Scary Moment

A quite afternoon in the back garden yesterday, nearly turned into a scary moment. With the sun out and the temperature rising, it was great to chill out in a deckchair and watch the world go by.  For most of the afternoon the juvenile House Sparrows, were for a change, outnumbering the juvenile Starlings on the feeders. The large flock of 50 plus birds seem to have moved off.

Adult and juvenile House Sparrow (Martin Adlam)

Overhead a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls drifted over and seemed to be ignored by the Carrion Crows.  Where the two juveniles have gone I'm not sure, as their is only one adult present in the neighbourhood. I have a feeling the youngsters fledged too early and the one that landed in the Leylandii may well have been predated. One did seem stronger and was quite high up in the Birch Tree.

Lesser Black-backed Gull (Martin Adlam)

The only time the Carrion Crow threw his weight around was when a Homing Pigeon or a Racing Pigeon landed on the neighbours roof. Whatever it was, it did seem odd that it didn't bear any rings on its legs. After walking around the roof top for a few minutes the Carrion Crow had enough of this and chased it off.

Homing or Racing Pigeon? (Martin Adlam)

In the garden a Soldier Fly (chloromyia formosa )was eventually identified as thus. It was on a rose leaf and it took me ages to identify it. I had it down as Cuckoo Wasp or a Sawfly, before the good old Collins Complete British Insect book came to the rescue.

Soldier Fly chloromyia formosa (Martin Adlam)

What a busy afternoon this was turning out to be and as I watched a pair of Swifts swirling above my head I could hear the drone of the local skydivers aircraft taking off from Redlands Airfield. As it gained altitude I could hear the engines cut and one after the other, seven "brave souls" jumped out. 

Swift (Martin Adlam)

Swift (Martin Adlam)

As the chutes deployed I was aware that the parachute of one of the skydivers was streaming out above him. I watched in horror as he dropped rapidly in front of my eyes. And then my heart was in my mouth when both he and his chute parted company.  For the second time in his jump, this chap was in free fall again and heading towards the ground at a rapid rate. However it was a great relief to see another chute, albeit smaller, pop out above him. I still didn't think he was out of the woods, as he seemed to be coming back down to earth, a lot quicker than you would want to. As he disappeared behind the roof tops I can only hope he had a safe landing. It didn't really allay my fears when coincidentally I could hear the sirens of Ambulances in the background. I'm sure he landed ok.

I was behind you.... (Martin Adlam)

Chute drifting away (Martin Adlam)

Unmanned chute (Martin Adlam)

Spare deployed (Martin Adlam)

Fully open (Martin Adlam)

Nearly in. At speed I hasten to add... (Martin Adlam)

After about 20 minutes the aircraft was back up again and another group of daring skydivers were jumping out again. I don't think they would have done that if he hadn't landed safely. A quick call to Redlands Airfield and I was glad to hear that all was well and he had landed safely. However I don't think you would catch me jumping out of a serviceable plane.

Catch Up Time Again

I don't really know where the time goes and it doesn't seem like 13 days since I last added to my blog. However the only real highlights in the past two weeks has been an increased number of juvenile birds in the neighbourhood. There have been small parties of Goldfinches or should that be charms and yesterday a family of Long-tailed Tits could be heard in the Birch Tree next door but one. In the garden the House Sparrows have stopped feeding their offspring, who are now big enough to come down to the feeders and feed themselves. The same can be said for the Starlings which are still gathering in large numbers around the Nythe shopping area.

Starlings on top of a Leylandii

Juvenile Starling

Yesterday afternoon two juvenile Carrion Crows fledged from another Birch Tree close by, with one landing on a Laurel and the other in the Leylandii to the rear of the back garden. Its all out war now as Woodpigeons, gulls and cats are set upon with shear ferocity. The speed the adult Crows reach is mind blowing as they swoop down and hit the unsuspecting birds and cats. It happens so fast all you get to see are a few feathers drifting down slowly and a trail of fur!

One of the juvenile Carrion Crows in the Leylandii

And the other on top of a Laurel

One of the adult Carrion Crows taking off from the Leylandii

An Evening at Stanton Park

Having been forced to stop fishing last week because of the Willow tree seeds, I decided to give the lake another go on Tuesday evening. And I wasn't to be disappointed, as I not only caught a huge Tench of 6lb but also caught a massive Bream of 9lb, smashing my personal best by almost 3lb.

