An Evening of Sun at Stanton Park Lake

Its a long time since I've got my bike out, but I am so glad I did. A 25 minute cycle ride to Stanton Lake, a 4 hour Tench fishing session and a first bird for the county, a Spotted Flycatcher that I caught feeding above my head on peg 4. What a great start to the evening.

The bike ride took a little longer than anticipated, and trying to cross over some of the main roads was a nightmare. By the time I'd got to the Honda factory, I realised it was kicking out time. There's me heading towards Stanton, whilst everybody else on bikes, was heading back into Swindon. At least the cycle path was fairly wide.

Once into Stanton Park it was free wheel down to peg 4, which I was pleased to see, was vacant. All around me were birds singing, Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and the occasional burst of song from a Reed Warbler on the opposite bank. As I was putting my fishing tackle together a Willow Warbler came down close to me and was seen feeding on small insects. Interestingly though, for the 4 hours I was at the Lake, not once did I hear any Willows Warblers singing. Though obviously they were about.  With the rod set up and a small piece of sweetcorn on the hook, out it went into the lake about 4 metres or so. Sitting back in my seat a duck Mallard passed by with at least 15 freshly hatched ducklings, all trying to keep up with mum.

Within 15 minutes my float dipped and I was in to my first fish of the evening. A beautiful 5lb Tench.  They really know how to put up a fight. By the time I'd played it out and landed it, my arms were killing me.

5lb Tench

It wasn't long before I was into another one. But I was watching a Sparrowhawk whizzing through and by the time I'd realised the float had gone down, I'd struck to late. Even though it was on for a few seconds, a great mass of bubbles erupting across the lake, told me I'd lost that one.

It was a good hour later when the best fish of the day pulled the float down. Another terrific "battle" and a beautifully shaped Tench of 6lb was on the bank. It looked absolutely pristine, without a blemish or scar in sight, which is more than I can say for my next fish.

Biggest of the Evening a 6lb Tench

As I slipped it back into the water a small bird caught my eye as it flew across the lake and landed on the bare branches of an Ash Tree to my right. It wasn't until it landed, that I realised it was a Spotted Flycatcher. Typically, Spotted Flycatchers will take off from a branch to catch a small insect in a hover-like manner and then alight back on to the branch from which it had taken off.. And sure enough, as if straight out of the text book, it did that several times before moving off to a tree to my left. I watched it for a good 5 minutes or so and then it moved on out of sight. Yet again I seem to be in the right place at the right time at the moment. What with the Osprey and Hobby I saw recently. If this is happening in three's per month. I wonder what May will bring, I'm gardening tomorrow (1st May), should be interesting!

Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher

Having got over the excitement of seeing such a lovely bird, it was back to the fishing and into Tench number 3. But what a strange looking Tench it was. It had a really deformed mouth, resembling a male Salmon when they are spawning, and their mouths take on that hook like appearance. Its what they call a kype and is used to fight off rivals. This Tench was obviously used to it and its weight of 5lb 10oz showed that it was a survivor. Really weird as to how it came about!

5lb 10oz Tench

Deformed mouth

The next fish wasn't a surprise, I had been throwing in a little bit of groundbait and free offerings of Sweetcorn, so hooking a Bream of 4lb 12oz was expected. After that it was two more Tench, one of 4lb 8oz and another 5lb 10oz specimen. The thing that stuck me was that, unlike Bream, Roach and Perch, every Tench I caught this evening was different in its appearance. Apart from the 6lb fish, which was near perfect, all the others were different shapes, colours and in some cases deformed. It will be interesting to see how many times I catch the same fish over the coming months.

The last fish of the day was another Bream, slightly bigger at 5lb. I fished on for another 10 minutes but the water in front of me was like a mill pond without a single Tench bubble in sight, which told me they had moved on and it was probably time time to pack up.

Bream 4lb 12oz

Male Bream develop white lumps, called tubercles, on their heads when they are spawning.

4lb 10oz Tench

5lb 10oz Tench

Last fish of the day a 5lb Bream

What an amazing evening I had, the bird watching was excellent and the fishing superb. I even managed to photograph the Bee-fly that I'd seen last week, but was unable to photograph.

Bee-fly (Bombylius major) with its long proboscis

All in all 47 birds were recorded from 4:45pm - 8:20pm
Grey Heron, Mute Swan, A pair of Tufted Duck, Mallard plus 15 ducklings, Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Pheasant, Red Partridge, Moorhen, Coot, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Collared Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, 4 Swallow, 8 House Martin, Pied Wagtail, Spotted Flycatcher, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Reed Warbler, 4 singing males and 1 female Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Marsh Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Wren, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch and Bullfinch.

Right Place, Right Time (Again)

I stepped outside the backdoor at 4:02 pm to the sound of one the resident Carrion Crows give out a loud croak, I looked up and a Hobby shot over the estate like an Exocet missile. Talk about the right place at the right time.  It was heading north and will presumably end up at the Cotswold Water Park.

That's two cracking birds in the space of a few days from just outside the backdoor, what with the Osprey I had last week. I wonder what will be next!

