However, my garden stretches to a wider variety than that, and this made me curious as to what some of the birds are. Magpies, starlings and sparrows are straightforward, some others are less so.

Recently, I have been watching a nuthatch, and during the autumn I expect to be visited by a jay. I am sure that I have seen a wren from time to time as well.

Walking in Dorset the other week we saw little grey birds scuttling in a group over the beach near the waves. At usual, it was difficult to check their distinguishing marks, but they may well have been dunlins. It is just possible that they were sanderlings.

Your challenge, should you wish to accept it, is to keep your eyes open, and put a name to any bird not a robin, blackbird or blue-tit. A small guide to birds would be useful.

Lambs with their colourful numbers. The closest lamb still has part of a polythene cover fitted earlier to keep it warm and dry

Penelope, the adult while fallow, grazed with others of ordinary colours

The red squirrel on Brodie’s Moor watched me from the top of the tree

Continuing  my 2011/12 wildlife survey of a Highland Perthshire estate

Weather-wise, Saturday 28 April was a fine sunny day with no wind, and I was pleased to see when I parked at the farm that nine or ten house martins were showing significant interest in the nests of the previous year under the eaves of the owner’s house. They swooped in to the nests, some landing briefly, clinging on to their outer shell, before returning to join their airborne companions. They must have newly arrived and by next week I’d expect them to have begun repairs and refurbishment to their chosen nests. I looked carefully among the swirling birds for sight of a swallow. Though there was not a swallow among the group, a swallow flew over my head as I started to go down the road heading for Ranent. It came low and close to me, showing off its russet-coloured throat and long tail streamers. It was good to see these hirundine migrants again, and amazing to think that a few days earlier they would have been south of the Sahara in Africa.

I stopped opposite the marsh on Brodie’s Moor, watching the lapwings and oystercatchers. None were exhibiting warning calls at my presence, so no eggs would yet be hatched. They had been joined by new marsh inhabitants, which I recognised by their call before I saw them. The too-oodle, too-oodle; too-oodle drew me to a dark brown bird flying across the marsh, before landing on one of the wettest areas at the far side. Apart from the sound, the most obvious identification of the redshank was its long red legs stretched out behind it in flight, and the white rear edges to its wings. I saw through the binoculars that a second redshank was on the ground near to it, so, like the oyster catchers and lapwings, it would be terrific if they breed here. I’d earlier spoken on the phone with the keeper and he had caught 40 carrion crows and 2 hooded crows so far this spring, so the chances of breeding success of these waders must be enhanced.

Half-way down the road to the bottom of Ranent I stopped to watch a tree creeper. It had been feeding quite low down on a tree near me, and when it hopped round the back of the tree I moved closer, camera at the ready. Only a fraction of wild birds and animals comply with the wishes of photographers (I’m not really a photographer but I have a camera) and instead of hopping to my side of the tree again I saw it flying to the next tree, only much higher up. Further down the road I saw an oak tree that was virtually split down the middle, showing a two inch-wide crack. I wondered if that safe place might be the bird’s chosen nesting site. A jay flew from the keeper’s pheasant feeders as I passed, taking advantage of an easy breakfast of grain. Omnivorous birds have a definite advantage over specialist feeders, and hardly have to move far to maintain their food supply, unlike the house martins and swallow I had just seen.

Once into Ranent I quietly passed near the buzzard nest again. There was neither sight nor sound of the bird in the sky above, but I could see that slightly more greenery had been added to the nest.  I wondered if the bird had remained on the nest as I passed. I cut up through the wood halfway along, having heard a green woodpecker’s kew kew kew kew coming from that direction. Almost simultaneously I heard a great-spotted woodpecker somewhere close on my right. It was not the normal single tick given by the bird, but a series of ticks, making me wonder if it was a warning call given by the male to warn the female on the nest of my presence. I never did see the bird, which vindicates the value of being able to make identification from sound. At the top of the wood a coal tit was feeding on the branches in a small birch tree. I was underneath the tree, and three times the bird came down and landed only 3 or 4 feet from me at the base. It was definitely keen on something there but wary of my close proximity. There looked to be a small hole in the trunk not far above ground level, and at first I wondered if this was where it was nesting, as coat tits nest quite happily at almost ground level, but when I looked more closely at the hole it was only a couple of inches deep. I moved off in any case to let the bird do what it needed to do, though its persistence to be at the base of the tree still puzzled me.

I made my way back along the top of the wood and stopped at a comfortable moss-covered rock to have a sandwich. My companions as I sat there were a buzzard circling and mournfully mewing above me (I wondered if this was one of the pair from a nest not too far from me half-way down the wood, though I’d never seen any evidence of the nest being used this year); a wren, which was trilling loudly in a juniper bush just behind me; and a bumble bee, which was busily buzzing about, landing every few feet to examine something that interested it. It was a sound I usually associate with summer, but bees had an early start this year with the exceptionally warm weather during March. Thinking particularly of the coal tit and the bumble bee, how little we really know of the everyday business of most creatures.

I had noticed as I sat down on the mossy rock that a rabbit had been plucked there. No bones or gut remained but there was clear evidence a bird of prey had been busy, and using the rock as a plucking post. I could see that a rock 10 yards in front was similarly festooned with rabbit fur. These two rocks were only 30 or so yards from the one where I’d noticed on 31 March the same evidence of plucking. Buzzards take young rabbits, but they don’t use a plucking post so far as I know. Sparrowhawks use a plucking post but their diet is restricted to birds. I may have been close to a goshawk nest, though I’m surprised I hadn’t seen any birds displaying earlier in spring. I’ll need to be a bit more observant when I’m in Ranent to try to get to the bottom of this.

I crossed the dyke onto Brodie’s Moor, making for the large stand of junipers. A great tit was sounding its che che che che alarm call at me. The old birch trees around me were full of holes, really suitable places for tits to nest, and undoubtedly its chosen nesting site was nearby, though I thought it a bit early for there to be eggs just yet. I was studying some of the suitable nesting holes when a red patch on a birch tree caught my attention. A look through the binos revealed a red squirrel sitting on a branch, which I managed to get closer to by taking a step sideways till there was a tree between it and me, and slowly walking forward. When I reached the tree the squirrel was just 10 yards away. It watched me with interest, then went sideways behind the branch it had been sitting on. The branch was quite thin, and the squirrel was hiding lengthways, which must have been a bit of a strain for it. I went forward another few yards, keeping another tree between us, and awaited the squirrel’s patience (or endurance at its awkward posture) to run out and for it to come back into view. It had the last laugh: after nearly ten minutes of fruitless waiting I noticed a small red patch in a fork of the tree just slightly higher than where the squirrel had been. Somehow it had managed to get there without me noticing, and was watching my daft human antics, just its ears and the top of its head in view.

