Winter in the Three Brooks Nature Reserve

With the recent cold weather we are now well into winter, with the deciduous trees now having lost almost all of their leaves.


Bare tree


The sun interacting with the clouds produces interesting light effects in the bare trees.


Mistletoe, ivy and other parasitic plants show up clearly when there is no leaf cover.


This plough has been left from the original farmers fields to gently rust in peace.


Rosehips provide food for blackbirds and other birds.


A solitary oak leaf still holding on.


It may be winter, but the hazel trees are producing catkins already.

Goldfinches

The goldfinches are still around the Parkway Business Park, although perhaps not quite in the absolute numbers that were seen and mentioned before (the flock sizes are a little smaller). However, here are some pictures of them in the trees around the car parks.




I particularly like the one picking his beak with his feet....

Three Brooks Reserve (before the gales)

On the 1st November, before the gales arrived and dumped most of the leaves on the ground, Disgruntled took a walk around Savages Wood and the Three Brooks Nature reserve. There was lots to see, as the more open canopy made it far easier to see what is going on up above. First though, three photos showing parts of the wood.









This is an ash tree with a particularly knobbly section for some reason. It is probably caused by some kind of infection in the past.




This tree has formed an interesting base and a small cavity inside it.



The death of one thing is an opportunity for something else. Here, a fern is taking root in the hollow created by a felled tree.



There were five different squirrels at least in the woods. There are a family of three which seem to stay around the entrance to the reserve by the leisure centre, just over the foot bridge from the path which runs alongside the wood and the playing field. This squirrel is down nearer the swing gate into the wood at the bottom of the hill and path.



Many of the trees are fruiting, and the loss of chlorophyl is allowing the natural colours of the leaves to show through, in this case a particularly nice shade of red.



The man-made ponds are well established now, and this one is full of reeds and bullrushes. This one is seeding.




This lesser-spotted woodpecker was observered in the "newly" planted woodland behind the school and south of Savages Wood. It stayed high in the canopy, which made getting a clear photo rather awkward.... (see below).





Also making life more difficult was the low sun and the amount of cloud, which made for very low ambient light levels.




This dead tree is an interesting shape, and also provides perching points for larger birds to observe the area.



Down at the lake there are still plenty of birds waiting to be fed. Here we have a young black-headed gull and a mallard.



A young black-headed gull (left), and an adult in winter plumage. Note that once the bird matures, the beak and leg colour turn red, and that the wing markings also change.

Execution

Disgruntled received today an e-mail which had the following subject: "Learn to take your company's execution to the next level".

It might have been doing badly in the past, but there's no need to take it that far, especially if Disgruntled wants to keep his job. Disgruntled opened the e-mail.

"Return on Execution. Execution is the difference," it read. Between those countries with the death penalty and those without perhaps. Then Disgruntled read on and realised it was an ad for business software. It was much more interesting when taken out of context......

Goldfinches

Goldfinches were in decline in this country, although the population has now stabilised, but you wouldn't be aware of this if you live in the Bradley Stoke and Stoke Gifford areas, as they are a common site flitting around the gardens - they often use the TV aerial on my roof as a singing post. However, in the winter time they often flock together, and this morning a flock (collectively called a charm) of around 50 Goldfinches could be seen flitting around the trees in the Parkway Business Park, twittering madly away and bouncing from tree to tree, the lack of leaves making them easy to spot. Flocks of Goldfinches can be seen most mornings in the area, although not usually of that size.

Odds and Ends

Autumn is definitely now upon us, with the trees changing colour and losing their leaves. It is also having a definite affect on the wildlife in the area. Much more common in our gardens at the moment are robins, and they can be heard singing very loudly in the dawn chorus, and visiting the garden to feed. During the summer they were almost completely absent. Also becoming more visible are the local foxes, and one could be seen on the grass embankment alongside the short dual carriageway section to Parkway Business Park (off the Winterbourne Road/Rabbit roundabout) last week, around 4pm in broad daylight.

Bristol Bird Watch

The Bristol Bird Watch has just started - an annual survey of the wintering birds seen in Bristol gardens. Open to all, surveyers are asked to record the different bird types seen in the garden. Details can be found at the Avon wildlife trust website.

Cats and squirrels - sights in Bradley Stoke

This cat seems to have learnt that cars don't actually use part of the roundabout in Champs-sur-Marne, and quite happily rolls about on the tiled section while cars drive past. I don't know how many of its nine lives were used up learning this.....


A little further on, along the footpath to the reserve, then in over the footbridge into Savages Wood, was this squirrel. It was foraging on the ground, before shooting up into the branches to eat what it had found. Also seen in the area was a jay and two magpies. There were plenty of small birds such as tits in the bushes and small trees around the woodland edge.

