Thursday 26 February 2015

Trio of Waterside Birds in Central Tiverton

Tiverton is where I grew up and indeed where my parents still live. As a result it is somewhere we visit often. It is also where I first developed my love of wildlife and natural history. It is a real pleasure to come back and visit regularly. My parents have a large garden with lots of interesting wildlife, unfortunately, due to their neighbour selling his land to a property developer the wildlife has been reduced somewhat!!! 


Tiverton


River Exe


My main target this holiday was for a more urban encounter. Whilst Tiverton is not a teaming metropolis it is indeed a built up environment where we don't expect to see much wildlife.  However, I have set myself a trio of birds to spot right in the centre of the town. The birds were three small water birds.


Buzzard


On Monday morning I set off full of anticipation and expectation. First we had to walk along the A396 and then on to the Exe river walk. It is here that my search started. Looking out on the the river bank, every time I saw something move I lifted my binoculars to my eyes. First a Wren, then a Song Thrush, then a Blue Tit. Then my wife saw target bird number one, and I, out of the corner of my eye saw a flash of iridescent blue with the sound of “zii-ti, zii-ti, zii-ti”. It had flown towards the town centre. But not too far away and we could see it perched on a branch hanging over the river. We watched if for a few minutes hoping to see it fish, but the numbers of people around meant it didn't stay put for too long. 






Number two was soon spotted as another flash of yellow flew passed and landed a few metres away on the concrete bank. Gray wagtail is one of my favourite birds and one that I love to see. I think I am hypnotised by its tail wagging. I spent the next half hour chasing it up and down the river trying to photograph it. I had a brief attempt to find bird number 3, but unfortunately I could not see it, giving in quite quickly and deciding to go for a coffee and piece of cake. 


Grey Wagtail


The next day myself and my wife went to dartmoor for a two day walk with wild camp. On our return we were informed by my son that he had seen my illusive bird number 3 on his walk. That was it, Thursday first thing we were off. Only we woke to some classic Devon rain. It rarely rains all day in Devon so I spent the morning looking out of the window hoping for it to stop, whilst watching the bird life of my parents garden (20 species in total). It eventually stopped raining and we were off. I first had to convince my children to come along by bribing them with sweets.


Black-Headed Gull
Herring Gull

On our walk into town we very easily spotted the Kingfisher and Grey wagtail again, but that was all. A quick stop for sweets and we were back along the river Exe. Eyes were focused on the rocks on the opposite bank. Then I spotted two kingfishers flying up river just as my son spotted our target bird flying down stream. The excitement was eminence as we followed its path down river. There it was bobbing up and down on a rock before diving into the fast flowing rapids of the river Exe under a road bridge in the centre of Tiverton. A Dipper. 





The amazing thing is on this afternoon we spotted these birds in a town centre on a busy river walk. With young families feeding ducks (and pigeons/gulls) and people walking dogs, none of them aware of these wonderful and beautiful birds flying past. Dippers are amazingly adapted little birds. 

  • They have evolved several adaptions to help them live a semi-aquatic life. They have an extra thick layer of down to keep them warm in the cold river. 
  • They also have a special gland that secrets an oil which they spread on their feathers to keep them waterproof.  
  • A movable flap on their nostril which they close when under water. 
  • They also have a third eyelid that they use like a windscreen wiper underwater
  • They also have higher concentrations of haemoglobin in their blood so they can spend longer underwater. 
All in all they are great little birds that are perfectly evolved for their place in the ecosystem. 


Sunday 22 February 2015

Journey to Devon - Ham Wall and Shapwick Heath

February half-term meant a trip to Devon to see my parents. We also had a busy schedule planned.  First up was a call in to Ham Wall (RSPB) and Shapwick Heath (English Nature) reserves on the Somerset levels. Both are stunningly beautiful and have an amazing array of wildlife. The main attraction for us was the Starling murmurations. We had called the starling hot line and been informed that the roost could be viewed from Ham Wall viewing platform nuumber 2.

Shapwick Heath


We arrived at around 1 o'clock so decided to have a look around Shapwick first and then walk over to the viewing platform for around 5. Highlights were the Great White Egret and Marsh Harrier, both of which I never tire of watching. I was disappointed that my only view of the Marsh Harrier was short and distant. There were also good numbers of Pochard and Wigeon.

Bracket Fungi



As it got closer to 5 so the excitement started to build, and so did the people. There were quite a few by the time we got to the viewing platform. It was not long before we started to see the first few groups of starling coming in met with great excitement from the relatively large crowd.


Ham Wall


Very quickly there were uncountable numbers of starling swirling in the sky in front of us with the crowd  behind  gasping with delight. It was quite breath taking. I was really pleased to see large numbers of families with small children watching one of natures greatest displays. Unfortunately, they were a long way off and only performed for a couple of minutes but we were very pleased that we had the privilege to watch them.