Further through the junipers I found further proof that summer is on the way, in the shape of one of the warbler family. It landed on the ground ahead of me just long enough for me to get the binoculars on to it but not enough to make a study and identification. From the glimpse I had I would put it down to one of three: garden warbler, chiffchaff or willow warbler. My guess would be the willow warbler, but I’m still not expert on these wee brown birds, though getting a lot better, and I always need a minute or two to study them.

From the end of Brodie’s Moor I headed across the sheep field (now with sheep and lambs, each with bright yellow numbers sprayed on their sides linking lambs with mothers) and up past the small pond near the edge of the High Larches Wood. No goosanders there today, but an adult black rabbit ran down the side of the pond and through the fence into the roundel. It was either one I hadn’t seen before or one that had moved. Some bucks do tend to move in spring if they are ousted from their ‘home’ territory by a stronger rival, but there is obviously a strong melanistic gene in this area. Of the different variations in colour of wild rabbits black is the most common, though I have seen albino, ginger, light grey, ‘Dutch’ type rabbits with a white band round the ribs and white blaze on the nose, and rabbits with a steel-grey coat, which is a mix of black and white hairs and always without the white belly fur, this steel-grey covering the whole body. No doubt these genetic ‘sports’ were the origin of many of today’s domestic rabbits.

I cut through the L Wood, noticing a small herd of fallow deer grazing to the north-east of Creag Bhearnach Wood. It was the pure white fallow doe, Penelope, I saw first. She was in the company of five dark coloured fallow and one slightly dappled. I was still thinking about the deer as I walked past the edge of the Henhouse Strip, where I noticed a cream coloured fallow yearling lying under an old elderberry tree. At first I thought the deer was dead, then realised it had its head laid flat on the ground, hiding, as it would have done as a very young calf the previous spring. As I stopped and turned it realised it had been spotted and bounded through the wood. I was puzzled. I had seen Penelope with a cream coloured calf last summer, and had made the assumption that it was the one that I photographed at very close quarters at the edge of Creagbearnach on 5 March. That calf had been much whiter than the one I had just disturbed so there seemed to be a white calf and a cream calf. But why was the cream calf not with a group, and why was there not a calf with Penelope? More mysteries to be solved, but I had a feeling of foreboding about this wee cream calf on its own……….

I walked down the side of Low Wood, amazed at the number of rabbits in the wood, which forms a wide gully with a good view into the wood from the bank on the east side. It was already swarming with young rabbits; the mild winter had certainly benefited Lepus cuniculus. I stopped for a minute to watch a male bullfinch searching for buds in a rowan tree that was coming into leaf, and noticed in the background a black rabbit that was one of the ‘known’ ones; one I regularly see near the two small feeder ponds that lie just to the west of the estate loch. It was indeed a black rabbit day: as I continued on down the track between the loch and Dam Wood another of the ‘known’ black rabbits sat at the edge of the wood watching my progress. It had an amazing sheen on its jet black coat and was clearly in tip-top condition. This is one I have managed to get close enough on a couple of occasions to photograph, and yet again it obliged. It has no objections to shooting – though only with a camera.

It was a day not just of black rabbits but of puzzles. I encountered another mystery when I got back to my car at the farm: there was not a house martin or swallow to be seen!

A cock pheasant walked past inspecting me

One of the many birds singing today – the robin

Part 2 of 2 of the detail of my walks while conducting a wildlife survey on a Highland Perthshire estate in 2011/2012.

I retraced my steps along the ridge, then took a quad bike track that took me past some partridge release pens and down a gorge that ended at the pins for the Mid Hill partridge drive. I thought I might see the fallow deer again as I could now see into the metamorphic hollow that turns deer into hyenas, but there was no trace. The hollow maybe has other still-undiscovered powers. I crossed the hill road and walked along another quad bike track that runs past the beehives (still to appear for the summer), then cut right-handed into the top of Spooky Valley, en route photographing a holly tree manicured into the shape of a giant tear drop by the munching of deer over the years. I crossed the burn that bisects Spooky Valley and walked up the other side till I found a sloping area of grass to have a rest and survey the scene. It was indeed a deer day, as ten dark fallow had materialised below me and were nonchalantly walking up the dyke side towards High Larches Wood. I waited till they were out of sight round the corner before moving off, then followed a quad bike track along the face of the hill, before descending to the young grass field beside the L Wood.

After trekking along the dyke-side bordering the Craigmore Face, I turned right into the junipers that skirt the outside of the east end of Creag Bhearnach Wood. This is a lovely corner with a couple of acres or so of junipers edged by the wood on one side and by 50 or 60 birch trees and a single very old larch on the other side. The sun was still shining and there was lots of bird life among the trees. I sat for 15 minutes to try to establish what birds were there, either by sight or sound. Easiest were the woodpigeons, with their loud coo coo coo cooo cooo, cooo coo coo. As I was looking almost due south into the sun, one was ahead of me in a birch tree and one behind in the wood. Stereophonic sound indeed.  Pheasants were still defending their territory, with their cuck cucks and wing whirring. A pair of red-legged partridges crept through the junipers, putting on a bit of speed as they noticed me. Jackdaws flew over from The Shoulder, chack-chacking to each other as they passed, and a chaffinch perched on a branch just above me, warning other birds of my presence with a continual pink, pink, pink. A blackbird was just audible in the distance; in fact I’d to listen closely to make sure it was a blackbird and not a song thrush, which of course repeats its notes. This was the first blackbird I had heard on the estate, even though I’d been hearing them at home for three weeks now.  I had seen blackbirds from time to time along at The Shoulder, and this was maybe where it was.

As I sat I heard a bird I had not yet seen on her, though the owner said he recently had one below his feeders: a yellowhammer. Its song is unmistakable and is often described as sounding like a little bit of bread with no cheese, though it was not its song I heard but a sharp zit, zit, maybe echoing the warning of the chaffinch. I followed the sound and saw it perched momentarily on top of a juniper before it flew off. They are usually associated with nesting in gorse bushes, of which there are none (that I have seen) on this estate. Maybe it was just passing through, though they are late nesters, not usually laying until May.

