The last days of February, 2024

At times, at the end of February, it looked as if spring was on its way as, although it was officially recorded as the wettest February on record, temperatures were quite mild, occasionally reaching double figures. This is an account of some of my (mostly garden) observations during this period.

Thursday, 22nd February          Garden

I was away from home for much of the day as, in the early afternoon, I had to take Lindsay to hospital for a physiotherapy appointment following her knee operation. This was a quite hazardous journey as we were having torrential rain and encountered much flooding along the way. Fortunately, our car has a very generous ground-clearance and we were able to pass through the floods, but the journey took an hour and a quarter each way, instead of the usual 45 minutes.

I did manage some photos of birds in our garden in the morning before the rain started.

We are regularly getting three Carrion Crow visiting the garden. I think that these are a pair with an all-but-adult youngster, and this theory is strengthened by the fact that that, in recent days, two of the birds are trying to chase off the third, suggesting that they think that it's time the youngster left home and find its own way. Here is one of the birds.

Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) - our garden

Greenfinch is now vying with Goldfinch for the title of 'most numerous bird species in the Pegler garden'. On the previous day to this one, we had a record total of 14 Greenfinch, which exactly matched the Goldfinch total that day. However, Greenfinch rarely stop in a useful photographic position. This is one taken from my study window.

Greenfinch (Chloris chloris) (male) - our garden

Here's a Goldfinch from that day.

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) - our garden

Friday, 23rd February          Garden

Fortunately, the rain stopped during the night, and the flooding had almost disappeared by the time I had to take Lindsay back to the hospital to have her sutures removed. As we arrived back home, we remarked on a fine patch of Crocus in our front garden.

Early Crocus (Crocus tommasinianus) - our garden

Sunday, 25th February          Garden

In the spirit of trying to pay a little more attention to the very common birds in our garden, I offer the Woodpigeon. This always strikes me as being one of the least intelligent of bird species that visit us. To watch a pair of them trying to banish each other from the feeding tray is nothing short of commical (note to self - must try to capture this on video!). 

Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) - our garden

Monday, 26th February          Garden  :  Undisclosed Site  :  Garden

This was a quite remarkable day, because of my encounter with a Kingfisher and Barn Owl, as reported in my previous blog post.

The female Blackcap was with us again this day, and has now become a daily visitor once more.

Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) (female) - our garden

Sorry, but I can't resist going back to the Kingfisher from that day.

Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) (male) - undisclosed site

That night, the trail cams caught a Hedgehog visiting one of our two Hedgehog feeding stations. Hedgehogs have been visiting to feed on warmer nights, since the first one of the year was seen on 2nd January!

 

Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) - our garden

Tuesday, 27th February          Garden

Wren put in an appearance on this day, and this was taken from my study window, approximately 15 metres away.

Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) - our garden

Wednesday, 28th February          Garden

We are still seeing a male Brambling in the garden on most days.

Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) (male) - our garden

Thursday, 29th February          Melbourne Pool

On the last day of the month, it being a leap year, Lindsay decided that she wanted to try going out for a short walk. I took her to Melbourne (Derbyshire, not Australia!) where we had a quick visit to the charity shop in the hall courtyard before heading to the nearby Melbourne Pool. Lindsay didn't get very far before she needed to sit down on a convenient low wall, but it was significant progress. 

I continued along beside the pool for a little while, as I had my camera with me. There was little to photograph in the short time before I needed to return to Lindsay. Here are a couple of birds that I did photograph.

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - Melbourne Hall

Greylag Goose (Anser anser) - Melbourne Pool

Frustratingly, I thought that I could see a Red-crested Pochard in the far distance, but it would have added a good twenty minutes to half an hour to Lindsay's time on her own if I went to investigate, so I had to ignore it.

This brings me to the end of February, and this blog post. I'm hoping that my next blog post will feature a little more in the way of non-garden observations. In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature. Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard

The Last Ten Days of January, 2024

Much of my time so far this year, as in the latter part of 2023, has been spent on domestic duties, having to take on much of Lindsay's share, due to her relative incapacity. Towards the end of the month, I started to feel that I needed to get out more, if only for short spells, in order to regain some of my sanity. This resulted in me visting four local locations on three separate days. At no time was I away from home for more than two hours.

The first part of this period resulted in sightings of very common species. However, things warmed up a little in the last few days of January.

