Mike's Natural Musings

Sunday, 16 April 2023

An Excellent Walk along the Freshney and Town's Holt.

Having picked up Jet we were soon parked in the layby next to Little Coates Church and walking along the River Freshney towards Town's Holt. It was warm and pleasant in the sun with the temperature up to 16C. We were immediately aware of calling chiffchaffs of which there were many and a wren sang loudly from across the river. I was pleased to both hear and see blackcap and identified 4 males. The song of the regular cetti's warbler exploded from the reeds by the holt and I was pleased to hear a sedge warbler singing if loud, scratchy song. There were plent of butterflies on the wing and we saw small white, small tortoiseshell, peacock, comma and the first holly blue and brimstone of the year.

Chiffchaff

Comma

Coot

Saturday, 8 April 2023

My First Butterflies on the Local Patch

The beautiful weather was too good to waste, so after a busy morning I set out for the cemetery and The Horsefield, hoping to find some butterflies, especially on The Horsefield (Gooseman's Field). Before I got there though I heard the first of 5 singing chiffchaff , what a delight. Before I reached the grassland of Gooseman's I was delighted to hear the first of 6 singing skylark, definitely spring in the air.

After all the rain the Horsefield was as wet as I have ever known it. At least we need the water but, as is the case nowadays, the weather comes in extremes of heat/drought, rain and floods and storms. Perhaps the butterflies were enjoying the wet as I had a field day: 2 comma, 10 small tortoiseshell and 18 peacock.

After my busy domestic morning and my 3 mile birding and butterflying I was well ready for an early beer o'clock when I got in.

Blackthorn in the Woodland Burial Ground

Blackthorn on the Horsefield

Blackthorn on the outside of the Woodland Burial Ground.

Comma

Peacock

Small Tortoiseshell on Blackthorn Blossom.

Thursday, 6 April 2023

A Good Day at Winter's Pit and East Halton Marsh

As soon as Brian and I opened the car doors we could hear the chiffchaff calling loudly from the overgrown garden of the old demolished farmhose. I quickly picked up skylarks singing as well, so a real spring morning. There was a lot of activity on the pit where once we used to come fishing. This was mainly a large number of black-headed gulls but there were geese (greylag and canada), a few oystercatchers, cormorant, tufted duck and coot. Once sorted out we set off down the track at the back of the mitigation land picking up curlew, wigeon, shelduck, shoveler and lapwing as we went. Arriving at Skitter Beck another chiffchaff sang loudly from the trees. It was time for lunch so we hunkered down where we were sheltered from the chill northerly breeze. During lunch we spotted the first of two swallows heading north.

Lunch over we checked out the moth of the beck and were pleased to see half a dozen avocet. These iconic birds were feeding noisily, sweeping their distinctive up-turned bills through the liquid mud sieving out tiny organisms to eat. Wandering back along the sea wall we found a group of dunlin and more shelduck. As we arrived back at the pit our ears were assailed by the loud, explosive call of a cetti's warbler, a first for me at this site.

Avocet

Sunday, 2 April 2023

Lake District March/April 2023, Day 6. River Kent Birding

Sitting by the site reception I suddenly became aware of a new bird call: the cronking of a raven. Looking up, the call, size and diamond shaped tail confirmed that I hadn't imagined a crow into a raven. We were starting out on one of our favourite walks: down into the valley and along the River Kent to Stavely before walking back over the fields to the site. We always enjoy our local wood as we leave the site and today we enjoyed the lichens and mosses typical of western temperate woodland. The bluebells were showing through now and will be in flower when we return in May. Crossing under the busy main road we revelled in the walk down the sunken green lane to Bowston Bridge on the Kent. Here we stopped at our usual spot for a very meagre lunch (I had plans for later!) where I was delighted to see a pair of grey wagtails. Moving on, it wasn't long before we found our first dipper and the first of two pairs of goosander. Passing the barn restoration project we were soon settled on the river bank sitting among the host of wild daffodils; lenten lillies. Here we had several sightings of dipper zipping up and down the river but none settled. Grey and pied wagtails did, however, pose for photography and a second pair of goosander surprised me when they appeared unexpectedly and surfed through the rapids. Continuing the walk I began to tire and regretted the decision to carry the birding camera, so it was with pleasure and satisfaction that I sat down to a Wilf's all day breakfast. Magnificent!!! All that remained was the flog uphill and across the fields back to the van and beer o'clock!!

Silver birch

Pixie Cup Lichen

Moss

Moss covered tree.

Rather Heath Plantation

The River Kent

Grey Wagtail

Goosander

Pied Wagtail

The River Kent

The Whinfell Ridge

Friday, 31 March 2023

Lake District, March 2023, Day 5. Lunch out and a Macro Potter.

A very pleasant lazy morning today until lunch time when we went to the Strickland Arms to meet some friends for lunch which was, as usual, excellent. Back at the site we went out for a potter around the area to take some lichen macro shots and walk out to 'The Tree'. An excellent day.

The Tree

The view from the tree towards Stavely and Kentmere.

Lichen

Pixie Cup Lichen

Lake District, March 2023, Day 4

There is was: covered in green algae and gelatinous, our first frog spawn of the year in the flooded path side as we came out of Lower Hide. We had arrived at Leighton moss shortly after 11.00 and headed straight for the feeding station where I was pleased to quickly see my fist 'new for year' tick a marsh tit. Next it was down to Lillian's Hide where we sheltered from the rain for half an hour before moving on to Causeway Hide. Sounds of bird song were all around: chichaffs providing a sense of spring, cetti's warblers with their incredibly loud stacatto notes seemingly from the depths of vegetation right next to you and up to for booming bitterns. We took the opportunity to have our regular lunch of christmas cake and cheese in Causeway Hide and picked up snipe, lapwing and pochard. The most distant hide is Lower and we were ready for a sit down when we got there. There were large numbers of teal and shoveler here and I enjoyed watching the male shoverlers feeding, their heads submerged and spinning round like whilrlind devishes. Taking photographs was a real callenge as they only lifted their heads out of the water for the briefest moment. Every so often, though, the males would stray into each other's territory and the incumbent would lift it's head high out the water to show its displeasure.

Frogspawn duly inspected we wandered back to Causway where there was an impressive display of sand martins and swalls. it was time for tea and cake in the cafe but on the way I went to look for and had pointed out a water pipit that I had been told about. Excellent.

Duly refreshed we finished our trip with a visit to the saltmarsh hides where, although picking up a few more species the water levels were too high to attract many birds. As it often does, though the path to the Eric Morecambe hide had large scarlet elf cup fungi, always a pleasure to see. Plants are appearing at a great reate of knots now as spring progesses: wood anemone with their beautiful pink sepals, green dog's mercury, promroses, cowslips, wild garlic and coltsfoot.

We completed our day with a visit to Arnside and the excellent Albion pub, looking out over the estuary. It was, of course, beer o'clock.