A robin was next to feature, landing in a birch tree near me. Almost simultaneously a dunnock gave a very quick rendition of its song. It was a short, fast warble which was unmistakable. I have heard them singing several bars of their song, but like this one, often it is just a quick burst before losing concentration to do something else. I was just starting to move off when I heard the tic of a wren, which I saw on the root of the old larch tree. As I watched it, it kept waggling its tail from side to side, something I’ve never seen before. Many birds bob their tail up and down but this was a variation on the tail-wagging theme. I was in full view of it so maybe it was a warning signal: maybe I was supposed to be frightened by the tail-wagging and back off. I lost concentration for a minute, having noticed a run snaking down through the dead bracken and going under a branch of the old larch. It crossed my mind that this would be an ideal spot for a snare and looked along the run. The keeper obviously had the same thoughts and I saw a snare, almost invisible, on the run, ready to catch an unwary fox. As I moved on I thought that I had just witnessed a remarkable variety of bird species in a very small, but obviously very suitable, area. Missing were the jays that normally show their annoyance at human intrusion, but more of jays later.

At a gap in the dyke I cut through to the wood and continued westwards on the track that leads to the Hill Loch. I then turned left down the track that leads from the loch to the public road. As I’ve described before this is an amazing woodland of juniper, oak, pine and ash. I walked on, or rather limped, as I’d somehow twisted my knee a bit, the pain manifesting itself much more on a downhill gradient rather than on the level or uphill. The kew kew kew kew sound of a green woodpecker coming from high on the hill on my left stopped me in my tracks. I found a moss-covered boulder and sat down to see if it might come closer. I’d eaten part of my ‘piece’ on the flat rock on the ridge while awaiting a hen harrier; now it was time for the remainder. After quarter of a (rather large) sandwich there it was again, the mocking kew kew kew kew. After half a sandwich another rendition, then again after three quarters. But still no closer. As I finished my sandwich I had a distraction: a tree creeper landed on the tree in front of me, ten yards away, and started pecking at the bark for insects. I got my camera from my pocket, switched it on, put it to full zoom, but I couldn’t find the tiny tree creeper in the lens. I checked round the side of the camera and it was still there. I found it at last and was about to press the button…..when it flew off. A cock pheasant cuck, cucked and flapped its wings. The green woodpecker cackled again in derision. The tree creeper had moved to a tree to my left, but quickly went round the back of the tree. I reached into my rucksack for my juice, distracted while I fumbled. Kew kew kew kew again, this time from behind me. How the hell it got there I don’t know!

I gave up in disgust, stomping down the track to the road, then walking along the public road towards the estate entrance. A tawny owl hooted from the wood on my left; a half-hearted attempt – hooooooo; a pause, then hoo-hoooo, which I was sure was a male’s call. Unusual in daylight and now I’d heard it twice within a month.

I cut along the bottom of Ranent, a jay flying across the estate drive as I entered. It clearly hadn’t seen me and it panicked as I approached a boulder it had been behind. At close quarters I was almost dazzled by the pink and white and grey and black and blue of its feathers. It is by far the most colourful of the corvids, but its colour belies its corvid tendencies. Further along the wood I thought I saw two jays fighting. In fact it was a mistle thrush trying to see a jay off from a holly tree amongst the oaks in which it was taking an interest. The jay flew into the holly and the mistle thrush perched for a minute on a nearby branch. It flew into the holly and it and the jay came out again in a flurry of feathers. I was sure the jay was after the mistle thrush’s eggs and I edged closer. The mistle thrush flew off at my approach but the jay was still in the holly. I came round the top of the holly and heard a clatter of wings as a wood pigeon flew from the holly tree followed by the screech of the jay as it took off. I had a good look at the tree and the only nest I could see was quite far up. Mistle thrushes usually – though not always – nest in a fork, sometimes quite high up. This nest was on a branch. A high branch. I took off my rucksack and started to climb, but though I almost got within touching distance I couldn’t see into the nest.  From the twiggy construction it certainly looked like a wood pigeon’s nest so maybe that had been the jays target. Half a century ago I would have managed to reach the nest, and even higher, but age brings either timidity or caution and I clambered back to terra firma. As the jay knows of the nest, I have little doubt the eggs are doomed, but after all that’s part of its diet, not grass or turnips.

I headed gradually uphill, restricting myself only to the first half of the wood. At the top I sat on a moss-covered rock (I wish moss covered the rocks on the hill as well), noting rabbit fur that seemed to have been plucked. Behind the rock there was a piece of rabbit gut – only the small intestine.  From the diameter of the intestine it had been a young rabbit, and the plucking meant the predator (or scavenger if the rabbit had been dead already) had been a bird, almost certainly a buzzard or red kite. So only part of the mystery solved but interesting nevertheless.

At the top of Ranent I climbed over to Brodie’s Moor and walked up through the junipers there. I kept to the west side, up the edge of a very marshy section as I was keen to see if there were lapwings present as it is an ideal area for them nesting. Only one pair was there, rising silently into the air and quickly landing again as I passed. Hopefully their numbers will increase. There were certainly two pairs in the area on my previous visit. As I approached the farm and my car I looked back over Ranent and was pleased with what I saw. A pair of buzzards circled, but in addition, and mingling with the buzzards was a pair of red kites. They were over their nesting site of previous years and hopefully they will nest again this year.

Pete at Hailes

Puck Pit Pete

Winchcombe

Dragon on The George

Winchcombe shop WF

Creepy Tree

Horse Eye view

Belas Knap

Sorry…..

So, yes Winter was back last weekend and the title of this post seemed most appropriate as, on Saturday, we’d been to see the said Shakespeare play at the RSC in Stratford. We all agreed it was a tale of two halves – bleak and dark in the first half (winter) and more fluffy, skipping about in the woods in the 2nd half (spring). Personally, I like my Shakespeare on the dark side!

Pete (my youngest brother) was up for the weekend to see the play and needed little persuasion to come out on a walk on Sunday. We got up nice and early so that we could set off by 9am. Crikey that’s a bit keen on a Sunday but we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time. Jane had another weekend off this week which was a good job as it was her turn to have the nasty cold. Poor thing and I felt rather guilty as she still had to go shopping….

I’d already done my planning with the aid of my new WalkJogRun app and had plotted the route on there so I knew that it was a good 6 miler today and not only that but we were choosing to do this stretch of the Cotswold Way the hard way ie going up most of the way! Not only that but where we were going, up to Cleeve Common, is the highest part of the CW.

Today’s walk would start where we last left the CW at Hailes Abbey, would pass through Winchcombe and then wend it’s way steeply up to Belas Knap. We hadn’t really seen Hailes Abbey last time we were here as if you remember we were in a hurry to find the ladies. Today, however, we still didn’t see much as the site isn’t open in the Winter so we just had a quick peek through the fence. It is a v popular place for people to visit in Summer but really it didn’t look v impressive -not like Fountains Abbey or even Furness Abbey near Barrow. However, it does seem to have had an interesting history involving holy blood, The Black Death, Henry Viii (again) -so maybe the visitor centre is worth a visit another time.

