House Sparrow approaching nest above back doorOur passing Hedgehog found a friend and from the noise was successful in it’s mission. However, soon after this we didn’t see them again. Good news is they seem to have taken up home in the Mill House opposite.
I miss them but they’re still around and will hopefully produce young shortly.

Whitethroat with a pretty good Breakfast I’d say !With 5 days in Pembrokeshire and the weather being quite good since, wildlife and nature is rolling along nicely.

April Wildlife starts with a bang !

Posted on 5th April 2017 by Richard

April certainly is the start of the summer wildlife season and it’s very apparent around the Lane and surrounding fields.

Butterflies

The most noticeable change is seeing the Butterflies re-appear; thus far a Comma, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Orange Tip, Brimstone and Whites, the latter two have not sat long enough for me to get a photo yet !
It’s nice to get pictures of them early on, as the season progress’s into Summer, their wings tend to get a bit damaged, so now is good !

Orange Tip

Peacock – Small Tortoiseshell

Comma

Birds around the Hedgerows

The Long Tailed Tits have now finished building their nests, so good news to come there I hope.
In the rear Hedgerow, Yellowhammers are also very busy, great news is there appear to be more than last year!

Male Yellowhammer

Beside the above, other than the more ‘normal’ birds, we have good numbers of Linnets and by the look of the Pelets I found earlier, a Barn Owl popping past!

Owl Pellets and a Linnet sitting on Cables above rear hedgerow

All in all, it’s going well, the weather seems to be attracting more and more flies, so I’m hoping for a good year.

Finally, a Blackcap which I saw at Church Norton on the Selsey Peninsula last week.
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Sometimes it pays to stay at home and bird watch

Posted on 14th November 2016 by Richard

Yesterday I went for ‘the long walk’ around my patch, down the Lane, over the fields to the River and back. Besides the Fieldfares there was very little about either with Birds or other wildlife.

I got home and thought I’d wrap up, pull out my Garden Chair and see what comes along – it was quite delightful.

Observation of the back garden bird feeder seems the Tits have a kind of rota system; the Great Tits, Blue Tits and Coal Tits all seem to come at different times right after each other.
All of them mix well with the resident House Sparrows and Dunnocks and take little notice of the invading Starlings and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Also visiting were a Green Woodpecker, Grey Wagtails and a Jay, all of which were camera shy and seemed to avoid the lens at all costs.
However, a Yellowhammer did sit on the Clothes Line for just enough time for me to get a shot.

Pride of place though was a Male Common Buzzard perching on the Electricity Cables above the back hedge. I was especially pleased with this as it’s usually only the female which I see gliding about.

Some Lapwings on the wasteland, overall upwards of 200

Everyday it seems will spring up at least one surprise, but even if it doesn’t it’s a joy and a great learning curve to just sit and observe who’s where and what’s what.

Birds returning down the Lane after Summer breaks

Posted on 1st November 2016 by Richard

The last few days of the month have welcomed back a few birds down the Lane.
First it was the Chiffchaffs and Grey Wagtails and now the Pied Wagtails, some Chaffinches, Lapwings and the always welcomed Fieldfares.

The Fieldfares arrived last Sunday, about 30 or 40 to begin with, then the following day,probably 150 came in and have spread themselves across the fields along the half mile stretch from here to the Great Stour two fields down.

The Grey Wagtails are still bathing a lot in the Stream which at present is quite low due to a fairly long dry period. It will be interesting to see what happens when the water rises a bit. Not too much I hope.

In fact, on Tuesday, a walk down to the River afforded me not only the above but a Buzzard popping here and there on the field, a few Yellowhammers just meters away from the house and a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Yellowhammer – Great Spotted Woodpecker – Lapwings – Pied Wagtail

From all the above only the Fieldfares are migrants from overseas, but there are many birds who seemed to leave in late Spring and now returning.

Of note is the huge increase in Blackbirds. As far as I can make out, none are migrants, so just flown further south to here for Winter.

Finally, Jay, again first viewing of one here since Spring when I regret to say had 4 or 5 fledgling Sparrows from the nest above the back door.
Always a great shame, but nature rules.

Here comes Winter and the weather this week seems to be confirming just that.

