Pool Side

What was going to be a quick walk around Nythe Pool actually took me an hour with so much to see. What was noticeable was the number of Blackcaps around the pool and a few metres up Dorcan Brook towards the Sub-station. In total I had 5 singing males and 2 females. One of the males was collecting nesting material and was still able to singing with his beak full. There were a few Chiffchaffs in song and all around were Robins, Blackbirds, Chaffinches, Collared Doves and even a Song Thrush all singing away.

On the pool were 7 Mallard and 9 ducklings, which I wasn't expecting. There were 5 drakes and 2 ducks, with one of the ducks taking care of the ducklings. However I think she must have taken on a paternal role and had some ducklings from another Mallards brood. I couldn't understand it at first but it does make sense now, because one of the drakes was continuously trying to drive the "mother" duck off the pool. The only conclusion I can come up with, is the fact that some of the ducklings are his offspring and I can only surmise that he's trying to keep her away from them, despite the fact that hers are mixed in with them.

Apart from taking off a couple of times and sneaking around the back of the pool to rejoin the ducklings, she also took them off into the reed bed in attempt to hide them and herself from the drake. Hopefully the drake will give up eventually and let her get on with raising them.

As I walked back home I stopped to chat to one of the local residents, who as it turned out was very interested in wildlife and also disappointed in the state of the pool. As we chatted she was telling me about the Pheasant and Tawny Owl that have been around the past few weeks. Its always nice to hear that others have seen and heard some of the birds I've reported from Nythe lately. I shall have to go out one evening and have a look for this Tawny Owl!

Anyway here are a few images from my walk today.

Nythe Pool

A male Blackcap with nesting material

Another male.....

....giving it his all.

A lone Red Kite......

..........passed over the pool looking for a free snack.

In the hedgerow lots of Wrens flitting about.

The hedge running alongside Dorcan Brook

A rather overgrown and much neglected Nythe Pool, with TV sets, buckets, wheelie bins and hundreds of plastic bottles and cans in amongst the vegetation.

So it did come as a surprise that even when you drop hints to the Local Council and Environment Agency that the pool could do with a "Spring" clean, that these 9 ducklings have somehow managed to hatch out close-by.

A duckling takes a break from swimming around.

However mum is not having such a good time of it, as a drake seems intent on driving her off the pool.  I think this is an attempt to separate her from some of his ducklings that have mixed in with hers.

Now this is the other female Mallard. She is either completely oblivious to what's going on or has accepted the fact her ducklings are being cared for by another duck. Or of course they aren't hers.

Drone Fly

I'm sure this Lady's Smock, Cardamine pratensis

And feeding on the Lady's Smock this Marmalade Hoverfly.

One of a few Speckled Woods flying around in Nythe Wood.

A Goldcrest, honest.

Birds Recorded: 6 Mallard (4 drakes, 2 ducks and 9 ducklings), 1 Red Kite, 2 Moorhen, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Grey Wagtail heard, Dunnock, Robin, 12+ Blackbird, 2 Song Thrush, 7 Blackcap (5m, 2f), 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Goldcrest, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow, Chaffinch.

Also: Drone Flies, Marmalade Hoverfly, 5 Orange-tips, 2 Small White, 1 Large White.

A Tale Of Two Woods

Not being able to park up at Stratton Wood car park, because of pipe laying, I decided to park up at Stanton Park and walk to Stratton Wood via the track that leads you to Kingsdown Lane. Once on the lane I headed north, past the crematorium and then into Stratton Wood on my left.  No narrative today, just a few images of what I saw and a few captions to go with them.

Stanton Park

Yellow-bellied Terrapin in the right hand pool as you head up the main drive from the car park. He was still there I when I came back from my walk 2 hours later.

The first of many Bluebells that are now appearing throughout the wood.

This is the Hornets nest from last year. Either kids have been throwing sticks etc at it or the Woodpeckers took an interest in it. It would be nice to think it was the latter.

There's always a Robin to photograph and this was very vocal.

Both Wood Anemones and Lesser Celandine flowering alongside each other.

A male Blackcap high up in the canopy. A difficult shot through all the branches. But that's where many of them are at this time of year, as they set up their territories and sing out loud to entice a female to their patch.