Onwards towards Winchcombe largely across fields and down narrow lanes including the wonderfully named Puck Pit Lane. It was good to be out so early as it was still so cold that the mud and puddles were icy which made the walking much better today. It was also good to take some time to walk through Winchcombe and looking at its variety of different buildings. It’s not a particular pretty village , unlike Broadway but again it’s full of history.

We spent this part of the walk catching up as usual and Pete told me all about the yoga classes he has been attending. It sounded very good and I particularly liked the idea of the meditation bit at the end. Pete is the only chap in his class and his teacher seems to think he maybe trying to push himself too far. This could be true as he is already contemplating upgrading to the Intermediate class but is worried he’ll get sent back down with a flea in his ear. We also talked about other forms of relaxation such as hynotherapy. I have been listening to Claire Balding’s series of walks on the radio called Ramblings. It’s very good and her theme this year is about walking for self improvement. The last one I listened to was about mindful walking ie no talking and just concentrating on placing every footstep on the ground etc. Jane and I tried this on the Pershore walk but frankly we’re just not good at being quiet! This weeks Rambling will feature Pershore’s most famous resident, funnily enough, Toyah Wilcox!

As we got through Winchcombe we turned off at Vineyard Street towards Sudeley Castle – this is famously where Liz Hurley got married. We didn’t visit here either today (closed for Winter) and anyway we are on a mission to start climbing! Somehow we found ourselves on a very straight piece of tarmac which later on I discovered wasn’t on our map as the route. We’d just been following the CW signs so it appears that the reason for the mismatch is that the route has recently been altered around here.

It was up here that we did some twitching ( no wonder we both need relaxation classes) and Pete was able to put his Pocket British Birds app on his phone to good use. On a big oak tree we found some tiny birds smaller than a blue tit creeping about the trunk and branches. The brilliant app helped us to narrow this down and we agreed that these were indeed tree creepers!! V satisfying. And a must for Jane to download for future walks – it even allows you to identify different bird song. How cool is that – when you’re nearly 50!

Next we left the track and continued on up through the fields towards the lane where we had left one of the cars. We had to pass through some rather frisky horses galloping about but they were just a bit nosey. You can see one of them enjoying the fabulous views from up here in the pics!

Oh but we didn’t just stop when we got back to the car. Oh no- we still had to find Belas Knap itself. I have always wanted to see what it was as I have often driven past the signs on my way to Cheltenham. Now the path gets really steep but the views continue and with a bit of effort we made it to the top where it then flattens out. We were joined by a Welsh couple at this point and we all walked along to the Neolithic burial mound which is Belas Knap together. Whilst they had a good look round the site, where 38 people were buried, Pete and I stopped for our coffee and hot cross buns. It was well deserved today!

After this we did have a good look round and it was only when we got back home that I read in the guide book that English Heritage request that people do not use this site as a picnic spot. Oops, perhaps that photo of me standing like a loon on top of the burial mound wasn’t very respectful…..
We also looked inside and it was very cold and damp which made me think ‘Cavemen- what’s that all about’. I think this highbrow level of intellectual pondering was a bit much for Pete as he snorted on his coffee.

Right, moving on…the last part of the walk was just to make this stretch a little round so we walked a little way towards Cleeve Common and then back down the lanes to the car. It really is a great spot up here and definitely worth another visit on a Summers day.

But for now that competes this Winters Tale. Join me next week for a wander around the dreaming spires of Oxford.

The tree creeper was looking for insects in the moss and joins of the edging.

Its long bill is ideal for searching cracks in trees and even, in this case, moss

I read a tweet on Twitter (see how modern I am for a 65-year old) recently where the question was asked if tree creepers eat peanuts. The tweeter (not the twit) was surprised that he had never seen a tree creeper on his peanut feeder. I responded that I regularly saw a tree creeper on peanut butter that I used to put in cracks in my larch trees. At least this was until it became far too expensive, the birds eating a £6 jar of salt and sugar-free peanut butter in as many days, in addition to their other expensive meals. I can’t prove that the tree creeper was actually eating the peanut butter, though I can see no other reason for its regular visits there.

This week a tree creeper has been a regular visitor to the birds’ peanut feeder. I’ve watched it through the binoculars and it appears to be pecking at the peanuts. These visits last several minutes; much longer than a tree creeper ever remains in one place when it is searching for food. In legalese I can conclude on the balance of probabilities (though not beyond reasonable doubt) that tree creepers from time to time eat peanuts.

I’ve had great difficulty in getting a half-decent photo of a tree creeper. Invariably the wee devil hops round the back of the tree just as the button is about to be pressed. I did manage one long-distance photo of a tree creeper at the peanut butter a couple of months ago, however I was afforded a better opportunity yesterday. I had fed the birds at the front of the house, and there was a good attendance of chaffinches, bramblings, greenfinches and coal tits. A tree creeper suddenly appeared and began to search for insects along the mossy kerb at the edge of the drive. This was just perfect for photographing as there was nowhere for it to hide!  I took some photos through the window, and as it came further down the drive I opened the front door slightly to get some photos unfettered by double-glazing. It was the most obliging wee bird, and these will probably be as good pics as I get of a tree creeper with my pocket camera.

The fat balls seem to have been largely deserted by the birds lately, with their main visitor being a robin. Even for this one bird they are well worth keeping in place.

One of the red squirrels was indulging in strange behaviour the other day. It was writhing about on the ground in the manner I’ve seen stoats and weasels doing when they are trying to mesmerise a rabbit. In fact at first I thought that I was watching a stoat. When I realised it was indeed the squirrel I wondered if it had become tangled in something and was trying to free itself. This contorted behaviour took probably between 30 and 60 seconds, before the squirrel resumed its business of searching for buried nuts as if nothing had happened.

The two squirrels now have short bursts of chasing each other round a tree trunk, or up and down a tree, but I’m not convinced yet it is the mating behaviour these lovely wee creatures exhibit. I am still looking forward to witnessing this. We also have a pair of tawny owl visiting most nights, their kee-wick, kee-wick and hooooooooooo; hoo,hoo,hoo, hooooooooo are a treat to listen to. I should have had a nesting box up for them. I’ll put that on my list for next year…………..

Like the hare, the roe deer makes a scrape (or couch) before settling down to rest

This rabbit enjoying the morning sun allowed me too close. A gun rather than a camera could have been its end.