Phenology

The Woodland Trust run a phenology network which can be accessed at www.naturescalendar.org.uk - phenology is the recording of what is happening in nature over time, such as when do swallows fly back to Africa etc. The website collects records from thousands of volunteers and collates them to provide a picture about what is happening in the country, and compares them year on year, highlighting climatic effects.

The final swallow that I saw in Bradley Stoke was on the 9th September, and this has been recorded on the site. All of the summer migrants have probably gone by now, so now we await the winter arrivals such as Redwings and Fieldfares, although in the past 10 years I have only seen Redwings once in the garden. Look out for them, and record their arrival at Natures Calendar.

Grasshoppers

While walking through part of the reserve on Saturday evening after it had just got dark, Disgruntled was struck by the sheer number of grasshoppers/crickets that could be heard chirping away. Every couple of metres walked, another grasshopper could be distinguished, and this happened all along the path from Brook Way to the Diana Gardens footpath. They seem to love the grassy areas, and given the amount I heard there must be hundreds of them, but you rarely see them during the day. The reserve is definitely not a silent place if you walk through it at night at the moment.

Flowers

Garden flowers this time.


Californian poppy.


A sunflower....



This is a close up of the centre of the flower. Note the seeds forming in the middle, and the scattering of pollen around the flower head.

Wildlife in Abbeywood

Disgruntled noticed last night how much wildlife there was in the lake outside of the MOD Abbeywood complex. On the water itself was a flock of over 20 Canada geese, and a cormorant was drying itself out on a post in the middle of the water, shortly before flying to the top of the supporting pillars of the foot bridge to do the same thing. Swans also nested in the area earlier in the year. None of them seemed to care much about the volume of passing traffic.

Caterpillars, Spiders and Little Grebes.

On Saturday, Disgruntled was in his garden when he noticed the following in a Kilmarnock willow:-



Unnoticed at the time until the photo was uploaded to a computer was his mate in the branch behind, but they are doing a good job at munching the leaves of the tree. They were around 5 cm long, but are currently unidentified. If anyone can name them, please get in contact.



In the same tree, a little bit above the caterpillars and between two small branches, was this Garden spider, Araneus diadematus, sat in the middle of its web and attending to what looks like dinner. The web is quite large and quite impressive, and these spiders are quite common. They will become easier to spot as the autumn draws in, and the morning dew collects on their webs, making them easier to see.




Last night Disgruntled wandered to the Three Brooks lake and was pleased to see that the resident Little grebe (or Dabchick) and successfully raised a brood of two. Both chicks were out and about, foraging for themselves and being fed by a parent. In this picture, the chick has just received a small fish from the mother and is busy shaking it about.



In this image, the chick is trying to deal with a fish which it has caught itself. The concentric rings in the water highlight where the chick has surfaced after diving.



The second chick.

Hedgehogs

Hedgehogs can be elusive creatures, and often not seen, at least alive. But they are quite common around Bradley Stoke, and often visit gardens. If you look closely you might see the signs.

Occasionally you might come across a crunched up snail shell, which might be evidence of a hedgehog having a snack. Much more common though is hedgehog pooh. It is relatively easy to recognise - it is usually black in colour, and can range in size from small pellets 1-2cm long and 0.5cm wide, up to bigger efforts which look like they might have come from a cat, apart from the fact that cat poohs are usually a different colour. It looks as though the hedgehogs have been having a party in my back garden some time on Monday night/Tuesday morning, as there were multiple droppings across my back lawn.

If you want to feed hedgehogs, don't put out milk and bread (it swells in their stomachs). Instead, put out cat food, wet or dry, and a small bowl of water. Place it somewhere which you can observe from inside the house, and periodically check it. Most likely the hedgehogs won't appear until after dark, but they will sometimes appear earlier. If you put out food regularly then you can often establish a routine with the hedgehogs, as they will check each day whether there is food there for them or not. Disgruntled was particularly charmed a couple of years ago when a family of five used to turn up every day. If you look closely each hedgehog has its individual markings and features, so every hedgehog was given its own name. Disgruntled also recommends that if you have the space you build a hedgehog house so that they have somewhere to hibernate through the winter. Disgruntled did this, and for at least one winter a hedgehog was in residence. Note that although they hibernate, they do not necessarily sleep through the entire winter, and may make appearances when the weather is warmer for the odd snack. All the better for keeping the slug and snail populations down in your garden.

Toyota Prius Redux

You might have seen the adverts for the "next Toyota Prius", so Disgruntled tried to find out some information about this new model, so that he could compare it as he did before here. From the Toyota website, we find that the fuel efficiency of the next Prius is 72.4 mpg on the combined cycle, an improvement from the previous 65.7 mpg, but still lower than the VW Polo Bluemotion at 74.3 mpg. It also says that the CO2 emissions are "as low as" and "from" 89g/km, but doesn't say under what conditions - one assumes that this is under the best conditions possible, as if it uses more fuel than the VW, then the emissions are most likely to be higher. But I could be wrong here - Toyota need to clarify exactly what they mean. I still stand by my earlier conclusion - buy the VW, it is more fuel efficient and far cheaper.