How and why they do this is not fully understood. However, being in large group will offer safety in numbers from predators. They will also gain warmth from each other in the roost, and vital information about feeding sights. Despite these huge numbers in the murmurations starling, like so much of our wildlife is in decline and starlings have reduced by over 70% in the last 30 years!!!!! If this continues those children at Ham Wall could be amongst the last people to see such a wonderful display.

Monday 9 February 2015

Sunday Afternoon's and The National Trust

On Sunday the sun shone. There is something quite special about walking around a National Trust Garden and park land. It can take you on a journey and provide an experience that could not happen without the presence of the National Trust's hard work. Sunday we went to Croome Park, which is just a few miles south of Worcester and is the location where Capability Brown made his name as a landscape gardener. Indeed the park land is quite spectacular, it is well laid out and has a great selection of trees perfectly positioned with follies of various kinds catching your eye. 

Croome Parkland




For me the real draw is the man made lake that runs through the centre of the parkland and in front of the house. The variety of wildlife is exceptional. There are often large numbers of Geese seen, as there were on this occasion, well over 100. In addition, to geese there were herons, swans, mallards, gadwall, tufted Ducks, kingfisher and a little grebe. This little grebe was the first I had ever spotted at Croome. Throughout our afternoon we were very conscious of the several hundred winter thrushes and starlings flying over head. In total we spotted an impressive 39 species of bird.

The Lake



The sun shone brightly in the afternoon and when you were in the direct light it felt positively warm. That was a welcome feeling after several days of bitter cold; spring is defiantly on its way. There were lots of signs of the coming spring like snow drops, which I have been seeing for a few weeks now.

Snow drops


 But for me the sight of this little drone fly (Eristalis tenax) got me very excited. It is quite a common species to see and often mistaken as a honey bee. It is not even in the same order. This hover fly has evolved to look like a bee in order to protect itself from predators. It had me fooled for a few moments. The way to tell if a flying insect is a bee/wasp (hymenoptera) of a fly (diptera) is the number of the wings (bees have 2 pairs flies 1 pair) and the length of the antenna (bees are long fly's short). They feed on pollen and nectar so contribute greatly to the workings of our ecosystems, and as they are out and about in cooler conditions they will pollinate when their mimics, the honey bees, cannot. Throughout the Uk there are 270 species of hover fly known.

Eristalis tenax



For most of the afternoon my daughter used the camera so most of these photos here were shot by her. She had great fun photoing piles of logs and swans. Her main highlights from the walk were, as expected, the mammals we encountered. Whilst in the woodland she spotted a shrew and a stoat. She also tracked down and spotted evidence of deer's and badgers. These are experiences that she will remember for a long time. I think that it is vital that we give our children as many experiences with wildlife so they understand how nature works and then will want to protect it. 







Sunday 1 February 2015

Introduction

I have been inspired by the many wildlife blogs that I read and I have a desire to engage people with nature. So I thought it was about time I started writing my own blog. 

Worcester is an intriguing place to live with lots of historical and cultural interest. However, for me the thing that I get fascinated about is its wildlife. There is so much going on within the city boundaries and indeed in the area surrounding the city. I will endeavour to share my explorations in and around the city as I go in search of the wildlife with my family in tow. In addition to Worcester city I  regularly go birding at Grimley, a few miles to the north of the city centre. I will include my adventures and findings at Grimley in this blog. 


Last weekend we were without a car so had to remain in the city. On both days of the weekend we set off for a long walk around the city. Saturday we walked along the canal to the river, around the area known as Cherry Orchard Nature Reserve; which is near Diglas bridge and then along the river into the city centre.  One of the highlights on this walk were the tufted ducks on the canal. Whilst not exactly an exciting species to come across, they are not often seen here. It was great to watch them for a few minutes as they tried to take on male mallards; I assume fighting for territory. 






The city nature reserve was very quiet, only the odd dog walker and there was plenty to see. This included lots of finches; Bullfinches, Chafinches, greefinches and goldfinches, unfortunately nothing more exciting. 





However, we did come across a fox who initially did not see us. I tried to get a photo, but, just as I put my camera into position he ran off into the undergrowth. Along the river the wildlife continued with Gulls, Cormorants, Pigeons and Kingfishers. 








When we arived at the Cathedral we thought we would attempt to spot the Black Redstart that has been present for some months now. It only took a couple of minutes to locate the bird. According to the RSPB web site the UK has approximately 500 wintering birds a year so it is quite exciting that there is one of them wintering on Worcester Cathedral. 




Sunday we decided to try the fields just to the south of Diglas bridge in the hope of finding Finches and Thrushes. We were fortunate to spot all the Thrushes but very few Finches were around. However, there were huge numbers of Wagtails. In one field there was perhaps 100. It was a very successful weekend with a total of 37 species of bird.  The clear point is to look up and you never know what you might find.