Part 2 of my walk from 13 January 2012 as part of my wildlife survey of a Highland Perthshire estate

At the end of the wood I cut uphill, skirting to the left of a sheer rock face, and began the walk back along the top half of the wood. I passed a couple of roe deer ‘couches’ – scrapes on the ground where the oak litter had been pawed away by cloven cervine hooves, resulting in a cleared oval patch which must be thought more comfortable by the deer for their daytime resting place than on top of the leaves it had removed. I see my dog doing the same circling and scraping ‘nest building’ just after it gets into its basket. A robin began to sing from its perch in a holly tree, so I thought this would be a good place to have the first ‘piece’ of the day. I sat on a mossy rock, without any preparatory scraping, and enjoyed my musical lunch. The robin has a high pitched and quite melodious song, in a way like the mistle thrush with fits and starts, but with shorter breaks between phrases. I was appreciative of its company.

Parting with Mr Redbreast, I continued along the wood, a movement half-way up an oak tree catching my attention.  Binoculars revealed not one but two great-spotted woodpeckers. They were engaged in flirtatious frolic rather than food-finding, one following the other to the adjacent tree, then to the next, and finally into a corner of the wood that was coniferous, mainly spruce trees with a mix of ash and possibly wild cherry creating a narrow buffer between the two different habitats. Even had I not seen them, the single ‘chik’ one of them made on the flight to the conifers would have made me aware of their presence.

As my line of sight followed the woodpeckers, I saw another wee bird near the base of an oak and jerkily making its way upwards, and gradually spiralling round the trunk. The wee tree creeper would find plenty of insect food in Ranent, in fact the wood could probably support dozens of them.  I was reasonably close to it and its white eye stripe was easily visible even without the binos. It was using the stiff tail feathers to help support it in its climb, as do the previous birds I saw, the woodpeckers. As I was getting my camera out it flew to the bottom of another tree and started its ascent again, this time disappearing round the back. I moved forward to get a photo opportunity when it came back round, but yet another shape caught my eye further up the tree behind it, this time a red squirrel.

There was too much going on at the same time and, since the squirrel was in view anyway, I followed its course. Its arboreal skills were incredible, virtually using the thinner branches half way up the trees as an aerial highway. It seemed to know where it was going, verification of this being when the terminus was seen to be a hole in tree into which it poked its head. It came out to check for danger, and in went the head again. I wasn’t sure whether this might have been a source for a small pool of water or was one of its nut stores.  Business complete, the squirrel made its way back to the conifers on what appeared to be the very same aerial route. The tree creeper, of course, was gone by now.

I walked up the east edge of the block of conifers and cut back again next to the dyke at the top of Ranent, crossing the dyke further along into Brodie’s Moor. I made my way up towards the release pen in the junipers and spotted a rabbit snoozing among some flattened bracken inside the pen. I crept slowly closer, taking a series of photos of snoozy rabbit, until I was less than 20 yards away. He (I’m sure by the broader head it was a buck)heard the click of what was to be the final photo as I was now against the netting fence, and quickly bolted into the standing bracken behind. To achieve old age rabbits need to be more observant than this!

I walked round the pen and as I approached a large oak tree ahead of me a female sparrowhawk darted across my path from right to left close to the ground. It was most certainly on a hunting foray, hoping to ambush a small bird by suddenly appearing from behind a tree or a clump of junipers like a fighter aircraft. Being a female (it was much larger than a male, with a brown back as opposed to the blue back of a male) it could easily tackle a pigeon sized bird, but smaller birds were more likely victims among the junipers.  Had I been able to see the underside of the sparrowhawk, the barring on the white underside would have been brown rather than the orangey-red barring of a male.  The estate owner and his gamekeeper did say that they seemed scarce this year and there had been almost no partridge kills that could be attributed to sparrowhawks.

I continued through the Brodie’s Moor and up past the duck ponds to Bericky, but by now the wind had strengthened, bending the tops of the huge Douglas firs at the top end of Bericky and at one point blowing my ‘bunnet’ off my head. Apart from an odd pheasant the wood seemed empty, as did my next wood, the High Larches Wood, the next again, the L Wood, the Pheasant Planting, the Henhouse Strip and the Dam Wood. The circuit of the woods was good exercise, but nothing seems to make birds disappear like a strong wind. It is a temporary absence and I’m sure they’ll be back for my next visit.

The blackbird was singing quietly from within this tree on 28 January

I was just about to begin one of my least favourite jobs this morning – washing the car – when I heard a blackbird singing. I was in the garage fixing the hose to the pipe, and stopped while I listened to the soft tones. I walked to the front of the garage to try to locate the bird. It seemed quite far away but as I listened more closely I spotted the singer not 10 feet away, perched low in a young evergreen tree. It was singing so quietly that it seemed to be afraid that it was not quite up to scratch with its melody and that other blackbirds listening might mock it. It seemed to be a practice, with probably me as the only member of the audience. I slipped quietly past it and into the house for the camera. Normally when I do this the subject is gone on my return, but thankfully it was still there. It’s not often I get a chance to photograph a bird so close but it allowed me that, as well as a very private song session.

As I type this, one of the great-spotted woodpeckers, the female, is at the peanut feeder. Thankfully both dutifully attended yesterday for the garden bird count. It was difficult to get an accurate account of the bird total, as some feed at the front of the house, some at the back, and there is a regular exchange of birds between the three main feeding stations, as well as to the ground, where I have half apples, mealworms, and a mix of seeds and nuts for the red squirrels (though more are eaten by birds than squirrels).  Chaffinches were the most common species yesterday when I did the count. I estimated there were 35, but with some at the feeders and some in the larch trees, and none of them remaining still for more than a few seconds, an accurate count was impossible. In fact I may even have erred on the low side. Surprisingly bramblings were the next most common bird. Though in recent days I have regularly had 30+, yesterday I reckoned there were ‘only’ 25, still an amazing number. Next on the list were greenfinches, at a rather disappointing 11. They are usually the most common bird at the feeders but seem now to have been overtaken by chaffinches.

The apples and mealworms attracted a total of 8 blackbirds, pretty much the usual. Their food supply is normally finished by midday and they must drift off elsewhere, though many seem to come back in the evening to roost, as I hear their high-pitched chatter as they prepare to settle down for the night. Woodpigeons and coal tits were next at 5 each, though the numbers of these species are often much higher. Blue tits came in at 4, with one of them no doubt the one that roosts in the garage, meaning I now can’t close up the garage until after dark, and must remember to open the door in the morning, even if I’m not using the car. Birds are definitely spoiled here! Great tits, collared doves and robins came in at 2 of each (joined of course by the pair of woodpeckers). Single birds were tree creeper, wren (pecking at some grated cheese I’d put under a rhododendron bush), and dunnock.