Doves and Pigeons

Noted in the garden on Friday was this Stock Dove. Very similar to a woodpigeon, but a bit more fat in the body and with a thinner beak. It generally hangs around with woodpigeons to make it that bit more difficult to notice, although the lack of pink colouring on the chest, and the missing white band on the nape of the neck make it easier to distinguish.


The woodpigeon's have worked out that if there is a lack of seed in their tray, then the fat balls can be eaten if the stretch far enough out to reach them.

Pyrausta aurata

Visiting my garden this week was this tiny moth, Pyrausta aurata, which is only 1.5 cm wide. P.aurata is a moth which flies during the day and night, and has two generations a year, one from May to June, and one from July to August (see www.ukmoths.org.uk). Larvae of the moth feed on mints, including spearmint (on which the moth is pictured above), Apple Mint, Marjoram and Catmint.

Rabbit Roundabout

The Rabbit Roundabout, officially the Great Stoke Roundabout on the Winterbourne Road, has rabbits back on it at last - I sighted one this morning at around 9:15 am. They used to be easy to spot, with at times up to 14 individuals out eating on the grass. However, following some council work on the roundabout earlier in the year, when all the grass and bushes were cut back, they seemed to disappear. As rabbits, well, breed like rabbits, perhaps they might recolonise it quite quickly and provide us with something enjoyable to look at on our way home in the evening.

Nesting Coots

As the nights gently draw in, by the time it gets to 8pm most of the birds on the reserve are roosting or getting ready to roost, so there isn't a huge amount to see. Apart from the ducks, who seem to be ready to eat bread whatever time of day it is. However, on the lake near the bridge to Juniper Way a coot family has set up nest, and can be seen in the above image with a youngster sticking its head up. They seem to have managed to anchor their nest to some kind of underwater obstruction. Also heard in the area was the Green Woodpecker, probably in Webbs Wood.

The Mitsubishi tribute to Colin McRae

Disgruntled of Bradley Stoke has noticed a rally car driving around Bradley Stoke decked out as if it were Colin McRae's rally car (if anyone has a picture of it.....). The attention to detail is impressive, with all of the correct decals on the car, and McRae's and co-driver Nicky Grist's names on the rear windows. As a tribute to the late rally driver it is well done. There is just one problem. The car is a Mitsubishi Evo, and Colin McRae never drove a Mitsubishi.....

He drove factory Subaru's, Ford's and Citroen's, but never Mitsubishi. The owner probably hasn't seen this cartoon published in Autosport on the 30th August 2008 on the subject.....

Wildlife in the Three Brooks Reserve

View Wildlife in Bradley Stoke - 19:25 to 20:05 on the 19th July 2009 in a larger map

The stormy weather meant that it was quiet in the reserve last night, as shown in the map above (click on the coloured icons in the map to see which birds were about - there is a different icon per bird).


This mute swan joined in with the ducks feeding on bread brought by vistors.

The ducks.....

The mallards were joined by a pair of farmyard ducks.

This plucky little youngster was in amongst the larger adults going for the bread, and would often dive in front of the older birds to get there first. He didn't show much fear or respect for his elders!

This duck family was asleep near one of the viewing platform areas, with the adult standing guard and keeping watch.

Thistles are coming to the end of their flowering all over the reserve. Here, one is being fed on by a bee type insect.

Red Arrows

The Red Arrows made one of their periodic visits to Filton airfield this weekend, flying in on Friday evening, presumably to have a technical check of some kind performed at Rolls Royce. They flew in in a diamond formation over the airfield before breaking up to land individually. They then flew in and out over the rest of the weekend.

Magpie

Magpie's are normally considered to be scavengers who eat eggs, carrion and sometimes young birds. However, here is one eating birdseed just like the other birds featured from my garden.

Blue tits

This weekend saw the visit to the garden of a family of blue tits. The young seemed intent in exploring the plants in the garden, hanging upside down and generally flitting around. The adults were more interested in feeding.

Birds and the Nature Reserve

More birds in the garden, scavenging what has been dropped by the sparrows.


Collared Dove


Wood Pigeon

Some pictures from the Three Brooks Nature Reserve from last night:-

Tufted Vetch


Cow Parsley


Ducks on the Lake




Lesser black-backed gull

A map showing where the birds were observed, and other birds during a walk last night, click on the map below.


View Wildlife in Bradley Stoke - 20:00 to 20:40 on the 30th June 2009 in a larger map