Monday, 22nd January          Garden

Although we had the pleasure of Siskin and Blackcap females visiting this day, the only photos I took were of a Blackbird. Although a common species, we have seen a worrying decline over the past couple of years in the numbers of this bird visiting our garden. This female is on the edge of our birdbath, before taking a drink.

Blackbird (Turdus merula) (female) - our garden

Friday, 26th January          Garden  :  Saltersford Valley Country Park  :  Oakthorpe

The Siskin and Blackcap were still with us but, again, no photos. I did, however, manage to grab a few shots of a Wren from my study window. As you can see, it had been a while since I last tidied up the garden!

Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) - our garden

That afternoon, I took some time out, heading to Saltersford Valley Country Park. On my previous visit, I had found the boardwalk section of the area closed off, due to flooding. I was disappointed to find this area was still closed off - with no reason visible. I did take a walk round the remainder of the area that was open and saw very little of interest, only photographing a confiding Robin, and a distant Coot.

Robin (Erithacus rubecula) - Saltersford Valley CP

Coot (Fulica atra) - Saltersford Valley CP

Being a little dischuffed with my visit to Saltersford Valley, and having only been out for a short while, I set off to visit the nearby location, by Oakthorp, where I'd recently seen the Yellow-browed Warbler and more recently photographed Fieldfare, in the hope of getting better Fieldfare images. I only saw one Fieldfare in the distance, which fled when a couple with a dog passed by it. I did, however, spot a Goldcrest, and spent about half an hour trying to photograph it, but failing miserably. The best that I could do was get a couple of record shots of it in flight.

 

Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) - near Oakthorpe

It was then time to head back to Lindsay, only 10 minutes away.

 

Saturday 27th January          Donisthorpe Woodland

The following day I paid a short visit to Donisthorpe Woodland, just down the road from home. Part of this area is alongside a now isolated section of the old Ashby Canal. I passed alongside the canal for a while, only spotting a Mallard on the far side of the canal and a Great Tit in the edge of the woodland, opposite the canal.

Great Tit (Parus major) - Donisthorpe Woodland

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) (male)

I then took a circuitous route which took me along the edge of the Moira Furnace site, and then back to my car. I saw disappointingly little during my walk, only stopping to photograph some teazels, a Blackbird, and another Great Tit, which I shan't bother you with here.

 

Teasels are the dead flowerheads of plants of the genus Dipsacus. They are still used by some people for carding wool but, for me, they are an architecturally atractive plant

Teasel (Dipsacus sp.) - Donisthorpe Woodland

Blackbird (Turdus merula) (male) -Donisithorpe Woodland

Sunday, 28th January          Garden  :  Longmoor Lake

This was a good day for visits by birds to our garden, with 18 species setting a foot down. These included 8 Long-tailed Tits - always fun to watch.

 

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) - our garden

Most exciting, however, was the appearance of a Reed Bunting. We last saw this species in the garden in February 2023, when a female visited. These shots were taken from my studty window.

 

Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) (male) - our garden

That afternoon, I made a quick visit to Longmoor Lake. This lake is situated in the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Wood, which is close to our home. In the early days of this wood, when the trees were mere saplings, the area was good for birds, including Barn Owl and Tawny Owl.  However, the trees have grown rapidly, and are so densely placed that it seems to have made it unattractive to the birds. I saw virtually nothing until I reached the lake, some one and a half kilometres from the car park.

I spent a few minutes in the hide and saw that Canada Geese and Greylag  Geese were there in good numbers, as were Wigeon. I took some photos from the hide but didn't stop long as my time was limited.

 

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) - Longmoor Lake

Greylag Goose (Ansa ansa) - Longmoor Lake

I then walked to the far end of the lake, taking a few more photos as I went.

Wigeon (Anas penelope) (male + female) - Longmoor Lake

I went a little beyond the far end of the lake, before turning back. Immediately I did so, some Long-tailed Tits moved through the hedge beside me. The light was poor, but I did manage a shot that is just about useable. 

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) -by Longmoor Lake

On the way back, dusk was beginning to fall. I photographed an immature Mute Swan that looked as if it was hoping that I'd feed it, but it soon gave up.

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) (immature) - Longmoor Lake

It was that time of the afternoon when the geese decide that it is time to return to their night roosts. There is plenty of warning when this is going to happen as their calls build up to a very noisy crescendo before they take off in groups.