Bringing up the rear was a fieldfare that arrived just as I was finishing the count. It is the first I’ve seen in the garden this year and only just made it into the records. Occasionally a flock come into the garden but there has been a single fieldfare for the past four years, and it seems to dominate the garden, wasting as much time chasing off blackbirds as it does eating apples. It may well be the same one (at least it shows the same aggressive streak) but I’ve no idea how long they might live (if anyone can help I’d like to know the answer to this). I was pleased at seeing 15 species in the hour, but of course a mistle thrush – a rare bird in the garden –  had to frustrate me by arriving an hour late for the roll call.

Acer caesium / Himalayan Maple

A lively group met at Dehradun to start the trip. From Dehradun we had  to cover  arduous 12 hour journey by land to Auli . Auli is surrounded by high peaks like Mana, Kamet and tallest of all Nanda Devi. Auli  is blessed with a breathtaking panoramic view of the lofty peaks of the greatest mountain range in the world, the Himalayas. The ethereal beauty of the mountain ranges cannot be described by words. The 360 degree view of the mountains wipes  out the tiredness of the arduous journey . The place is so spiritual justifies why  the sages  chose the Himalayas for meditation. The different textures and colors during the sun rise and sunset is itself a treat to watch. The Nanda Devi National park   is an excellent biodiversity hot spot. It is nestled in the western part of the Himalayas. The Nanda Devi National park was inscribed on the World Heritage List in December 1988.

Our trip was planned for Nature trails around the buffer zone around this park. We spent four days of which the first day was a very fruitful trip of  birding with many lifers for us . The next day we did birding around the buffer zone on the slopes of the nearby mountain . The lichen laded oak trees , Himalayan Maple and the  Deodar trees were a visual treat to the eyes.The visuals below show a small hint of the biodiversity around this area . The third day we trekked to the summer village of Laata Village the village near the entrance of the Nanda  devi national park.

The forest canopy

The highlight of the trip was sighting of a female Monal with her four chicks.The below picture was clicked when the mother monal flew away from the chicks for a little while probably for a break. She flew back to her chicks as duty beckoned her. It was a rare treat indeed to watch them disappear in the forest . We really wondered where the father had disappeared .

Monal – female

Black and yellow grosbeak

We had a rare sighting of the black and yellow grosbeak  . The locals here consider the sighting of the bird as a good omen.We sighted over 6 such grosbeaks.

Eurasian jay

I was very tired and wanted to rest so sat down , when my team members suddenly started whispering in hushed tones and pointed to the tree behind me when I noticed  the Rusty flanked tree creeper. I consider myself extremely lucky to be so close to this bird to get a decent click.

Rusty flanked treecreeper

Nilatava

The colorful  Nilatava delighted us with its song and beauty.

Veriditer Flycatcher

  The Russets Sparrow entertained us by posing for us .

Russet sparrow

The grey winged black bird

Himalayan griffon

Mistle thrush

Siberian stonechat

Yellow billed blue magpie

Charas is made from the resin of this Cannabis plant

Euphorbia pilosa – a medicinal plant

Hookers Iris

A lovely house in the Lata village

Scarce Tortoise shell (Nymphalis xanthomelas )

The Queen of Spain Fritillary (Issoria lathonia) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is common in southern Europe, migrating as far north as south Scandinavia every summer. It is also found in North Africa, India, Central Asia, Himalayas and China.

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Asiatic sweet leaf ( Symplocos craetaegoides )
A medicinal herb

Agama tuberculata / High altitude lizard 
IUCN red listed animal

Caterpillar fungi

For  More info on this Caterpillar fungi

“The mountains are calling and I must go.”
― John Muir

Trekking down with Bijju and Mohan

Nanda devi nature trail – Team Dr.Krishna, Abhijeet , Poornima , Anupama , Geetanjali, Mohan , Aditya ,Roopa , Mukesh and Bijju

  For more clicks on this trip click on the following links 

Clicks by Geetanjali

Clicks by me

The bird list

1.     Black kite (Milvus migrans)

2.    Eurasian sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)

3.    Lammergeier Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus)

4.    Himalayan Griffon Vulture (Gyps himalayensis)

5.    Rusty-flanked Tree creeper (Certhia nipalensis)

6.    Kalij Pheasant (Lophura leucomelanos)

7.    Black Francolin ( Francolinus francolinus)

8.    Himalayan Monal ( Lophophorus impejanus)

9.    Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush (Monticola rufiventris)

10.  Oriental turtle dove (Streptopelia orientalis)

11.    Spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis)

12.   Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)

13.   Great Barbet (Megalaima virens)

14.   Lineated Barbet (Megalaima lineata)

15.   Streak-throated Woodpecker (Picus xanthopygaeus)

16.   Himalayan Woodpecker (Dendrocopos himalayensis)

17.   Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus)

18.   White-collared Blackbird (Turdus albocinctus)

19.   Grey-winged Blackbird (Turdus boulboul)

20.  Common Blackbird (Turdus merula)

21.   Yellow billed blue magpie (Urocissa flavirostris)

22.  Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius)

23.  Black headed Jay (Garrulus lanceolatus)

24.  Chiffchaff  (Phylloscopus collybita)

25.   Russet Sparrow (Passer rutilans)

26.   House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

27 .   Blue Whistling Thrush (Myophonus caeruleus)

28.   Grey Bush Chat (Saxicola ferreus)

29.   Green-backed Tit (Parus monticolus)

30.   Streaked Laughingthrush (Garrulax lineatus) 

31.    Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush (Garrulax erythrocephalus) 

32.   Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach)

33.   Long-tailed Minivet (Pericrocotus ethologus)

34.   Ashy Drongo (Dicrurus leucophaeus)

35.    Himalayan Bulbul (Pycnonotus leucogenys)

36.    Rufous-bellied Woodpecker (Dendrocopos hyperythrus) 

37.     Indian Blue Robin (Luscinia brunnea)

38.    Bar-tailed Tree-creeper (Certhia himalayana)

39.    Nuthatch

40.    Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus)

41.     Common Kestrel  (Falco tinnunculus)

42.    Spotted Nutcraker (Nucifraga caryocatactes)

43.    House Crow (Corvus splendens)

44.    Long-billed Crow (Corvus validus) 

45.    Blue-capped Rock Thrush (Monticola cinclorhynchus) 

46.    Brooks’s Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus subviridis)

47.     Common stonechat (Saxicola torquatus)

48.    Ultramarine flycatcher (Ficedula superciliaris) 

49.     Grey headed Canary flycatcher (Culicicapa ceylonensis)

50.    White-capped Water Redstart (Chaimarrornis leucocephalus)

51.     Black-throated Bushtit (Aegithalos concinnus)

52.    Spotted Forktail (Enicurus maculatus)

53.    Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maurus)

