Birding day.

20th March -and a very lovely sunny Sunday morning. It started with our usual dog walk on Hellenge and straight away several blue tits were seen flying in their busy way. There was  a robin singing loudly by the path, we also  heard and saw chaffinches and chirping sparrows.On the way back we saw a meadow pipit, then a skylark soaring up, singing beautifully before dropping down suddenly to the ground.

The violets were flowering all over the hillside, both the  mauve and the more unusual white varieties,  the first cowslip of the year was out, and along the path the blackthorn was out in flower.

 

Blackthorn in flower

 

White Violets

First cowslip

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Later that morning we drove over to Swell Wood where we watched the woodland birds on the many feeders that are hanging there. All the tit family was represented including a Marsh tit. 

We also listed:- several nuthatches,, a robin, chaffinches, dunnocks, sparrows etc.

There was a very loud pair of Greater spotted woodpeckers heard but not seen. 

We also spent sometime in the hide watching the herons nesting -much coming and going! 

In the small muddy pond  in front of the hide  the blue tits were bathing and drinking. From the hide we were lucky enough to spot a tree creeper and a goldcrest.

Foraging on the ground close to the water was a grey squirrel who disturbed the birds more than somewhat but proved to be very photogenic! 

Nuthatch 

Grey squirrel

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We continued our woodland walk and were amazed at the number of primroses and wood anemones that were in flower

Primroses

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After our picnic lunch we headed off to Stathe to see if we could locate the cranes but we had no luck. We were told that that came back to roost later in the afternoon , we were too early! We did however spend some time there watching a buzzard, as well as catching sight of mistle thrushes, pied wagtails and many more blue and great tits.

From Stathe we went to Catcott Lows and were lucky enough to see many wigeon, shovelers, teal and herons. The lapwings were displaying well in flight and there was a flock of black tailed godwits in full breeding plumage across the water.

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Blossoms

In and around the village there are many cherry plum orchards and the blossom on these trees is amongst the first to show each spring. The sunshine we have had recently has brought it out all at once.

This is the footpath leading to Hellenge Hill where there are alpacas grazing in the orchards.

Sunny Monday

Quite a frost last night but the sun is shining this morning and all is well in the garden. Many birds on the feeders including a goodly number of goldfinches -welcome back chaps! Also seen sparrows, chaffinches, blue tits etc. the usual lot in fact. It was really warm by lunchtime and I saw a male brimstone butterfly - this is the first for the year here.

 

Five Goldies

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Meanwhile in the pond the newts are busy grazing on the frog spawn -best seen after dark!

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Late afternoon walk with the dog.

Have just walked on Hellenge Hill which is part of the Mendip range close to home -  and saw my first Stonechat of the year in the UK. (It was almost mandatory to see one every day in Andalucia)

Somerset garden

Many of the usual small birds are back!  Yesterday and today so far there have been blue tits, a great tit, several goldfinches, house sparrows and my friendly robin all feeding.I caught sight of the female blackcap but still no sign of the male. The starlings, magpies and jackdaws regularly harass the smaller species - but that's life - they have families to feed too!

 

Robin visits the feeding tray

 

Starling - one of many!

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The spring flowers are looking good in the morning sun too -

 

Hellibores

 

Pulmonaria

My garden birds

Now  back home after the holiday in Andalucia, birding with the incomparable Bob Buckler -I find that here all the birds have flown! My feeders have been bereft of birds for most of the day -perhaps they are busy nesting etc. There were a couple of handsome male chaffinches showing off -one is lame -so I guess he may have the virus that everyone is talking about here. Some house sparrows and a solitary goldfinch arrived late afternoon -I normally see a dozen or more, but not today -- and there were the 2 very hungry woodpigeons who come each day and scoff what's left on the table. When I did my  teatime dog walk, a robin was singing his heart out - such a joy to hear.

Male chaffinch sitting on the fence earlier this year

I noticed that in the smallish pond I have there is at last some frog spawn -the frogs were just getting active when I left for my holiday (24th Feb)- that's at least 3 weeks later than last year.

In the beginning ...

I've always had a love of the natural world - earliest childhood memories are of watching frog spawn, collected from a local pond develop into tadpoles in a small fish tank on the kitchen windowsill;  pressing flowers in a nature study book, growing peas and beans in a jam jar with blotting paper, -simple things, but to a city girl like me they were all I had. A 20 minute bus ride away took me to the quiet of the South Downs  and the bigger world of wild flowers,birds and butterflies. In the other direction was the seaside an equally rich habitat for me to explore.

This was my grounding, my beginning, and I went on to study the plants and animals, that had forged my early interest in the natural world. My career as a vet followed. Then an interest in ecology and how the species interacted, slowly developed over the years.

Now I'm retired and can walk each day on the Mendip Hills I can enjoy the flowers, the birds and butterflies at my leisure, but this pleasure is tinged with sadness that many species that I knew as a child, are either extinct in this country or so rare that they have to be protected.

Too late the world is realising what havoc has been created in the name of progress.

Local footpath with original stone stile -a rare site these days.