6lb Tench

A personal best - 9lb Bream

The Robins have youngsters and this adult had a lot of freebies of me. They weren't the only youngsters around the lake. The Mute Swans are doing well with their six cygnets and the 4 ducklings have doubled in size since I was here last. Not only that, but the two black-backed hybrids now have white fronts.

Robin

Family outing

The 4 ducklings and mum

On the lakeside apart from the Robins, a juvenile Nuthatch was calling continuously from the trees behind me and two juvenile Green Woodpeckers were also active, flying back and forth across the lake.

Warblers noted were 2 Chiffchaffs, 2 Reed Warblers which were chasing each other (2 males?), a Garden Warbler and 3 Blackcaps.

As the sun started to set then masses of Caddisfly emerged. This in turn brought in the hirundines with up to a dozen or so Swallows and House Martins. As the sun disappeared behind the trees 3 Swifts joined in.

Hazy sunset

Caddisfly

A Caddisfly

All in all 34 birds were recorded from 5:30pm - 8:30pm
Mute Swan, 11 Mallard plus 4 juveniles, Moorhen, Coot, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Swallow, House Martin, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, 2 Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, 2 Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Marsh Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Wren, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Greenfinch.

National Bio Garden Blitz - Day 2

Well another glorious day and the first bit of wildlife I came across in the back garden was a Holly Blue butterfly. What a good start. As I turned into the back garden a juvenile House Sparrow was on the feeder and continued feeding despite my presence.

Juvenile House Sparrow

Around the pond were a few Hoverflies and a fly called a Myathropa Florae. This particular species is a wasp mimic.

Hoverfly sp.

Myathropa Florae

On the rose bush a small wasp landed and was identified later as a Tenthredo Livida, which I believe is a member of the Sawfly family.

 Tenthredo Livida

Not too many today, I think the majority were seen yesterday. Perhaps if there had been a few more flowers in bloom then who knows what we might have found. There's always next year.

National Bio Garden Blitz - 1 Jun 13

Introduction
Today was day 1 of this weekends National Bio Garden Blitz 2013 run by volunteers and supported by The Wildlife Trust, British Trust for Ornithology, Bristol Natural History Consortium, National Trust, Biological Records Centre, Natural England Wildlife Gardening Forum, and many others.

The idea is that over this weekend everybody gets out in their gardens and records all the wildlife they can find, including plants that have found their way into the garden by their own accord. Once you've recorded what you've seen and perhaps photographed it, this information is then uploaded onto an online form using  iRecord.

What did we find!The day was sunny and dry which was a blessing, but that cold northeasterly wind was pretty bitter. When the sun went in it was definitely brrr. Anyway Dawn and I thought we'd give a go and I've never seen Dawn so enthusiastic about bugs. In fact of all the species recorded, dawn had found well over half of them.

Despite the late Spring and the fact that the only plant in flower was a Bleeding Heart, we did find quite a few creepy crawlies including a Lesser Stag Beetle which had taken up residence on our Ash tree seat by the pond. The bark is starting to peel away after 3 years of weathering and this beetle found it most acceptable.  Other creatures found around the log were Woodlice, a House Spider (Tegenaria duellica), a Lace Web Spider (Amaurobius fenestralis) and Brandling Worms (Eisenia fetida).

Lesser Stag Beetle

House Spider

Lace Web Spider

Brandling Worm (Eisenia fetida)

There were a lot of flies about and think we counted at least 7 species. Greenbottle, Blue Bottle, House Fly, Saw-Fly and three I've yet to identify. A large Hoverfly was also seen around the pond and on the Brambles and was identified as a Helophilus pendulus.

Greenbottle Flies

Fly sp.

Fly sp.

Fly sp.

Hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus)

A micro moth landed on a bed sheet hanging on the washing line and was identified as an Adela fibulella.  See the UK Moths Site.

Micro moth (Adela fibulella)

There were a few slugs around and we came across a Common Keeled Slug (Tandonia budapestensis) and a Large Red Slug (Arion ater) Its body is uniform in colour but can be either orange-red or black.

Common Keeled Slug (Tandonia budapestensis)

Large Red Slug (Arion ater)

In other parts of the garden we found a Running Crab Spider (Philodromus dispar) just before it headed under the garden shed and in the compost bin were hundreds of Ants and Woodlice.

Running Crab Spider (Philodromus dispar)

Woodlice

On the Guelder Rose there were hundreds of Black Aphids and a few Ants milking them for their sticky honeydew that they produce.

Black Aphids

Ant milking a Black Aphid

Around the rockery there were two White-lipped Snails with totally different coloured shells and hidden away between the rocks a Spotted Wolf Spider (Pardosa amentata).