54.    Variegated Laughingthrush (Garrulax variegatus)

55.   Verditer Flycatcher (Eumyias thalassinus) 

56.   Rufous Sibia (Heterophasia capistrata)

57.    Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea)

58.   Common Rosefinch (Carpodacus erythrinus) 

59.   Rufous-bellied Niltava (Niltava sundara)

60.   Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher (Ficedula strophiata)

61.    Black-and-Yellow Grosbeak (Mycerobas icterioides)

62.   Black-throated Bushtit (Aegithalos concinnus)

63.   Spot-winged Grosbeak (Mycerobas melanozanthos )

64.   Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax)

Bird list prepared by Abhijeet, Geetanjali and Poornima

This trip was organised by IT Nature club (Geetanjali Dhar )

A long-distance photo of the almost-invisible tree creeper

I was honoured today to have my book, Wildlife and the Law, launched by Paul Wheelhouse MSP, Minister for the Environment and Climate Change.  The ‘unveiling’ of the book took place at the quarterly meeting of the PAW Executive Group at the Holyrood Hotel in Edinburgh. This group, of which I was a member until I retired last year, is made up of the chairs of the various PAW sub-groups: Legislation and Regulation, Funding, Media, Training and Awareness, Poaching Priority, Raptor Persecution Priority and new group about to be formed, Forensics. Other members are the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Scottish Land and Estates, RSPB Scotland and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust. I am indebted to PAW Scotland for the funding given towards the cost of the book, which enables it to be sold at a very reasonable £9.99. Log on to see the work of PAW Scotland at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/Wildlife-Habitats/paw-scotland/

Much more down to earth, I had a day chopping and stacking nearly two tons of logs for the wood burning stove yesterday. I started at 8.00 am and finished at 4.00 pm. What took the time was barrowing the chopped logs to the new stack round behind the current stack of logs. My back was sore by the end of the day but I thoroughly enjoyed the exercise. My daughter thought it was far too much for a 65 year-old, but I’m still here and fully recovered, so she must have been wrong!

During a very short break for a cup of tea I spied the elusive tree creeper in the wood. It was at its usual spot where I jam peanut butter into a narrow crack in the bark of a larch tree. My camera was to hand so I rushed out the door to try for the umpteenth time to get a photograph.  I took a long-range photo just as I went out the door then tried to get closer. I took my eye off the bird to negotiate the steps of the conservatory and was momentarily confused by the to-ing and fro-ing of a number of birds, especially coal tits and blue tits, plus the fact that tree creepers’ camouflage makes them almost invisible anyway. In these few seconds distraction the bird had left the tree, but I eventually homed in on it on a nearby tree. It was climbing up the bark at head height and gradually making its way round the tree. I lifted the camera to aim at the bird – just as it disappeared round the back of the tree.  I waited, motionless, to see if it would re-appear, but I’m afraid that’s the last I saw of it.

It was interesting to see the flock effect in action after my first (and only) photo. The myriad of birds prevented me from homing in immediately on my ‘quarry’, long enough for my ‘quarry’ to escape. This is exactly what happens when a predatory bird such as a sparrowhawk disturbs a cloud of small birds. Even with hundreds, or even dozens of birds, the predator is briefly confused and may catch none.

I’m lucky that we regularly have these lovely wee birds in the wood. They are bundles of energy, climbing up and around trees, probing into the bark with their long curved bill in their search for insects, and often resting on their stiff tail feathers. One year a pair nested in a gap between half a dozen pieces of interwoven fencing that I had stored at the back of the garage. I suppose that is a similar situation to their norm of nesting in a crevice in bark in an old tree. I only knew about their presence their when I moved the fencing in the winter time. I’m just glad it wasn’t when they were nesting.

Sound Clips and Spectral Images – A set of these sound clips can be found below (remember to click through to the blog if you are reading this in an email) along with a couple of the spectral displays from the clips.

Tree Creeper Spectral

Tree Creeper

Black Cap Spectral

If you are interested in viewing the other spectral display images, you can see them in this StillWalks Flickr Set.

A set of photos from this park event can also be seen on the StillWalks Flickr page.

Bluebells at Coedbach

Oak Woods in Coedbach Park

Listening to the Dawn Chorus

I happened upon a Tree Creeper at the bottom of Conduit Road in Sheffield. I have developed superior bird spotting skills from having spent many of my early years hunting for the yellow duck in First Thousand Words books so after seeing a bit of movement out of the corner of my eye I was delighted to spy this little beauty busily hunting for insects in a dry stone wall. He obligingly let me watch him for a good five minutes. According to my bird book, Tree Creepers prefer dense woodland but this one was spotted in a studenty residential area in a Sheffield suburb. Sheffield does have the highest number of trees-per-head in Europe so perhaps that is why he felt so at home there.

I have borrowed this image from http://www.birdboxcraft.co.uk - a small family business that makes hand crafted, high quality Bird Box Craft® construction kits.

A secretive little tree creeper, pretending to be a blue tit, made another appearance around our bird table today.

It really does think it’s a blue tit –darting from here to there, but unlike the tits, seldom eats the food. It would rather stay close to the wall, which is covered in evergreen creepers, darting from one insect to another!

When a flock of Goldfinches arrived, it made a hasty retreat; only to reappear, once the last finch had gone. Much as we love seeing that flash of bright yellow and scarlet; the tree creeper has a charm all of its own.

Will it return in the morning? I do hope so.

Leo get to ride in the back carrier – he is really growing up now !

me and Evie on the way to Rivington Castle

we watched a tree creeper on this tree – can you see it ?
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/t/treecreeper/index.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Treecreeper
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=tree+creeper&hl=en&rlz=1C1AVSW_enGB374GB377&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=FjubTsqzNoaX8QOVmYjUBQ&ved=0CEEQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=709
http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/treecreeper.htm
http://www.birdsofbritain.co.uk/bird-guide/treecreeper.asp

Evie playing in puddles

Evie and I followed a stream

I built a dam with leaves ,Mud and stones

Evie came to help me !

can you see the Pike ?
http://jakeofwinterhill.blogspot.com/search/label/Rivington%20Pike

http://jakeofwinterhill.blogspot.com/2011/01/rivington-pike-to-brown-hill-to-crooked.html
http://jakeofwinterhill.blogspot.com/2011/07/rivington-pike-to-brown-hill-back-of.html
http://jakeofwinterhill.blogspot.com/2011/04/two-lads-to-rivington-pike-and-back.html


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivington_Pike
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Hill_(North_West_England)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Pennine_Moors
http://www.about-rivington.co.uk/acatalog/Rivington_Pike_Tower.html
http://www.manchesterscountryside.com/site/attractions/attraction-results/rivington-pike-p129431

Evie and Me at the Castle

The mast and the Pike

http://jakeofwinterhill.blogspot.com/search/label/winter%20hill%20mast

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Hill_transmitting_station
http://www.aerialsandtv.com/winterhilltx.html
http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/winterhill/index.php
http://www.thebigtower.com/live/WinterHill/Index.htm




see the stats for the mast
http://www.thebigtower.com/live/WinterHill/131P20600705070.htm

we played hide and seek – Evie  is looking for me !

