An Awarding Winning Country Park

A good walk this afternoon covering both Stanton Park and Stratton Wood, Plenty to see with lots mixed flocks of Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tit and both Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff seen with them.

New noticeboards have gone up around both woods. Unfortunately vandals have already damaged the one at Stratton Wood. So mindless!!

Long-tailed Tit

Long-tailed Tit 

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler

In Stratton Wood a Fox was seen and there were a couple of Jays spotted as well. Other than with the tits, in the hedgerows there were also more Chiffchaff and even Blackcaps.

Chiffchaff

Chiffchaff

The pool at Stanton Park on the left as you head back to the car park had a possible Northern Red-bellied Terrapin (Pseudemys rubriventris), sun bathing on a log and there was a Southern Hawker hawking along the bank.

Possibly a Northern Red-bellied Terrapin (Pseudemys rubriventris), taking a rest on one of the pools at Stanton Park.

Also out were several butterflies mainly Speckled Woods and a couple of Peacocks. There were a few Common Carder Bumblebees and the hoverflies were out in force as the sun came out and I noted Drone Fly, Syrphus ribesii and possibly a female syrphus torvus.

Possibly a female syrphus torvus Hoverfly. Told apart from other Syrphus species, by the presence of hairs on the eyes.

Speckled Wood 

Hoverfly, Syrphus ribesii 

Drone Fly

Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)

Common Carder in the flower and just above it Crane Fly in flight

Drone Fly

Birds Recorded: Mute Swan, Mallard, Moorhen, Black-headed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Swallow, Grey Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 2 Blackcap, 5+ Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Marsh Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Wren, 2 Jay, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Starling, Chaffinch, 2 Linnet, Goldfinch, Greenfinch and Bullfinch.

Also seen: Fox, Grey Squirrel and Terrapin sp.

Invertebrate seen: 6 Speckled Wood, 2 Peacock, 3 Green-veined White, Hoverflies sp., Drone Fly, Southern Hawker, Crane Flies sp. and Bees sp.

Back To The Woods

With the weather clearing up this afternoon, it seemed a shame not to spend an hour or so walking around Stanton Park, especially with the sun out. from the car park it was straight up the main track to see how the Hornet nest was doing. Though not as many Hornets around the entrance it was quite obvious that construction work was still ongoing with another cell added to the base of the nest box and the sides of the main nest almost smooth in shape.

17th September and a lot of active Hornets

A week later and another cell attached to the nest box with fewer Hornets around

From the Hornet nest I carried on around the track and at the cross-roads carried straight over following the tree line down to the bee hives. A Chiffchaff was heard calling down hear and as I passed the apiary a small party of tits and crests passed by.

At the end of this track I turned left and headed towards the meadow, which was full of Craneflies and a few Meadow Grasshoppers. As I've done before I went through the gate and turned right, following the fence line. This is a great area for Common Darter, that like to rest up on the posts of the fence. 

A female Common Darter

And a male. Distinguishable from a Ruddy Darter by a yellow stripe on the legs, whereas the legs of a Ruddy Darter are all black.

Also seen in the meadow were Meadow Grasshoppers, a Comma butterfly feeding on the Blackberries, a 7-spot Ladybird gorging itself on an aphid and a Flesh Fly.

A 7-spot Ladybird feeding on an aphid

A Flesh Fly. This is an interesting fly in that instead of laying eggs it gives birth to live maggots which are either deposited or dropped mid-air.

A Comma feasts on a Blackberry

I had no idea how long the legs could be on a "Daddy-long-legs", these are huge. This species of crane fly is 1 of 300 species found in Britain according to the RSPB, yet the Wildlife Trust say there are only 94 species, so I'm not that sure how many there are in Britain. What I do know is, this has been an amazing year for them. I don't think there have been many homes that haven't seen one this Autumn. They are everywhere!

Also seen in the pools along the main track were a few juvenile Moorhen. I'm just hoping this one remembers to uncross his legs before stepping off!

This has also been a very fruitful year for a lot plants and the Beech has done very well with lots of Beech Mast.

Here are some overhanging the meadow.

One of many Drone Flies seen on the brambles, but what I wasn't expecting was this ......................

As this one took off (top left) I somehow managed to capture its shadow on the bramble leaf. What are the chances of that!

Birds recorded: Mute Swan, Mallard, Buzzard, Moorhen, Black-headed Gull, Wood Pigeon, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 10 House Martin, 4 Swallow, Grey Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 1 Song Thrush, 2 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Marsh Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Wren, 1 Jay, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Chaffinch, 2 Linnet and Goldfinch.