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) - Longmoor Lake

I took a shorter route back to my car, arriving home at the expected time.

Tuesday, 30th January          Staunton Harold

It was only two days before I managed another brief trip out, prompted by a report of a Cattle Egret in a pasture with sheep, opposite the hall at Staunton Harold, and less than ten minutes from our home.

 

Having parked my car, I walked up the road past the sheep pasture, and a little further, before turning back without seeing the egret. Arriving at the public footpath that leaves the road and goes uo the hill through the pasture, I decided to give it a try in case the bird was skulking over the brow of the hill - it wasn't.

As I descended on this footpath, I scanned over the nearby lake, looking at the swans and gulls that were on the grass on the far side of the lake - and there, to my surprise, was the egret, at the water's edge, in a position where it would be clearly visible from the road that leads to the hall.

As I crossed the causeway between the two lakes, I took a shot of a Coot.

Coot (Fulica atra) - Staunton Harold

A little further on, the road takes a curve to the right that brings it closer to the lake, and the egret was clearly visible from there. I got in quite a few shots before it decided to return to where it had originally been seen - the sheep pasture. You may be able to detect that this bird is showing a hint of colour on the forehead - the start of breeding plumage.

Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) - Staunton Harold

Given more time, I would have walked up the road to take some photos of it in the sheep pasture, but I needed to get back to base to check that all was OK with Lindsay.

 

No photography was attempted on the last day of the month, although we had a good number of birds visiting the garden.

Currently, I have no idea when my next blog post will be as we have a plethora of medical visits coming up in the next fortnight, culminating, if all goes to plan, with Lindsay having a second replacement knee on 12th February. I can see that I'm going to be rather busy for a while!

In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature. Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard

A Visit to Rutland Water - on 4th April, 2023

It had been a while since I last visited Rutland Water, largely because of Lindsay's post-surgery knee problems - I didn't feel comfortable leaving her alone for any great length of time. Things in that direction are beginning to get back to normal, however, and I at last felt that a longer spell out was in order. 

The weather forecast for this particular day was quite favourable and so, having packed a picnic lunch, I set off rather late in the morning for Rutland Water, taking my usual cross-country scenic route.  This route is not as happy a one as it used to be as, at one time, I had nine Little Owl nest sites along it and it was not that unusual to spot ten different owls during the two-way journey. Sadly, on this occasion, I noted that only two of those sites still looked as if they might be able to support a Little Owl, and one of those was very dubious. The main issue was one of natural tree decay, but tree removal or drastic reduction (2 cases), and building decay (2 cases) were also evident. 

At Cold Newton, a pheasant sauntered across the field beside me.

Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) (male) - Cold Newton

As I approached Newbold I noted a Red Kite but by the time I stopped the car and got my window down it was a bit more distant.

Red Kite (Milvus milvus) - near Newbold

I stopped for my picnic by what was my Little Owl Site No.34, and was disappointed to see further decay to the nest tree and is, therefore, the one that I labelled as 'dubious' above.

It must have been a few years since I last saw a hare, so I was delighted this day to see one streak across the field beside me.

Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus) - Newbold

While having my lunch, a message had come through about a Bearded Tit being seen from one of the hides. Arriving at Rutland Water, as I left the car park, I noticed a thrush in the paddock beside the car park. At first, I assumed that it was a Song Thrush, but it turned out to be a Mistle Thrush.

 

Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus) - Rutland Water, Egleton

I made my way directly to Shoveler hide, from which the Bearded Tit had been spotted just two hours earlier. I arrived to find seven people in the hide, none of whom were aware that this bird had been seen there earlier. Shortly after my arrival another message came through to say that the bird had been heard fying away about half an hour after it had first been spotted.

 

I settled in for a while to watch what was in front of the hide, where the water level was higher than I'd ever seen it before.

 

A Coot came drifting by. I am not sure if that is a long black tongue that it is showing, or something that it is trying to swallow. I didn't notice it at the time that I took the shot.

Coot (Fulica atra) - Rutland Water, from Shoveler Hide

A drake Pochard kept its distance.

Pochard (Aythya ferina) (male) - Rutland Water, from Shoveler Hide

A pair of Gadwall were a little more cooperative than the Pochard.

Gadwall (Mareca strepera) (male) - Rutland Water, from Shoveler Hide

Gadwall (Mareca strepera) (female) - Rutland Water, from Shoveler Hide

A Cormorant posed rather nicely on one of the small platforms.