White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Spotted Wolf Spider (Pardosa amentata)

Finally a few which I didn't manage to photograph were Crane Fly, Green-veined White Butterfly, Large Cabbage White Butterfly, White-tailed Bumblebee, Red-tailed Bumblebee and a Wasp.

In the end we came across 23 different species, I wonder if we will be able to add to that on Sunday.

Friday Was Willow Day

What a warm day it was on Friday. After a week of rain it was great to cycle to Stanton Park and have an afternoon fishing on the lake. What I hadn't expected was an explosion of seeds from the Willows, that covered nearly 2/3 of the lake. It made fishing extremely difficult as the seeds kept clogging up the rings on my rod. However when you enjoy watching the wildlife as much as I do, it didn't really matter and I gave up and spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening watching and photographing anything that moved.

A blanket of Willow seeds across the lake

Highlights today were watching a Sparrowhawk being mobbed by a Swallow, a fly-by Red Kite, a Spotted Flycatcher and a Hornet that whizzed across in front of me.

When I arrived I heard a Treecreeper calling by the car park and down the lake at peg 4 another was heard but not seen. Throughout the afternoon Nuthatches flew across the lake sometimes in pairs, but mostly individual birds. They must have a nest on this side of the lake, but were having to fly across the lake for food from the main wood.

As I set up my fishing tackle there was a bit of commotion up the lake from me, as a pair of Tufted Duck got a little too close to a Coot and her young, then just to make matters worse for the "tufties" it appeared that a Carrion Crow was eating something close by them. Did they have a nest and it was being predated, the "tufties" were very agitated to say the least.

A Coot gives the Tufted Ducks a fright.

Later the duck Tufted Duck looks
 on as a Carrion is eating something!

Green Woodpeckers were calling all day and seem to be in competition with the Great Spotted Woodpeckers to see who could be the loudest. A Spotted Flycatcher was heard and seen twice during the afternoon, but eluded my camera. The whole lake was a chatter of birds with a lot of male Blackcaps singing around the lakeside and I even had a Garden Warbler that got very close to me, unfortunately being such skulking bird it disappeared before I could get the camera on it. Occasionally a Reed Warbler would burst into song and on one occasion there appeared to be two birds chasing each other, maybe a rival male or just a pair have a tiff. Not sure, but I'm guessing it was a pair as I only heard one male singing throughout the afternoon. A Chiffchaff was singing away behind me and there was a single bird foraging in the bushes behind me. Just the once there was a quick burst of song from a Willow Warbler and I managed to see one in the canopy above me.

Chiffchaff in the bushes 

A Willow Warbler in the canopy

There were a few birds of prey about, unfortunately no Hobby's but a Sparrowhawk that glided through was very unpopular with a Swallow that repeatedly dived bombed it as it made its way over the main wood. Later a pair of Buzzards flew over and even later at around 7:00pm a Red Kite drifted over.

A Sparrowhawk being mobbed by a Swallow

A Red Kite heading north over the lake

Also overhead there were a few Swallows and House Martins which came down to the water and high above them were up to 6 Swifts shrieking away.

Swift

Swift

On the water other than the Tufted Duck, there were approximately 15 Mallard. One pair of Mallard had 4 youngsters. The drake though is a feral bird and looking at the youngsters you can make out that two are also showing a variation in colour. There was just two Moorhens seen and a few Coot with one pair with two near adult size and another with maybe one or two day old chicks. The Mute Swans have done well and have 6 cygnets.

Mallard family (note variation of colours in the juveniles)

The resident Swans with 6 cygnets

A pair of Coot with two 1 or 2 day old chicks

Apart from the bird life there were a lot tadpoles in the shallows and a few butterflies and insects about. There were quite a few Green-veined White Butterflies and singles of Orange-tip and Brimstone. With the sun drawing the insects out, I wasn't surprised to see the Bee-fly again, but there were a few flies sp.  that were around me that I'm unsure of that just hung in the air before moving off at speed before returning to their original spot. Other insects also included a Hornet, that was on a mission and whizzed past me at high speed.

Tadpoles in the warm shallows

Fly sp.

All in all 47 birds were recorded from 2:30pm - 7:30pm
Mute Swan, A pair of Tufted Duck, 15+ Mallard plus 4 juveniles, Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Red Kite, Moorhen, Coot, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Collared Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Swallow, House Martin, Grey Wagtail, Spotted Flycatcher, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, 2 Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, 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.

Insects and butterflies recorded: Brimstone, Orange tip and Green-veined White butterflies. Fly sp., Hornet and Bee-fly.