A bit of catch up as well. Yesterday I had my first, second and third Yellow Wagtails of the year close to Sherston.

Unusual Place!

This morning on the pavement of College Street in Swindon a Common Whitethroat was feeding.  Keeping close to the wall it disappeared into the car park at the back Sanford St. Boys School.

8:00am and the streets and car parks are empty, but even so its still
 an unusual place to find a warbler feeding on the pavement and tarmac.

Thursday was Fish Day

During the late Spring and Summer months, my favourite swim at Stanton Park Lake is peg 4, for one of my top species of fish, the Tench. Last season I topped my personal best no less than three times, finishing the season with a beautiful fish of 6lb 7oz.  Most of the regulars use a small swimfeeder packed with groundbait and maggots and cast 3/4 of the way across the lake. This method certainly catches fish, but just like last year if you are prepared to wait for the sun to drop just behind the trees at the dam end, then the fish move in close to the margins.  And sure enough that's exactly what they did and before long the surface in front of me was a mass of exploding bubbles as the Tench began stirring up the bottom.

A waggler float with a single grain of sweetcorn on a size 14 hook was cast out about 12ft, closely followed by a small amount of loose feed. Within a few seconds the surface around my float began to irrupt and it wasn't long before I was into my first fish. A small one by the lakes standards, but nevertheless a lovely fish of 4lb.

First Tench of the Year - 4lb

The only drawback with fishing in water that's just under a metre in depth, is that as soon as you hook a fish, all the others around it shoot off in different directions. So it was a little while later before they moved back in again. I had several takes and a couple of good runs but it was a good hour or so later before I had fish number 2 on the bank. This time a 5lb fish with a tail that had seen better days.

5lb Tench with a tattered tail.

So a great start to the year and the bird watching wasn't bad either. Just like this morning with the Sparrowhawks in and around Nythe there were 3 here at the lake in the afternoon. The first one flew through unscathed, the second an hour later was being chased by two drake Mallard (a first for me, I didn't realise how quick ducks can fly) and the third bird was more typically being mobbed by up to twenty or so Goldfinches. Other raptors about today was just one Common Buzzard.

In the reed beds opposite me my first Reed Warbler of the year, suddenly burst into song, which made me wonder whether it had just flown in. I'd had been at the lake for 3 hours and this was first indication that one was present. Especially as it carried on singing right up until I left at 8:00pm.

Other birds of interest were a handful of male Blackcaps singing, a few Chiffchaffs and a single Willow Warbler.  Throughout the afternoon small parties of hirundines visited the lake with up to 9 House Martins mid afternoon and 3 Swallows and a single Sand Martin. Just before 8:00pm up to fifty hirundines descended on the water for a few minutes before heading off north.

I didn't record any butterflies but a Bee-fly was an interesting find. I would have photographed it, if it hadn't been for the fact that it landed on the camera. If only I had the remote shutter release to hand! Not my photo but at least you can see what a Bee-fly looks like. Bee Fly Photo Very weird and unforgettable.

All in all 44 birds were recorded from 2:00pm - 8:00pm
Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Mallard, Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Pheasant, Moorhen, Coot, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin, Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Wren, Jackdaw, Raven, Rook, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch and Bullfinch.

Sparrowhawk Day

I reckon I saw more Sparrowhawks today than I would in a month. There was a female at Nythe Primary School at lunchtime, a male in the back garden eyeing up the aviary at 1:45pm and 3 at Stanton Park in the afternoon.

Male Sparrowhawk sat on the Aviary

Pacing up and down.

In Flight

On the fence looking down onto the aviary

Mixed Emotions

I had a real treat this morning, as an Osprey passed overhead at Nythe this morning at 10:55am. There was a real commotion as a group of gulls were making a din out the back. As I opened the back door there was an Osprey being mobbed by several gulls. I ran in doors and grabbed the camera, only to realise when I came back in doors later, that I'd forgotten to insert the SD Card back into the camera. It was so close overhead as it headed east that the previews looked really good.  May be next time......

Swan Lake

Thank goodness I enjoy wildlife and photography, because the fishing yesterday at Ham Pool in the Cotswold Water Park (Pit 18), was dire to say the least. However Tom and I did at least catch a Roach each, though we did wonder if it was the same fish. I'd caught one late in the day and when I emptied the net, Tom caught one/same fish within a minute of me emptying the net! We weren't alone, as other anglers around the complex were struggling to catch. The reason we surmised that it was so poor, was down to all the fish spawning in the shallows.  This is first real prolonged warm spell of weather we've had, and the first opportunity for the fish to spawn. So it wasn't too surprising that we failed.

However the weather was fantastic, I had excellent company and there were plenty of birds around to tick off. I had my first Sedge Warbler of the year and Common Whitethroat. There were Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs singing their hearts out and every now and then a Blackcap would burst into song. There were birds everywhere. A pair of Great Crested Grebes were busy feeding their juveniles with 4 inch silver fish and Coots were squaring up to each other as Coots do.

