Mike's Natural Musings

Sunday, 21 May 2023

St Giles Churchyard.

I managed another hour in the churchyard today and was pleased, that with a bit more sun there were some butterflies about: speckled wood, holly blue and male orange tip. I noted a few more birds today and was delighted to record chiffchaff and blackcap, both warblers that visit us for the summer. Hearing some crows making a great deal of noise I looked up to see three of them harassing a buzzard which put up with the annoyance for a while before drifting off towards Gooseman's Field. Buzzards are doing really well in recent years and it is not unusual to see them over Scartho. Their numbers have increased since organochlorines were banned in crop sprays and gamekeepers have become more enlightened.

Cow parsley in the Glebe land.

Hedgerow Cranesbill

Herb Robert seed head.

Herb Robert

Soft Shield Fern

Male Orange-tip

Speckled Wood

Holly Blue

Saturday, 20 May 2023

Dragon Hunt

Roger had already arrived when I pulled into the car park at Watt's Wood near Lincoln. Our target was broad bodied chaser dragon flies which we had watched and photographed in previous years in the ponds in neighbouring Monk's Wood. We were quickly ready and made our way to the first pond collecting suitable sticks for perches on the way. The relatively new wood was looking splendid in its spring finery and bird song was all around, especially willow warblers which seemed to be everywhere. On reaching the pond all looked promising, although there was no sign of dragonfly activity, so we put in our perches and then walked through the wood to inspect our second pond. This seems much more grown up than it used to be and provided very few opportunities for photography. Returning to our first location we settled down in the sun to wait......... and wait!!! To no avail! Exploration of the area around the pond produced orange tip butterfly, azure damselfly and quite a few large red damselflies one pair of which was mating, but no dragonflies. Eventually one appeared and began hunting over the pond but not a broad bodied. At first we thought four spotted chaser but in the event it turned out to be a male hairy dragonfly. After some effort I managed to get some pleasing images which I was delighted with as it is not a species I have photographed very often. We did see a female broad bodied very briefly and came to the conclusion that in our enthusiasm we were just too early. Other butterflies seen included small white, brimstone, peacock and a day-flying mint moth and I was pleased to find several marsh orchids - my second orchid of the season. Notable birds were willow warbler, green woodpecker, blackcap and whitethroat.

Azure damselfly

Alder beetles

Male hairy dragonfly

Hawthorn - May Blossom.

Large red Damselfly - mating pair

Large red Damselfly

Mint Moth

Orange tip male

Orange tip female

Orange tip male

Southern Marsh Orchid

Wednesday, 17 May 2023

St Giles Churchyard Survey.

It was quiet and peaceceful as I entered St. Giles Churchyard in Scartho. It was warm with mixed sun and cloud. I was there to begin a wildlife survey of the churchyard and glebe land as part of a rewildingof the glebe initiative led by Scartho in Bloom. Wandering around I was inspired by how well nature is doing here. I recorded only about 10 birds but today that was not my focus so there will be significantly more than this. Sadly while I was there the sun was not out which meant no butterflies but I did come across a solitary red-tailed bumble bee busily gathering nectar. The thing that inspired me most was the large number of plants I recorded in only 40 mins: 23 species as well as excellent lichen cover on some of the grave stones. The glebe land, which is already left to its own devices is rich in plants and I especially enjoyed the soft shield ferns which are doing well as well has a thicket of one of my favourites: cow parsley or kexy as my Witham Fen bred mum used to call it. As the main church yard is mown sparingly it, too is rich in flowers especially bluebells, primroses and (in the winter) snowdrops. I also noticed healthy crops of green alkanet and forget-me-not. A good start.

Green alkanet colonising a grave

Forget-ne-not forest

Green alkanet

Lichen covered gravestone

Footpath in the Glebe

Glebe land

Soft shield fern

Glebe land

Ribwort plantain

Soft shield fern

Wild bank

Forget-me-not

Tuesday, 16 May 2023

Common Cranes Breeding in Lincolnshire

A day out today to meet Heather's brother Malcolm and wife Maureen. As they live in Hertfordshire and are also birders we decided to meet up at Willow Tree Fen which is about half way. We had already seen cranes together at Hickling Broad back in March but the weather then had been apalling so we hoped for better conditions today.

The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust bought Willow Tree Fen in 2009. Until then it had been typical fenland farming country cropped with beans and cereal. Once farming stopped and drainage channels blocked it quickly reverted to a more traditional fenland landscape of shallow meres, seasonally flooded pastures, hay meadows and reedbeds. Nature quickly returned with typical wetland species now thriving including lapwings, which put on a wonderful display for us, redshank, skylark, marsh harrier, waterfowl and even otter. A management strategy used at Willow Tree Fen is grazing with cattle from April to November. This maintains the open conditions and prevents the reserve reverting to scrub. Dragonflies have settled in and they, in turn attract hobby which we were lucky enough to see. In 2020 when it was free from disturbance a pair of cranes bred on the reserve, a first for 400 years in Lincolnshire. This original pair are now resident and have bred for the fourth year and they have been joined by two other pairs.

Although there is no longer a walking route around the reserve in order to avoid disturbance, the car park/viewing area gives excellent views over the whole reserve. When we arrived it was manned by two volunteers who explained what was about and pointed out where the three pairs of cranes were. They were not too optimistic about our chances of seeing the birds as the grasses and reeds have grown tall enough to hide them. However, we hadn't been there long before one popped its head up and then eventually gave excellent views as it flew across the reserve to give us much closer sightings which were especially good through the 'scope. I even managed a few distant photographs as record shots. Later we spotted the original resident pair moving through the wet meadow further to our right.

As well as the excitement of watching the cranes there was plenty of other activity. Marsh harriers were regular sightings during our time there and we had a couple of sightings of hobby flying through. Lapwings provided a spectacle with their displaces over the mere in front of us and here there were also mallards with young, gadwall and shoveler. There was also a rogue crow which had realised that the ducklings made easy pickings and we saw it with a squirrel, either caught or road kill.

We completed an excellent day with tea and mammoth cheese scones at nearby Vine House Farm, famous for being producers of bird seed.

Common Crane

Lapwing

Marsh Harrier

Saturday, 13 May 2023

The Annual Pilgrimage to Seabird City.

It is always a pleasure to visit Bempton Cliffs RSPB reserve on the Yorkshire coast between Bridlington and Filey. It was a real juggling act this time, though, to decide on the day as the weather forecast was continually changing, usually for the worst. As it turned out we had an excellent day: overcast but bright with very little wind. As it was a Saturday we were expecting it to be busy and we realised we were correct as we were directed to the overflow car park for the normal overflow one! It is amazing, though, how as soon as you get out on the reserve, the crowds seem to be absorbed, apart from in the visitor centre which was very busy. We followed the usual format for the day: south to Staple Newk first for the gannets and flight shots and then north for the auks. My appetite for the birdwatching and photography is bottomless but when Heather has had a surfeit she gets her drawing stuff out and records the views in beautiful sketches. In fact I often move on and leave her drawing and we catch up with each other later.

As always the gannets were spectacularly majestic and we were lucky to find them collecting nesting material on the cliff top. As they negotiated the cliff top air currents to come in to land, they provided endless opportunities for dramatic flight photography. I was pleased today to capture some really pleasing flight shots of kittiwakes which I generally find very challenging; perhaps it was trying out different camera settings which helped. On the way back up to the north end of the reserve the barn owl was out hunting which was a particular thrill. As always it was a delight to watch and photograph tree sparrows which we don't see at home.

As always an excellent day which finished with fish and chips at Pappa's in Willerby on the way home.