Now in the distance, where the tall trees are, is Kingsdown Way and behind that is the Crematorium. If I turned round 180 degrees I would be facing Stanton Park. The footpath has always run along the hedge-line you can see on the right. This year there is rapeseed on the left, the new "track" I'm standing on and what looks like a set-a-side running up to the hedge. If anyone has ever walked along the hedgerow footpath in the winter, it is horrendous. So this new path is looking good for this year.

Just before you back to the the car park, you cross the stream. I hadn't realised there were fish in there albeit Sticklebacks. But there were dozens of them.

This one was feeding in the mud, but as to what species it is, I'm unsure. Have to get a net out if the Wardens will let me, unless of course they know what they are! It's either a three-spined or nine-spined Stickleback (AKA ten-spined). 

Note:

In the UK there are three recognised species: the three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus and the nine-spined stickleback Pungitius pungitius can be found in freshwater, saltwater or brackish waters, whereas the fifteen-spined stickleback Spinachia spinachia is purely marine More Here

Birds Recorded: 5 Mallard in flight, Moorhen, Wood Pigeon, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, Skylark, 1 Swallow, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, 4 Blackcap, 4 Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Marsh Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Nuthatch, Wren, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Chaffinch and Goldfinch.

Butterflies seen: Speckled Wood, Orange-tip (male and female), Green-veined White, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell.

Also: Terrapin and Sticklebacks sp.

Stratton Wood

In the background a storage facility for caravans off Kingsdown Lane, but the hedgerow here on the right produced a Lesser Whitethroat, my first of the year.

Several Goldfinches about and this chap posed for me no less than 20ft away.

A bit further away was this Chiffchaff, and was 1 of 5 heard singing here at Stratton

Apologies for this series of images but it was fascinating to watch this Bee-fly hover above the soil and then drop down to "lay" her eggs.

I've never seen this before but reading up on it, it appears that the female will disperse her eggs by either flicking them into holes or depositing one at a time.

Once dispersed she was up again before........

.............finding another spot.......

....time and time again.......

..........and again.....

The adults will keep searching for nests of solitary bees, wasps and beetles and when they find one, hover near the nest entrance, and will either dip their abdomen into the surface of the soil to lay their eggs or flick them in.

The hatched larvae then lives off the unfortunate bee, wasp or beetle larvae.

This Peacock butterfly was making the most of the sun as it fed on the nectar of this Blackthorn out in flower.

Other butterflies out today were Orang-tip, both male and female and this Speckled Wood.

I also came across a Brimstone and this Small Tortoiseshell.

Apart from the Anemones and Blue Bells, the Cowslips are now well out in flower

Very similar to Primroses the tall stem tells it apart.

Birds recorded were: 1 Buzzard, Wood Pigeon, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, Skylark, 1 Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 10 Blackcap, 5 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Nuthatch, Wren, 1 Jay, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Linnet, Goldfinch, and 8+ Bullfinch.

Butterflies seen: Brimstone, Speckled Wood, Orange-tip (male and female), Green-veined White, Large white, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell.

Other invertebrate: Bee-fly, Drone Fly, White-tailed Bumblebee, a Grasshopper sp.

Also 1 Rabbit and a Grey Squirrel

Spring Sun

Another trip to Liden Lagoon was interesting with some good highlights and a "high" which resulted in a low. I parked up opposite Barnmoor Close and walked clock-wise around the lagoon. The first birds to catch my attention were two male Blackcaps competing with each other vocally by the overflow and as they did so a Swallow passed over head, heading north.

A male Blackcap 

Competes with another male.

4 male Blackcaps present here today.

Along the paths Ground Ivy is in flower.

Just as you walk behind the bungalow there is an open patch with several new saplings growing, which were planted last year. The area has been recently cleared and there were butterflies and Drone flies everywhere. The were at least 3 Peacock, an Orange-tip, Brimstone, Holly Blue and a "3-winged" Speckled Wood. The Drone Flies were all resting on the nettles and as you walked past them they all took off. In amongst them were a several Hoverfly, Syrphus ribesii.

Peacock Butterfly

In my narrative I've put this down as 3-winged Speckled Wood. On closer examination I think it actually only has 2½.