Coots clashing

Some other birds of note were a pair of Red Crested Pochard that came in to land but opted for the Watermarks lake next door (Pit 16). I'm not surprised that aborted their landing as a pair of Mute Swans were having a hard time of it trying to persuade an interloper that Ham Pool was theirs. Here are a few images of their efforts.......

The Cob in full flow

A skid as he re-lands

Off again

Get out of here

Off again

  

A bit of elevation

Nearly there

And into battle once again

Also on the water were a pair of "Collared" Canada Geese. It looks like they are nesting on the spit which sticks out into the pool. And for a change it was the Mute Swans that were being forced to move on when they got to close. Both birds had red collars, but unfortunately I could only read one of them, which had the letters AU etched in black.

A red "collared" Canada Goose

In total I recorded 39 bird species and 2 butterflies - Brimstone and Peacock.

The birds recorded were: Great Crested Grebe, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Canada Geese, Mallard, Red-crested Pochard, Moorhen, Coot, Common Gull, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Swallow, Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Fieldfare, Sedge Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Redpoll, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, and Reed Bunting

Stanton in the Sun

Had a wonderful afternoon in the April sun with Tom at Stanton Lake. We had planned to try for some fish on the surface but opted for Waggler instead. The fishing was pretty slow, but as always Tom caught first and as it turned out he caught the only fish of the afternoon, a Bream of 3lb Bream on Halibut pellet.

The setting Sun at Stanton

Toms 3lb Bream on Halibut pellet

The weather for a change was really good and it wasn't long before a pair of Swallows came down to the water to feed. Unfortunately it was short-lived as a Sparrowhawk put them off as it circled high above. Its amazing how its presence can cause a real commotion with the resident woodland birds. One minute they were all singing away and then then next minute it was a collection of warning calls ringing out in the wood and lakeside.

On the water the cob was keeping guard as the pen sat on her nest and a pair of Tufted Duck were a pleasant surprise. Whether they breed will remain to be seen.

The Cob keeping guard

Tufted Duck (drake) and a Coot left

There were quite a few Mallard on the water with one or two feral birds and a few Coot were collecting nesting material. A pair of Stock Doves landed in the tall trees behind us and began cooing. Woodpigeons and Stock Doves may look similar other than the fact that adult Woodpigeons have a white patch on each side of their neck, but they definitely sound different when they are cooing. The Stock Dove appears more harsh on the second coo. 

A pair of Mallard

There is a always a Robin around when you are fishing. The ever opportunist looking for a free snack, unfortunately carp pellets was not something it was too crazy about.

The ubiquitous Robin

38 birds recorded:
Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Sparrowhawk, Moorhen, Coot, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Swallow, Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Wren, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, and Reed Bunting.

Toads Galore

If you like toads then Stanton Park is the place to be at the moment. They are everywhere. What is interesting is the variation in patterns which ranged from small dark blotches on a dark green back to large blotches on an olive green back.

Toad - very dark blotches

Toad with striking markings. Almost Leopard like

Toad - subdued markings

Toad - smallish blotches

The bird life was minimal, but it was nice to see that the cob is having a year off chasing juveniles around the lake. Last year he had a real tough time trying to chase off his offspring from 2011. This year though it looks like he persuaded last years brood to move on.

Pen incubating

Cob taking time out at peg 4

Other birds around were a single Chiffchaff which was disappointing. On the feeders and the baited log I set up were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Robin and Dunnock. Close by I could hear Marsh Tit, Nuthatch and a Green Woodpecker. Closer to the lake a Long-tailed Tit was foraging.

Dunnock displaying

Robin

Blue Tit

Long-tailed Tit.

Other than the resident Mute Swans there were 7 Mallard and only 1 duck amongst them. A Coot was collecting nesting material and decided to make a dash with it across the water into the reeds.

Coot with nesting material

On the way back to the car park there was a good patch of Water Buttercups and in the fields the Jackdaws were collecting wool from the sheep.

Water Buttercups

Jackdaws

Birds recorded:
Mute Swan, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Woodpigeon, Buzzard, Green Woodpecker, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Magpie, Wren, Dunnock, Chiffchaff, Robin, Blackbird, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tits, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Goldfinch, Chaffinch and Bullfinch. 26 Species

Just Missed It

An Osprey was seen this evening at Coate Water around 6:30pm. By the time I got there it was gone. However I did see a Common Tern and lots of Swallows, Sand Martins and House Martins. Also about a Goosander, 3 Grey Wagtails by the diving platform and a pair of Great Crested Grebes.

Swallow

Sand Martin

A pair of Mallard with just one duckling

A total of 38 Species plus 2 ferals were recorded between 6:50pm - 7:30pm: Great Crested Grebe, 2 Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Canada Geese, Mallard, 2 Aylesbury Duck (feral), Tufted Duck, Goosander, Moorhen, Coot, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Tern, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Sand Martin, House Martin, Swallow, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, 3 Grey Wagtail, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Goldcrest, Chiffchaff, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Redwing, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, and Reed Bunting.