Lower Rivington Reservoir

Rivington Castle

 http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species.php?species=atalanta
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=red+admiral+butterfly&hl=en&rlz=1C1AVSW_enGB374GB377&biw=1280&bih=709&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ekCbTujVJ4am8gOVqaSOBw&ved=0CE0QsAQ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_atalanta
http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/Butterfly/32/Butterfly.html?ButterflyId=43
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_admiral

This is a red Admiral butterfly – Leo liked these – the flowers did not smell nice but the butterfly’s and bees and fly’s didnt seem to mind !
I liked watching these !

me and evie went to play  afterwards

Evie found a tree which i could climb

Another tree to climb they were wet and slippy – i had wellingtons on so i could not grip the tree well !

it was nice down next to the water

can you see the tree roots ?

Leo was looking at me and Evie playing

Leo does not like the sun in his eyes !

this is one of the towers can you see the window ?

one of  the towers behind a oak tree

Evie in a puddle !

Evie is such a show off !

Leo looking at me and Evie

Me and Evie breaking the dams we made before !

The other highlight was watching three treecreepers, two parents and a young one I think, up in the green branches of a mossy beech tree. The young one was already expert at running round the trunk and branches, even walking along upside down, but not so good at finding the food.

Then I drove on to Ben Lawers, where the first surprise was that there wasn’t a visitor centre, where I’d been planning to have a coffee…nor anywhere to get change for the car park or the dispenser for the nature trail guide. However, I went round the nature trail and tried to work out what the point of interest would have been at all the different numbers. I found some great plants. Alpine Lady’s mantle was everywhere, along with the other sort. Tiny intensely blue milkworts. Moss campion, looking just like the photo in the Scottish plants book. Butterwort, Mountain pansy, and a lovely yellow saxifrage which I think was Saxifraga aizoides, with bright orange anthers.

Some pictures. I wish I could add in the sound of the burn rushing over the boulders.

Great start, it got better as a few minutes later we were within 20 feet of a tree creeper, iv never managed to photography one before.

In amongst a flock of long tailed tits was a gold crest, we have seen one before and I have tried to shot one, they are very fast and in low light the high iso and motion blur makes a really good shot hard, this is a record shot but one day I’ll get a print quality one.

Thursday 29th July was a sunny day which was good enough reason to go out for a walk no matter what we saw along the way. Parking at the Waterhay (which has really been improved lately – all pot holes gone) we headed for the Reed Hide passing lakes 68d, 68c, 59, 72 and 68a along the way.

We stopped to take a look at lake 59 before reaching the hide overlooking 68d and to our great surprise saw two Little Egrets and a Greenshank there in full view. After lifting the smaller children up to see we decided to visit the hide close by where it would be easier for them to see but the lake was virtually dry and what was not sand had been overgrown with reeds. There has been very little rain this summer which may be a contributory factor but the same lake was almost dry last year when there was plenty of rainfall.

At the end of lake 59 there is a gate across the path and at this point there was a lot of noisy bird activity in the trees to the right. The chatter was mostly down to mixed flocks of tits including many Long Tailed Tits combined with a large number of chaffinches but scanning the Goat Willows revealed a Tree Creeper scurrying mouse-like up a trunk and then clinging upside-down along a large branch and out of sight. I am always thrilled to see a Tree Creeper so this would have made my day without seeing anything else.

Along the path Speckled Woods and Gatekeepers were a constant feature. Gatekeepers in particular seem to be having a particularly good year but Peacocks and, to a lesser extent, Red Admirals seem to be fairly scarce. We did see two Peacocks as we walked but both were in the process of dying.

The wildflowers brightening the path included Rosebay Willow Herb, Thistles, Teasels, Burdock and Bindweed. It looks like it will be a bumper year for Elderberries and Sloes too which is a good sign for the wildlife this winter.

Walking ahead with my eldest son we saw a vole scamper along the path just ahead of us, after a slight panic he ran into the short grass. He clearly felt quite hidden but was in fact perfectly easy to see. He continued to sit there eating, perfectly confident in his camouflage, while we called the whole family over to see!

Several Herons flew over as we came closer to lake 68a. There is a heronry in the mature trees between 68a and 74 which is probably still a focal point for them even though the young are fledged now. Arriving at the view point over 68a there were Reed Buntings clearly showing among the reeds and Sedge Warblers bickering in the brush.

We settled down in the Reed Hide, which is a fantastic resource, but it never ceases to amaze me that, with such fantastic environmental conditions, we hardly ever see anything other than Coots and Great Crested Grebes here. As there was nothing really happening here and we were rather late we decided to head back without going the short distance to the hide overlooking lake 74. A group of adult birdwatchers had just passed us heading for this hide too so we decided they probably wouldn’t appreciate us turning up too!

Seeing a Common Blue along the path on the way back was a pleasant surprise but other than that our return trip was largely uneventful. Back at the car park the children were champing at the bit for the picnic so we ate it there and then rather than trying to find somewhere more picturesque elsewhere. The car park is next to the Thames so I suppose we shouldn’t have been surprised when a Kingfisher flew low over our heads darting towards the river.

For a summer walk it had been surprisingly productive and yet it turns out we missed a real gem on our journey. When I returned home I checked the local birding website only to find that a Water Rail had been showing well near the hide on lake 68c – looks like we gave up on that dried up lake a little too quickly!

A Tree Creeper exploring his environment.

Luontoäiti on tämänkin järjestänyt kätevästi. Puukiipijä ottaa pitkällä pyrstöllään tukea puusta.

Siinä hän yhtäkkiä oli edessäni männynrungolla. Puukiipijä. Usein olen pikku vipeltäjän nähnyt, mutten ole näin läheltä päässyt kuvaamaan. Öttiäisten perässä tämäkin…