Butterflies seen: Green-veined White and a Comma.

Dragonflies: 5 Common Darters and a Southern Hawker.

Other insects: Hornets, Drone Flies, Wasps, Crane Flies, 7-spot Ladybird and a Meadow Grasshopper

I'm Free Well Almost

Today was a bit special as Phil Deacon popped around to the house, so that a ring could be placed on a Wood Pigeon I rescued 2 weeks back. This little fellow fell out of his nest and damaged himself, but after two weeks of care and rehabilitation, he's now ready to be released back into the wild. I'm thinking he's approximately 5 weeks old.

A fine looking specimen

Weighing in at 278 grams

And a Wingspan of 230 mm

This was his first attempt at taking off, but failed, so I shall try again tomorrow and somewhere cat free.

Thank you to Phil for taking the time to ring him / her and who knows I might get to see him in the garden this winter. The Wood Pigeon that is.

Call That a Photo!

I can honestly say hand on heart, the following set of photographs are probably the worse I've ever taken, but with these raptors flying so high it was the best I was going to get. Early afternoon there were a pair of Sparrowhawks and at least 3 Buzzards circling high, and I mean high, above the estate. Their vision and senses must be so acute to see their prey from such a height. Needless to say the following images are greatly cropped, but at least you can tell what they are, just!

The day started off with a pair of Buzzards circling overhead before they headed off northeast.

A few minutes a pair of Sparrowhawks came into view, though to be honest the one in the top left hand corner was heading in a different direction and I only just got them both in shot. The one in the bottom right hand corner was lucky I didn't crop his wing.

However the one closest to me did at least drop down a few hundred feet so that I could a slightly better view of it.

And then the finale was a light phase Buzzard which headed east over the house.
And just to show how bad a day I was having, I've also included a Chiffchaff in the Leylandii at the back of the house. Taken through a misty window, using the incorrect shutter speed, totally out of focus and heavily enhanced in Photoshop. Well at least it shows that it's a Chiffchaff.

Hmm a Chiffchaff, that was not my best effort, but looking better than the original below

Definitely a snap shot

 Tomorrows another day..................

If You Go Down To The Woods Today......

....you will see a huge Hornets nest at Stanton Park. From the car park, head up the main track and just past the bird feeders on your left there is, I believe, a Douglas Fir Tree. Not 100% sure if it's that species, but it's the big fir tree on your left and about 20ft up it, there's a nest box attached to it. Looking at the nest it appears the Hornets must have started off in the box, via the hole and then built out from it. Its quite impressive.

The nest box is about 20ft up the tree

And the hole for the nest box is now enveloped by the Hornets nest.

The main entrance of the nest is from below.

Where there is a constant coming and going

On the outside of the main nest there are several small "cubicles". More egg chambers maybe!

Also seen today lots of Common Darters, with I'm assuming, several immature males. I hope I've got this right, but I will check. Note: Apparently newly-emerged adult dragonflies are known as tenerals, and are a pale green colour at first, with only hints of the final adult patterning.

An "immature" male Common Darter

A female Common Darter

Not a great pose for identification purposes, but I think this is an adult male Common Darter.

Also seen this afternoon a 7-spot Ladybird on the same thistle I found what I'm 99.9% sure was a Pine ladybird. Shame I couldn't find one today, but perhaps it was in the fir trees overhanging the thistles. Also about a few Speckled Wood and singles of Red Admiral and Peacock butterflies. On one of the thistles I came across a Copse Snail, Arianta arbustorum.

7-spot Ladybird

Red Admiral

Copse Snail, Arianta arbustorum. How does it avoid those spikes!!

Along the stream heading towards the waterfall I came across a Common Spindle, Euonymus europaeus in flower with a few seeds starting to appear. And at the far end of the pool the Swans were feeding in the shallows.

The Common or European Spindle with a few seeds starting to appear.

The Swans at the shallow end of the pool

Birds recorded: Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Mallard, 2 Buzzard, Moorhen, Black-headed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Great Spotted Woodpecker, House Martin, Swallow, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, 2 Blackcap, 7 Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Marsh Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Starling, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Bullfinch.

Also seen: 1 Peacock butterfly, 3 Speckled Wood, 1 Red Admiral, Hornets nest, lots of Common Darters, Southern Hawker, a 7-spot Ladybird and a Copse Snail (Arianta arbustorum).