In the Garden mid September

Posted on 13th September 2016 by Richard

It’s supposed to be Autumn but with a temperature of 32.5 degrees centigrade today, it felt like mid Summer in the Med.
With the heat in mind I thought I’d just sit under the Laural Tree and see what comes along.

As always, nothing disappoints, there’s always something that catches your eye and hopefully makes for a decent photo.
First in line was the Juvenile Blackbird, she’s been around for a few weeks now and doesn’t seem to mind coming pretty close if there’s food involved. However, the food she seemed to fancy was a tad mission impossibly !

A little later I saw the first Harlequin Ladybird I’ve seen this Summer, there’s quite a few Seven Spotteds still here, mainly around the Holly Bushes, so nice to see this one. Change is as good as a rest and hopefully shows the Garden is attracting wildlife of any type.

This was followed with a Darter who certainly seemed to take a fancy to me.

Around 6pm I went inside the Shed and got that feeling something’s watching you. Sure enough there was the Fox who I’ve been feeding up after seeing the poor creature looking worse for wear a few weeks ago, sitting patiently watching the back door in wait for the evening sachet of Tesco’s Cat Food !

A quick stroll down the Lane to the field produced a Yellowhammer flitting around the Hedgerow. Lots of noise from what sounded like Long Tailed Tits and plenty of Swallows flying over.

Upon returning home I heard the distinctive call of a Chiffchaff in the front Garden which immediately brought back memories of Spring when one perched on the tree above my Shed giving it’s repetative call from dawn til dusk.

Busy times ahead !

Linnets, Yellowhammers and more 11th.May

Posted on 10th May 2016 by Richard

Just 60 or so meters down the Lane, the Lane runs out and a footpath takes you through to the fields, from there you can walk three miles to Wye without coming within half a mile of a house. It’s rural and nice to be on your doorstep.

Male Linnet

Over the first field there’s a small hedgerow no more than 50 meters long and 8 feet high. Stuck virtually in the middle of nowhere you wouldn’t think this would be a haven for so many Birds.
A walk down there earlier produced a feast of Birds including two of my favourites.

First was the Yellowhammer. If you sit there for long enough (no more than five minutes usually, two will skim across the adjoining field and start their little jog along the length of Hedge.
Some may say they’re too pretty to be a wild bird, especially the male who really is yellow, the female being slightly more dull in appearance.

Male Yellowhammer

Shortly after that two Linnets turned up, birds which I’d been trying to get a photo of for quite some time.
Well, lucky me, for the first time in loads of tries, one sat right in the open long enough for me to get a half decent shot, all be it the sun as always was in the wrong position, but pleased I was!

Both Yellowhammers and Linnets are on the RSPB Red List.

The baby Robin in the Lupin Bush

Upon returning home I noticed an adult Robin going in and out of the Lupins. I guessed there was something there so quietly walked around a bit only to look down and see a baby popping his or her head out wondering I have no doubt where Mum had got to.

Although much harder to see birds with the leaf growing on trees, it’s real enjoyment and a learning curve to watch nature takes it’s path, the courting, the nest building, feeding and protection cannot be beaten.

Over 60 pages of Garden Wildlife on the main Web Site here Nature on our Doorstep

On the fields in late April

Posted on 29th April 2016 by Richard

A blowy and overcast late April day but nice to walk around the fields at the end of the Lane.
In just half a mile I have a stream, fields and a River to play around in, so it’s quite rare not to spot something flying about or creeping through the undergrowth.

Today produced a Mistle Thrush scurrying around on the footpath and looking at me with a rather satisfying but cautious look! We don’t seem to get Song Thrushes here and it’s not every day I see a Mistle Thrush. All’s the pity, lovely Songbird.

Just to the other side of the field there’s a rather scruffy hedgerow. When I say scruffy I mean it’s supposed to be, the Farmer is associated to the Countryside Stewardship Scheme and the required 15 meter wild buffers around his fields together with strict guidelines on hedge maintenance, gives a green light for many birds to visit.
Prides of place at present are Yellowhammers and Linnets, fine beautiful birds.

The Rapeseed (thank heavens I don’t suffer with it) seems to be attracting many Whitethroats and are often seen sitting on the top of a Plant blowing around in the wind.
From a distance it’s hard to determine them from the Skylarks which rule the fields down here.

Plenty of song but little actually seen.

Over 60 pages of Garden Wildlife on the main Web Site here Nature on our Doorstep