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) - Rutland Water, from Shoveler Hide

There were many Shelduck out on the water, but only one came close, and another flew by.

Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) (male) - Rutland Water, from Shoveler Hide

Appropriately, a drake Shoveler presented itself for a photo.

Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) (male) - Rutland Water, from Shoveler Hide

It is always a delight to see when a Cormorant (or Shag) spreads its wings, and I was pleased to catch this one.

 

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) - Rutland Water, from Shoveler Hide

A Greylag Goose presented itself too.

 

Greylag Goose (Anser anser)  - Rutland Water, from Shoveler Hide

Shortly after taking that last shot, I took a stroll down to Buzzard Hide where little was visible, except at a great distance, and then moved on to Crake Hide, where I was disappointed to see the water level was so high that the usual scrape area was completely under water. I didn't stay long, as nothing was happening and so returned to Shoveler Hide.

 

Once back at Shoveler Hide I caught a second Cormorant with spread wings.

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) - Rutland Water, from Shoveler Hide

Somebody in the hide alerted the rest of us to an extremely distant Marsh Harrier flying across in front of us. I raised my camera, more in hope than expectation, and managed to just about get a record shot.

Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) (female) - Rutland Water, from Shoveler Hide

A gentleman arrived at the hide and, in conversation, mentioned that there were several (he thought maybe twelve) Avocet on Lagoon 4. As it was nearly six years since I last saw an Avocet, I was keen to go and try to find these, so I headed to Plover Hide, which overlooks the north-east corner of Lagoon 4.

I had forgotten how small Avocet are, and didn't find them for a few seconds after opening the hatch in the hide (it was empty when I arrived). I soon had them spotted however. I didn't count them but think that the estimate of twelve wasn't far off the mark. They kept me entertained for the next quarter of an hour or so, although they never came closer than about 50 metres.

Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) - Rutland Water, from Plover Hide

I was occasionally distracted from the Avocets by the activities of Black -headed Gulls.

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - Rutland Water, from Plover Hide

There was another distraction when I spotted a Brimstone butterfly approaching from the left of the hide. I kept my eye on it for a while, hoping it would come in front of the hide, but it kept its distance and I only got a record shot.

 

Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) (male) - Rutland Water, from Plover Hide

Here's one last shot of an Avocet, with a Great Crested Grebe for size comparison.

 

Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) - Rutland Water, from Plover Hide

I was not able to stop late as our daughter and granddaughter were coming for tea, and it is an hour and a half, or more, from Rutland Water to home, so I set off back towards my car.

On the way back, I called in at Osprey Hide and got a departing shot of a drake Teal. I have never before noticed that the 'teal green' on the head can dramatically change colour in some light conditions.

Teal (Anas crecca) (male) - Rutland Water, from Osprey Hide

As I left the hide and walked down the tree-lined track, I noted a small bird flitting about up in the branches to my right. It shot across the track and onto a tree trunk on my left, and I saw it was a Treecreeper. It was on a dark trunk, and I was facing strait into the sun. I'd got totally wrong settings and the only shot that I managed to salvage was this one, which doesn't show the salient features of the species - except for its relatively cryptic plumage!

 

Treecreeper (certhia familiaris) - Rutland Water, from near Osprey Hide

I also called in at Redshank Hide where a pair of Greylag Geese were fairly close by. I have absolutely no idea why it crossed my mind to make goose-like noises, but I was amazed that one of the geese responded and, for a little while, we enjoyed an intimate conversation! Here's a shot of that goose, responding.

Greylag Goose (Anser anser)  - Rutland Water, from Redshank Hide

My journey home resulted in an owl-free day, but I did have another sighting of a Hare at Newbold.

Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus) - Newbold

I needed top stop to answer the call of nature near Burrough on the Hill, and was more than surprised to see yet another Hare - no sightings of Hare for years and then three separate sightings in a day!

Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus) - near Burrough on the Hill

Thus ended my excitement for the this outing.

I had throughly enjoyed being at Rutland Water, but found the journey there and back to be depressing on two counts - the previously mentioned disappearance of the Little Owls, and the fact that I used to take this route every Thursday with my old pal, John Truman, who sadly died a year and a half ago.

I have a suspicion that my next blog post, which I will probably schedule for a week's time, will be rather different to any blog post I have produced before.

In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature. Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard