Plastic ducks

Quick trip to Martin mere WWT with Dad this morning enroute to doing a bit of Bike shopping.

Below are a few snaps of a few 'Plastic' Captive Wildfowl they keep there. In the captive area it's just like a zoo but for birds and it's interesting to see and photograph such rare species up close, but you have to remember they are still 'plastic' and try and draw yourself away from this section and back to the nature reserve itself. However it is still a great place to practice photography on relatively tame individuals. Obviously i know the Otters aren't Birds.

I don't remember the names of all the species, but here's a short list (in order); Asian Otter, Red-crested pochard, Chiloe wigeon, Chilean flamingo, Teal sp., Teal sp., Chiloe wigeon, Teal sp., Eider duck.

 

On the wild side on the marshes at Martin mere, there were plenty of Whooper swan still about, no doubt readying themselves for the big trip back to Iceland in the next couple days or so. Also lost of Pink footed geese and Pintail. Nothing out of the ordinary to report though.

Whooper swans

Evolution of Birds...

...or well Ground feeding Birds in my garden anyway...

Quite recently, in the past ten years or so, with the increasing number of Bird feeders in people's gardens birds such as Robins, Dunnocks, Wrens, Blackbirds and even Pigeons, which originally were termed 'Ground feeding' Birds (due to their preference to feed from tables and the ground as their habits and body were suited best for this) have now started to become Feeder birds and learnt the abilities to either sit on bird feeders like regular feeder birds (such as Finches, Sparrows, etc), hover next to the feeder briefly and snatch a bit of food in flight or simply sit on branches adjacent to the feeders and peck from them.

The Robins and Dunnocks in my garden have taken to actually learning to sitting on feeders like regular feeder birds. The blackbirds have however learnt the, sitting on the branch next to the feeder, approach.


The below pictures show a Female, a Male and lastly an Immature Male Blackbird feeding from a fat-cake feeder in my garden. This has only just started to occur this year. Definitely evolution of Blackbirds in my garden.

Pictures are poor quality due to being taken through a dirty kitchen window. Must get round to sorting that out......

British Reptilia

Of all the Groups of different living things found in the British isles, Reptiles are one of my favourite. I have seen and photographed 6 of the Reptile species in the UK. I am still yet to see Grass snake, Green lizard or any of the Marine turtles.

From the Lizard family i have encountered many Common Lizards, a good few (about 20) Slow worms (although my first ever was only last year), 1 Wall lizard and 2 Sand lizards.

Common lizards can be found in a variety of habitats all around the Country although best chances of seeing them are in Southern, more warmer areas. I have had my most numerous and best views around the Westmorland mosses in South Cumbria where on a Sunny day i have seen up to 50 at once.

Common lizard - Cumbria 2012

I saw my first Slow worm last year and was amazed how Snake-like they are, i couldn't believe they are technically 'legless' Lizards. Found in suitable habitat similar to Common lizards, they like to bask and hide in sheltered warm areas of grassland. The most i have seen was down South in Dorset out on the Heathlands. Slow worms are my favourite of the British Reptiles because they are the easiest to safely capture and hold and are so soft in the hand.

Slow worm - Dorset 2012

After a good 1 hour search of suitable Wall lizard habitat down on the Bournemouth coastline i only managed to find one and this was a Juvenile, but it was nice enough. Wall lizards are introduced but have naturally colonised sheltered South-facing grassy cliffs on the South coast over time.

Wall lizard - Dorset 2012

Like wall lizard i've only seen Sand lizard at one place, at a very good heathland habitat in Dorset. I saw 2 individuals on the day, both a male and a female. The male was bright green on it's flanks, it was beautiful. Sand lizards are a rare Lizard that live in Sandy heaths (hence the name) or Sand dunes, there are a few up north in the Lancashire coastal dunes but they are very rare.

Sand lizard - Dorset 2012

Of the Snake family i have seen one Adder and had the great pleasure of seeing 3 Smooth snakes.

I saw the one Adder in 2011 at a Raised peatbog habitat in South Cumbria, they are such nice Snakes and i was so glad to have found one, however it ended up biting my mate who i was with and he had such a severe reaction to it he had to go to hospital for a week. That was an eventful day...

Adder - Cumbria 2011

Smooth snakes are the rarest and most endangered native Reptile in the UK and are only found on Sandy Heathlands on the South coast. I saw my first and only Smooth snakes last year on the South coast, they were pretty amazing.

Smooth snake - Dorset 2012

So they were the Reptiles i have seen in the UK. Obviously i have tonnes more pictures than just one each of them, and i also have various pictures of some of them in the hand, but they shall be kept for a later date...

1 Day, 2 Seasons?

Today in the morning of the 11th March 2013, the climate in my suburban garden, in the space of about 1 hour, went from fairly Spring-like conditions with a relatively mild, green and blossoming atmosphere to a very Wintery snowy scene with all signs of life retreated or hidden away behind snow and ice.

The term Seasons is almost indefinable in the UK anymore. They all seem to mix into one sort of blur consisting of mild-ish overcast drizzly weather. Ever increasingly we are seeing cooler and wetter Summers, warmer and drier Winters, and Spring mixing into somewhere in between. Last year we saw a very warm Spring with a very warm late March then in Early April temperatures plummeting into wet and cold again shortly afterwards, with some areas seeing snowfall. This had devastating for many British species including Invertebrates (particularly Butterflies), Migrating Birds and Amphibians.

The last two weeks haven't been quite the same but with a mild past couple weeks and then the arrival of snow and ice early this week, some similar effects will no doubt take hold on some wildlife in the area.
For instance in my garden, the Frogs and Newts have arrived out of Hibernation last week as temperatures had risen slightly to near 10c, but this week temperatures have dropped below 0 again, and now the ponds are frozen. If it stays like this for a good couple weeks, this will no doubt have some effect on the frogs spawning this Spring (maybe pushing it back later) and possibly even affect the individuals themselves, as the water may be too cold for them.

Below are a few pics from this morning, in order of being taken, showing just how quickly conditions can change, and the effect it can have on various species. Under the ice of the snow there are currently c40 breeding Common frogs and c10 Smooth newt.

Purple Crocus in the sun.. 11 AM

Snowdrop

Daffodill

Frozen pond A... 12 PM

Frozen pond B

A very snowy back garden... 1 PM

Frozen pond B

If you have a pond and it is currently active with Amphibians and you would like to keep part of the pond unfrozen so allowing them access in and out, it is firstly important to remember never to smash the ice on a pond in freezing conditions, for the vibrations can kill aquatic animals. You must either, before the pond freezes float a small ball on the surface, allowing for a hole to form overnight (and then remove the ball in the day) or if the pond is already frozen, very slowly add warm water to the surface of the ice allowing it to slowly melt, but never hot water.

The Owls that hide... very, very well

A quick trip to Marton mere LNR near Blackpool with my mum to see what was about on this cold, windy and overall miserable day. Highlights of the short walk were seeing the two long staying Long-eared owls (my 5th year seeing them there), hearing a Cetti's warbler call in the reeds, lots of wildfowl on the water (Teal, Shoveler, Gadwall, etc) and a few spring flowers coming into bloom.

The Long-eared owls winter at the reserve and only come out at night to feed, during the day they roost in Apple trees and others similar. They are notoriously hard to find and even when you do find them even then they are hard to view (as my mum will tell you). They get themselves right into the branchy, stunted apple trees and their body is so well camouflaged they are almost impossible to see, but when you do see them they are very impressive. Their fluffy bodies and tufts of ears (hence 'Long-eared owl') give them away nicely. We saw two of the three that are present currently. A couple pictures below show their whereabouts (to show just how hard to see they are) and another picture cropped and zoomed in to show it (it's hard to see i don't blame you if you can't see it).

Marton mere LNR

Miniature Daffodils

Long-eared owl site

Long-eared owl

The male and female Siskins were also back on my garden feeders this morning, which certainly made a grey day that much brighter. The male (bottom) is so bright yellow, they're so nice to look at.

Male and Female Siskins

Early emergence

My dad told me he saw a large dark butterfly flying across the main road today on his way to work. This was probably a Red admiral or Peacock butterfly emerging out of hibernation with this mild weather recently.

My first butterflies last year were a Small tortoiseshell and a Peacock in late March, maybe with this recent sun i'll see one even sooner this year.

Another couple of species worth looking for at the start of Spring in March, are Sand martins, usually arriving late March / early April (i saw my first of last year about 15th March) and Wheatears (i saw my first about the 20th March last year).

The two spoken of above are two of a great number of migrating birds that come from Africa and the like to spend the Summer in Britain. If they arrive to early when it's nice mild spring weather then we have a frosty cooler spell in late March/early April it can be disastrous and even life threatening for these Birds. Lets hope this warm(ish) stint continues through Spring or it could be fatal for many Spring emerging Birds, Butterflies, Amphibians and even plants.

Breakfast Birding

Sat at the table in the morning having breakfast i always find at least half an hour to watch what birds can be seen at the garden feeders. My garden has always been really good for birds, with a variety of common to scarce birds seen and in good numbers. This can be put down to good positioning in migratory movements of the birds, good habitat in the area and well topped up feeders in my garden.

In the feeders i have Sunflower hearts, Nijer seed, Peanuts, Fat balls and Bird cakes, as well as loose seed and bread on a table.

Below are some pictures from this morning's watch, during the consumption of my bran flakes. Apologies for the misty effect of the pictures, they are taken through a fairly dirty kitchen window

Nuthatch

Coal tit and Goldfinch

Goldfinch, Greenfinch and Nuthatch

Blackbird

Greenfinch and Goldfinch

Goldfinches

Jay

What sort of birds are you seeing in the vacinity of your residential area?

Oak rant

Just a short way down from my road work has started on a large roundabout which connects a major A-road and two Motorways. The work to be completed is to increase the number of lanes on the roundabout and create a new slipway for the motorway. This however means decreasing the size of the roundabout and the surrounding land adjacent to it. Inside the middle of the roundabout (until yesterday) were two majestic English Oak trees, probably over a century old, and another at the side next to the roundabout.

Yesterday all three of these were cut down in the space of a day to make way for more space for impatient motorists so they can get to where they want quicker. The oaks were most probably habitat to hundreds of individual species (birds, insects, lichen, funghi etc) and not to mention great value in terms of ecological heritage and history for the area.

Oh well not anymore, anyway who needs grand oak trees full of wildlife when you can have four lanes instead of three!? it makes so much sense obviously. When this wonderful period of destruction is concluded i presume the greatly intellectual road labourers on site will proceed to refill the roundabout and surrounding areas with the usuals such as Wild cherrys, Maples and Hollys because these are of course the most biodiversely benificial replacements for Oak trees. When these said species have matured in years to come the wildlife in this small ecosystem will be much decreased than before and not to mention much less attractive. We are so focused on the present and making sure everything is smooth and efficient and tidy, so we can get from A to B in as short a time as possible without caring for what's affected in the meantime. One day we will wake up and smell the roses (if there's any left).

I hate to admit as a species we can be so disregardful towards our environment and incredibly naive to think that our actions will not have an impact upon us in the future. Rant over.

Has anyone else witnessed anything similar in their area recently that they've found equally frustrating?

Exit hibernation. Enter spring

The start of March, and the start of Spring. Hawthorns are throwing out leaf shoots, Lords and Ladies sprouting in woodlands and Bluebells emerging. However this evening i was focused on finding what amphibious spring life was emerging from the undergrowth.

