Spring Things on the Local Patch.

 

Since Easter, rather a lot of  'Springy things' have been appearing on my local patch, so here is a selection from my Nature diary of what I've been seeing.

 Early signs that Spring really was about to get started were the appearance of Lesser Celandine flowers and dainty white Wood Anemones; as the woodland floor began to green-up, there were bright spots of these delicate yellow and white flowers

Lesser Celandine

Wood Anemone

 

Another hint was that  some of the birds had started nest building, this one was taken back in February of a Long Tailed Tit pair - I watched it's construction over about three weeks and at one point in March, did see Mum or Dad peeping out, whilst either brooding or waiting for the other to return with food for the youngsters.  Going by timescale I think a brood may have been successfully raised and fledged, although I have not seen a little troupe in the surrounding trees and bushes.   (The photo was taken with a long lens and cropped, from a respectable distance away - creatures' welfare first, photos second!)  More recently  I did encounter a little group of adults and juveniles as they worked their way along 'their' corridor of trees.


On a particularly warm morning at the beginning of April, I was treated to the sight of a few early butterflies.  I had to watch where I was treading, as  Small Tortoiseshells and Peacocks were sunning themselves on the ground and as I'd approach, would flutter up and off ahead of me.  On the fallow field, a few dandelions were in bloom as well as a mass of blackthorn blossom, however, the brambles, which the butterflies love, were still in bud. My frequent 'adversary' though, stinging nettles, were all sprouting healthily!

Small Tortoiseshell on Stinging Nettles.

Nectaring Peacock on Blackthorn

 

Meanwhile, back inside the woods, having gone from a sparse few flecks of blue and pink, there was suddenly a carpet of Bluebells and plenty of Scarlet Campion in bloom.  When it warmed up, the scent from the Bluebells was just heavenly.  The Bluebells which grow in this patch of woodland all appear to be our native Bluebell with white pollen and 'drooping' stems, although there is a variation in shades of blue, from the very rich (pictured below) to softer paler shades.

Bluebells

Scarlet Campion


Within the woods, wrens were busy flitting about and declaring their territories, there are a good half dozen spots along the route I go, where I can watch and listen to these little characters singing as they work their way around their respective 'patch'.  There was also quite a bit of scurrying about in the undergrowth around various bramble patches - no doubt the males building a selection of nests for the ladies to choose from.  Over the next few months I'm going to be keeping an eye open for youngsters.  

Wren

Back out on the fallow field, a few more varieties of butterfly were putting in brief appearances, Small Whites and a few colourful Commas with an occasional glimpse of Brimstones and Orange tips as they'd flutter past .    

Small White.

Comma

Female Orange Tip (she closed her wings as she landed  & then stayed basking - definitely the green pattern underneath!)

On a recent evening walk ( a great escape after a day at a desk!)  I headed towards the next patch of woodland over.  The previous weekend, I had caught hints of garlic on the breeze and decided to see how much of the Wild Garlic had bloomed.  As I got closer, the scent got stronger and I was met with the sight of a beautiful white carpet, with patches of Bluebells mingled in around the edges.  

Wild Garlic, also known as Ramsons

Wild Garlic and Bluebells

On my walk back home, there were a fair few rabbits grazing along the edge of the wheatfield, many of them quite new to the world and very young. The adults would keep a watchful eye on the youngsters, who's curiosity would often keep them out slightly longer than their parents.  I caught this kit licking his lips after eating his greens!  

 Along my walk home, I also noticed that a lot of the oak trees had burst into leaf as well as the hawthorn bushes suddenly being in bloom.  On one crown of oak leaves, a seven spot ladybird was taking a breather.    

Seven Spot Ladybird on an Oak crown

Fresh white Hawthorn Blossom


And finally!

I have also been keeping a lookout within the woods, to see if I could spot where the Great Spotted Woodpeckers might be nesting.  I'd observed them in previous years, watching and photographing them over the days feeding their young.  Well, the other week, I spotted some familiar behaviour and heard some familiar sounds, little woodpeckers calling to be fed!  I think that they are probably about 2 weeks old and Mum and Dad are being kept very busy.  I've found a nice spot to watch them from, about 12m away, where they are not disturbed by me.  These are a few of my shots from the other day...

Mrs Great Spotted Woodpecker  

Mr Great Spotted Woodpecker

Mr and Mrs sharing the work!

That's all for now, but I am continually adding to the collection over on Flickr - this album is of nature things on the local patch where I go a-wandering.

 

 

 

Popular posts from this blog

Big Garden Birdwatch January 2020

Image
  One of the first things I do when I get my new calendar every year is to add a reminder for the Big Garden Birdwatch; as well as it being a little bit of Citizen Science (which snowballs into LOT of Citizen Science with so many folk across the country taking part) it is also a perfectly reasonable ‘timeout’ to just sit, wrapped up warm and with a big mug of something hot, watch and be entertained by our garden visitors.  The first arrival was one of the Robins, appearing in the remains of an elderly Ceanothus before darting across the garden into the depths of the Bay Tree.    A familiar bubbling chatter was heard and a pair of Long Tailed Tits appeared next to the feeders in the middle recently we have had a pair visit as well as a little family group. Within the ivy along the fence and the branches of the Field Maple, as well as from the depths of the Bay Tree, the local flock of Sparrows could be heard discussing whether to approach the feeders… Gradually they appeared, pe
Read more

About ME!

