Nature around Watlington
Unusual to find fungi growing this time of year. This is a winter twiglet or tubaria heimalis in a plant pot.
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Photo taken in my garden. Female sparrowhawk overlooking a bird feeder. Behind is a great tit keeping very quiet.
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Very nosey starling Clever vole living under bird feeder, Sculthorpe moor Hawk and Owl trust
Nature Notes ( Updated May 2020)
At 10 a.m. on March 8th from our kitchen window I saw a Song Thrush perched on top of some Ivy, it made my day. (I know, little things please little minds.) It made my day because it was such a long time since I had seen a Song Thrush and they used to be such a common site. As a boy and well into adulthood their nests, along with Blackbirds, would be the first nests that I would find in the early spring. To see their four or five beautiful blue eggs speckled with black spots always gave me a thrill.
I would carefully watch the progress of each nest first seeing the hen bird sitting tight on her eggs for about 14 days. Then seeing the pink, blind primitive looking little chicks when they first hatched. I would see the parent busy feeding them and marvel at how quickly they grew until they filled the nest. Finally I might be lucky enough to see them leave their nest with their short little tails and wisps of down making them look as if they were badly in need of a haircut. I would see them still being fed by the parent bird and providing they survived predation and the effects of inclement weather grow stronger and more confident. Then after about two weeks they would become independent and the adult birds would go on to have a second and sometimes a third brood.
I have seen them use the same nest site by building as many as three nests one on top of another. Another thing that I used to watch the Song Thrushes do was to use an anvil to smash the shells of Snails in order to get at the snail inside. The anvil would be a flint or other large stone which they would use time after time to break the snail shells that they had collected.
Other birds that used to be common are now in short supply. I miss the sound of the Turtle Dove which for me used to be the sound of summer. For about two and a half months from mid-April until June from first light until dusk there would be the incessant call of the Cuckoo. Last year I hardly heard it at all within the Watlington area. A neighbour told me that in the past his house used to have numerous House Martins nest all around it in the summer now there are none. Apparently House Sparrow numbers have declined drastically, though I think that they are all in our garden as we regularly have flocks of about 100 coming to our bird feeders.
However it is not all doom and gloom as some species have increased dramatically. The first Collared Doves which were recorded breeding in this country in 1955 in Norfolk caused great excitement amongst bird watchers. They are now so numerous that they have almost become a pest. We regularly have 15 or 16 perched in an Apple tree in our neighbour’s garden waiting to come to our feeders. There is ‘Bert’ the Buzzard who has a favourite telegraph pole on St Peters road on which he perches. The Buzzard is a huge success story as it seems that wherever you travel in this country you will see one. Another species of bird which is on the increase is the Red Kite which again I have seen whilst driving along St Peters road and elsewhere on my travels. Also along St Peters road, particularly since the fields have been flooded this year, I have seen both Little Egret and Great Egret. The Little Egret is another success story as again it seems to be present throughout the country.
I marvel each year at the way whatever the weather conditions the summer migrants arrive within a few days of the same date. You will hear the Chiff Chaffs singing in the trees surrounding the Millennium Green at the end of March. The Swallows, House Martins and the Cuckoo’s arrive in the middle of April having flown all the way from South Africa. Whilst those incredible birds the Swifts arrive in early May and who cannot be amazed by their flying skills. Apart from when mature birds are nesting under someone’s roof tiles they spend their whole life on the wing, even sleeping whilst flying really high. In fact if they inadvertently find themselves on the ground they are unable to take off again as their very small legs and long wings prevent them from doing so. A neighbour once called on me to look at a Swift that was on the ground. He had left his wife guarding it as a local cat was becoming very interested in it. After examining it to make sure it was not injured and being thrilled to be holding one of these wonderful birds I threw it up into the air and away it flew.
Even more amazing are some of the butterflies that we get in our gardens in spring and early summer. Whilst the Brimstone’s, Peacock’s and Small Tortoishell’s have hibernated over winter and can be seen on a warm day in early spring the Red Admiral and Painted Lady butterflies migrate in order to be with us in early summer. The Red Admiral’s come from the Mediterranean but the beautiful Painted Lady’s come all the way from North Africa. They are able to do this by flying from Africa in stages stopping to produce the next generation who then fly the next stage stop and create the next generation who then fly on to us. The Painted Lady is one of the most widely distributed butterflies in the world as the only continents where it does not occur are Australia and the Antarctic. They are capable of flying at 30 miles per hour and can easily cover 100 miles in a day. They fly over mountains and as far north as Iceland.