Common frogs and Smooth newts are the most common of the UK's Amphibians and can be found in many ponds in a variety of habitats, including gardens. They hibernate from around October to February (varying depending on Winter temperatures), in an assortment of suitable hibernating spots, for example piles of logs, areas of mixed cobbles and old housing debris and in the undergrowth of some plant material.

In my suburban garden i have two ponds, one large, one smaller. Both very good for Common frogs during the summer and the smaller one also being very good for Smooth newts too.

As the sun disappeared and the garden entered into darkness i took to it with a torch and within a few feet i found tens of frogs emerging from hibernation heading towards the two ponds (both of which were already alive with the croaking of active Males).

Common frogs

A quick check of the smaller pond soon found two male Smooth newts fresh out of hibernation ready for the soon to arrive females.

Smooth newt

Newts are my favourite. Always been fascinated by them and still can't believe we have them in my garden, even though they've been there for over 5 years, still a treat to witness.


Great to see the newts and frogs again, here's to hoping we don't see another frosty spell anytime this spring...

What signs of Spring are there in your area? 

Waxwing. What a bird

Waxwings are a winter visitor from Scandinavia and the like, about the size of a Starling (and very similar to in flight, particularly in big flocks) with peachy colours and awesome red and yellow 'wax' like blobs on their feather tips. They also have a really cool 'quif-like' hairdo. They are a fluctuating winter visitor so they don't come every year, only when food stocks run short on the Continent, this year though plenty have been in the Country and so i've had my fair share of views. They love to feed on berries in big flocks, usually Rowan and Hawthorn in early winter and Cotoneaster later on (Jan onwards). Rowan and Cotoneaster are usually found in modern housing and development estates so making finding and viewing of these smart birds excellent. I have also found that the Waxwing is one of a very few kinds of bird that for some reason are (to a point obviously) relatively unafraid of Humans, making viewing opportunities for them much better than most birds.
Usually finding them means looking for big flocks of birds feeding on these berry-type plants, but another way of identifying their presence is by listening. Their call is very unique and a real treat to hear and this can be heard both in flight and when sat resting or feeding.

^^ Came across this wonderful flock of around 40 Waxwing in town the other day. They ran me around a bit first of all, on my 1960's Peugeot bicycle in between the narrow back streets of Preston, before finally landing on a large Ash tree near Avenham park (Preston), and then eventually moving onto a Cotoneaster bush below. They gorged on the bright red berries, calling as they went, for a good half hour before moving on.


Later on that day i encountered another flock around 20 nearer to Ashton, again starting in a big group on a larger tree (Poplar this time i think), then moving down into a Cotoneaster in someone's garden (lucky them! although knowing most people they probably didn't recognise them as Waxwings and probably thought they were just large Sparrows. Although lets be honest, they probably didn't even recognise Birds were in their garden at all.

Two day later though i completed a life ambition and found 2 Waxwings within the vacinity of my own garden! Couldn't believe my luck, something i've wished for since i started Birding properly a decade ago. Unfortunately these flew off within twenty minutes, i have however put apples out since and can only hope they return.

The most waxwings i've seen since their arrival in the Country in early Winter, and a great week of waxies overall.

Anyone else seen any Waxwings recently?

Blogging... again...

A couple years ago i stopped blogging for whatever reason, probably due to university and the loss of my camera, etc. But now i plan to blog again, especially with the arrival of Spring just round the corner.

I have encountered a vast amount of wildlife and taken many a picture in the few years since i last blogged, however i am much too lazy to blog all that up to now, so all my posts will most likely start from the present onwards (with maybe the odd exception of a couple in reference to past occasions).



This blog will be an account of all the interesting wildlife records i make during the week and/or any relevant photography i manage to engage in at the same time.

I hope you find it interesting and enjoyable(?)

Hummingbird hawkmoth (Portland Bill - July 2011)