Hoverfly, Syrphus ribesii

The same hoverfly

Drone Fly, just one of dozens at the lagoon today

Once over the stream it was back up the other side where I came across an Alderfly, more Drone Flies and a 7-spot Ladybird. Above me in the Hawthorns a Grey Squirrel was upsetting the resident Long-tailed Tits, which must be nesting close-by. Whether it was after the eggs of the tits or the Wood Pigeon that was also nesting there I'm not sure, but the Wood Pigeon was having none of it and somehow managed to chase the Squirrel off. Also above was a Sparrowhawk that caused further havoc as it glided low over the water.

Alder Fly

7-spot Ladybird

The local Sparrowhawk that joined in with the Grey Squirrel to upset the local birds.

Further down the path, which runs adjacent to the A419, there are many fishing platforms and from one of these I could see a Little White Egret on the north bank of the South Island. Also on this island was another Blackcap singing alongside a Chiffchaff.  Looking across to the other side of the boom, that joins the two islands together, were dozens of large gulls and in total I managed tot up at least 28 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 36 Herring Gulls of all ages.

A bit of stretch after standing on its right leg for awhile.

Around the southern end of the lagoon were last years pen and her two youngsters, which have been tolerated by the new resident pair. The lagoon is obviously big enough for them all, but it is most unusual for a cob to accept them!

The lone pen and her youngsters still present on the Lagoon, despite a new pair nesting at the far end of the water.
Also at this end of the pool was Willow Warbler singing from the tall trees next to the Edale Moor estate and on the water were the resident pair of Gadwall that seem to enjoy being here, but don't seemed prepared to nest here though. Under the surface were a few Mirror Carp and Common Carp swimming around, with at least 4 fish over the 8-9lb mark.

The drake Gadwall

And his mate

A nice size Common Carp in the shallows

Along with a Mirror Carp

As I headed up the tarmac path, back towards the car park, another Blackcap was heard singing from the gardens on my left. There was also a pair of Goldfinches in the Alders and a couple of Magpies and a Carrion Crow on the path.

Looking across the Lagoon I could see the Great Crested Grebes nest which looked enormous. It was only when I took a look with my binoculars, I realised that perched on top of this 18" high nest was a Coot. The Great Crested Grebes had abandoned it and were building another nest about 10 feet further back.

What was the Great Crested Grebes nest, which has now been taken over by a Coot

One of the pair of Great Crested Grebes building a new nest.

Looking at the depth of the water I realised that it had dropped at least 6 - 8" making the nest to high for them. Grebes like the nest to be just above the water-line and unfortunately the water level was very low. It was this point I decided to carry on past the car park and head back to the overflow. On the way there, the new pair of Mute Swans have nested under the Willows next to the benches. Normally Mute Swans here have nested on the island, so this should be interesting to see how this pans out.

The new pair of Mute Swans have decided to build their nest under the Willows by the benches.

Back at the overflow, I could see that one of the boards that controls the height of the water had been removed and as a result had increased the height of the grebes nest to such a point it was too high for them to get into. Because of the nature of the nest, it didn't drop down as the water ran out of the lagoon. I guess they make nests at the low water mark and if the water rises, so the nest rises with it. But unfortunately with the opposite happening the water levels dropped but the nest didn't, leaving high and dry.

The overflow that has had a board removed......

........so dropping the water level by a good 6-8"

Birds Recorded: 2 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Little Egret, 5 Mute Swan (resident pair and last years pen and her 2 juveniles), 30+ Canada Goose, Mallard, 1 pair Gadwall, Sparrowhawk, Moorhen, Coot, 36 Herring Gull, 28 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Wood Pigeon, 1 Swallow, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 1 Song Thrush, 4 Blackcap, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, 2 Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, 2 Magpie, Carrion Crow, 11 House Sparrow and 2 Goldfinch.

Also 2 Peacock, 1 Brimstone, 1 Orange-tip, Holly Blue and a Speckled Wood.

Other invertebrate were dozens of Drone Flies, Alder Fly, Hoverfly (Syrphus ribesii), White-tailed Bumble bee and Common Wasp.

Fish seen 3 Common Carp and a Mirror Carp