Footprints in the mud

Foot prints in the mud of the river Severn. Tracks going round in circles, and those who made them.

When the leaves fall from the trees

When the leaves fall from the trees, small details are revealed. Here is a small birds nest, hidden from view until now.

Rook

Greylag geese

A skein of greylag geese.

Eider ducks

The call of eider ducks - in amongst the call of Black-headed gulls. They are the Frankie Howerd of the duck world - ooh!

Wildlife of Bradley Stoke - Dabchick

This Dabchick, who was just caught a fish to give to one of her two chicks, was observed on the Three Brooks lake this weekend.

First swallow of summer seen

First swallow of the summer seen on a telephone wire in Walton, Somerset (near Street) yesterday.

Buzzards

Seen on the reserve this weekend....


It flew low over the reserve calling.

A Kingfisher in Hambrook

A flash of brilliant irridescent blue,
Darting up from a languid stream,
Before diving out of sight, but not from mind.
It might have only been a moment,
But the moment lives forever,
For who can forget such a magical moment?
Such brightness against the ivyed wall,
A natural effervescence, fleeting yet lasting.

Tufted Duck

A pair of tufted duck have been observed on the Three Brooks lake, and seem to have been there for a couple of days. Perhaps the presence of a male/female pair means that they might breed?

Definitely winter again

Definitely winter again - flocks of redwings and fieldfares have turned up in numbers over the course of the week. The hard winter is having an effect on the reserve, with the lake largely freezing over. The ducks have kept part of it open as they are forced to congregate in one area.

Sparrowhawk

Disgruntled was in Hawkins Crescent when he say a medium sized bird dive out of a bush. The colour of a woodpigeon on top, it suddenly swooped upwards and perched on top of a house roof, next to a woodpigeon. Woodpigeons don't fly like that though, and as it stood there the reddy-brown stripes on its white chest gave it away - it was a sparrowhawk, which explains the lack of other bird noise. It only rested for five to ten seconds before flying off.

Redwings

Redwings in Bradley Stoke

Birds of winter

In the garden today Disgruntled noticed the first redwings and fieldfares of winter, and numerous they were too, competing with the blackbirds for berries. There appear to be a lot of them all over Bradley Stoke. They tend to migrate from Scandinavia when the weather there is too harsh, so if we think it is bad here now with the snow, how bad must it be over there? The wooded path alongside Braydon Avenue seems to be full of fieldfares.

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....

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.

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.

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.

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.