Image
  Some years ago,   I decided to learn my way around digital photography so that I could keep pictorial records of the wildlife and nature on my local patch as I began to explore it – an area of   of woodland and farmland near to where I live with a fallow field.  To say I was surprised at the variety of birds, insect life and flora would be an understatement.     When I was considerably younger (a mere Tween!) I had thoroughly enjoyed a bit of birdwatching, so with the interest very much re-awakened, this time with different eyes and taking a very different approach with an appreciation now of seeing the natural world far more, observing and wondering at how, from the soil upwards, through plants and insects to birds, reptiles and mammals, everything fits together in an incredible way with an important place in the huge Nature Jigsaw.  This time around, no tick lists, instead, everything I watched and or photographed I was going to learn something about it – lifecycle, name, habit
Read more

Magic Moments 2019

Image
  Well now that the dust has started to settle on 2019, I had a browse back through my Nature Diary to try to choose my favourite moments….  There were A LOT of moments!  I’m not entirely certain where the year went – it seemed, once again to pass in a flash, however thank heavens for the camera with which I was able to record more than a few magic moments through the year. Those of you who follow and read regularly will know that I will happily take pot luck with what I watch and am definitely not a ‘tick and click’ person; unless I’m at a bird reserve, where I’ll lurk in a hide for a while, pretty much everything watched has been ‘on the hoof’ so to speak, so watching ‘new’ or ‘firsts’ are special moments indeed. I managed to lose the first part of the year due to a nasty bout of lurgy, however towards the end of January I managed to venture, somewhat wonkily out, first on my local patch  where as well as watching the regulars I also spotted one of the elusive Redwings which I ha
Read more

2020 A Local Patch Retrospective...

Image
  Where was I?  Ah yes, beginning of May 2020.  Apologies for the huge gap, but with concentrating on getting through last year, I somehow never had the words to go with the pictures, so, whilst things are still not great, am a bit more used to ‘hands, face, space’ so feel that am in calmer waters whilst in a holding pattern until things are safer…   Anyhow, I digress! In between working from home and trying not to lose the plot entirely, I did manage to get out for quite a few walks on my local patch and as always kept a photo diary of what I was watching, so I’ve been through the photos and pieced together some of the moments that were particularly special.  Very often, those walks were a saving grace in a life where routines and plans were suddenly in disarray and observing Nature’s unhindered progress through the season was strangely of comfort when I was feeling as though I’d somehow woken into a chaotic frightening disaster movie.   My local patch, last year, became exceeding
Read more

Then April Arrived...

Image
  Then April arrived.  With an overwhelming amount of news bulletins, statistics, frightening information and continuing to adjust to the new ‘normal’, my local patch wander has given something of a respite, reset and refresh – Nature really has become, for certain health aspects, the best medicine… There is something very comforting in watching a familiar clock ticking away the seasons with all the players, whether flora or fauna making their expected timed entrances and simply getting on with it…    Green shoots began to burst their buds, With more Wood Anemones appearing, now joined by the brilliant yellow of Lesser Celandine And Greater Stitchwort putting in an appearance. The Bluebell buds swelled, in preparation for a grand display, Whilst the Blackthorn came into bloom and provided food for Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells as well as numerous Bees, hoverflies and other minibeasts. Here and there hints of brilliant pink appeared as Scarlet Campion came into flowe
Read more

A Big Garden Birdwatch And a Catch up on My Local Patch.

Image
  There’s a Dunnock singing outside…   They’ve been flicking and flirting around the front and back garden for the past week or so, Robins have also been chasing about in the garden for territory rights and I’ve watched Blue Tits flying ‘tag’ in the garden as well as hearing Great Tits beginning to declare…  The weather since November has mostly been on the mild side, a bit damp with (for here) a smattering of snow and a couple of frosts.  In the local woods, the Bluebells are a couple of inches through the soil, the Elderberries are all bursting into leaf and there is a carpet of young Stinging Nettles and hopeful Ground Ivy.  Here and there on old wood, toadstools and brackets have appeared as well as a few slime moulds. There have been plenty of Jays about in the woods and I have seen them on their regular winter commute across the back garden as they go back and forth prospecting for food.  We have even had one stop by the garden feeders on several occasions, having a fine meal
Read more

A Few of my Favourite Things...

Image
  How do you decide what your favourite Nature photograph is (that you may have taken) ?  What do you think makes it a favourite?   I was recently asked if I wanted to supply some images for BBC Springwatch to use on their  Instagram page ,  with the brief being to provide ten of my favourites...  Well as I have a sizeable archive of nature photography - my 'diary' for the past few years, I had a bit of a task on my hands to choose!  That got me to thinking however, what makes and just how do you choose your favourites?   For me, everytime I go walking with the camera, it's usually on a 'see what I shall see' basis; sometimes a lot, sometimes it's quiet, or I see and hear masses, but the subjects simply are not up for being photograhed.  I've lots of memories of special moments with wildlife - most recently, two brief encounters with a local female Sparrowhawk, with glimpses caught of her in flight as she is vocally sorting someone out on her patch - but
Read more