Happy nature watching.
Please let us know of any wildlife you see in your gardens or out and about. Photos as well to this website or the Gossip.
At 10 a.m. on March 8th from our kitchen window I saw a Song Thrush perched on top of some Ivy, it made my day. (I know, little things please little minds.) It made my day because it was such a long time since I had seen a Song Thrush and they used to be such a common site. As a boy and well into adulthood their nests, along with Blackbirds, would be the first nests that I would find in the early spring. To see their four or five beautiful blue eggs speckled with black spots always gave me a thrill.
I would carefully watch the progress of each nest first seeing the hen bird sitting tight on her eggs for about 14 days. Then seeing the pink, blind primitive looking little chicks when they first hatched. I would see the parent busy feeding them and marvel at how quickly they grew until they filled the nest. Finally I might be lucky enough to see them leave their nest with their short little tails and wisps of down making them look as if they were badly in need of a haircut. I would see them still being fed by the parent bird and providing they survived predation and the effects of inclement weather grow stronger and more confident. Then after about two weeks they would become independent and the adult birds would go on to have a second and sometimes a third brood.
I have seen them use the same nest site by building as many as three nests one on top of another. Another thing that I used to watch the Song Thrushes do was to use an anvil to smash the shells of Snails in order to get at the snail inside. The anvil would be a flint or other large stone which they would use time after time to break the snail shells that they had collected.
Other birds that used to be common are now in short supply. I miss the sound of the Turtle Dove which for me used to be the sound of summer. For about two and a half months from mid-April until June from first light until dusk there would be the incessant call of the Cuckoo. Last year I hardly heard it at all within the Watlington area. A neighbour told me that in the past his house used to have numerous House Martins nest all around it in the summer now there are none. Apparently House Sparrow numbers have declined drastically, though I think that they are all in our garden as we regularly have flocks of about 100 coming to our bird feeders.
However it is not all doom and gloom as some species have increased dramatically. The first Collared Doves which were recorded breeding in this country in 1955 in Norfolk caused great excitement amongst bird watchers. They are now so numerous that they have almost become a pest. We regularly have 15 or 16 perched in an Apple tree in our neighbour’s garden waiting to come to our feeders. There is ‘Bert’ the Buzzard who has a favourite telegraph pole on St Peters road on which he perches. The Buzzard is a huge success story as it seems that wherever you travel in this country you will see one. Another species of bird which is on the increase is the Red Kite which again I have seen whilst driving along St Peters road and elsewhere on my travels. Also along St Peters road, particularly since the fields have been flooded this year, I have seen both Little Egret and Great Egret. The Little Egret is another success story as again it seems to be present throughout the country.
I marvel each year at the way whatever the weather conditions the summer migrants arrive within a few days of the same date. You will hear the Chiff Chaffs singing in the trees surrounding the Millennium Green at the end of March. The Swallows, House Martins and the Cuckoo’s arrive in the middle of April having flown all the way from South Africa. Whilst those incredible birds the Swifts arrive in early May and who cannot be amazed by their flying skills. Apart from when mature birds are nesting under someone’s roof tiles they spend their whole life on the wing, even sleeping whilst flying really high. In fact if they inadvertently find themselves on the ground they are unable to take off again as their very small legs and long wings prevent them from doing so. A neighbour once called on me to look at a Swift that was on the ground. He had left his wife guarding it as a local cat was becoming very interested in it. After examining it to make sure it was not injured and being thrilled to be holding one of these wonderful birds I threw it up into the air and away it flew.
Even more amazing are some of the butterflies that we get in our gardens in spring and early summer. Whilst the Brimstone’s, Peacock’s and Small Tortoishell’s have hibernated over winter and can be seen on a warm day in early spring the Red Admiral and Painted Lady butterflies migrate in order to be with us in early summer. The Red Admiral’s come from the Mediterranean but the beautiful Painted Lady’s come all the way from North Africa. They are able to do this by flying from Africa in stages stopping to produce the next generation who then fly the next stage stop and create the next generation who then fly on to us. The Painted Lady is one of the most widely distributed butterflies in the world as the only continents where it does not occur are Australia and the Antarctic. They are capable of flying at 30 miles per hour and can easily cover 100 miles in a day. They fly over mountains and as far north as Iceland.
Happy nature watching.
Please let us know of any wildlife you see in your gardens or out and about. Photos as well to this website or the Gossip.