my local patch and wildlife - Ian McDonald

[ian mcdonald]

Quite a number of the pools look the same owing to the vegetation surrounding them consisting of the same species.



Birds seen this week are, snipe, mallard, teal, grey lag geese, buzzard, jay, cettis warbler, chaffinch, crow, blackbird, green woodpecker, pheasant, crane, blue tit, lapwing, pigeon, herring gull, wren, robin, marsh harrier, reed bunting, goldfinch, stonechat, great spotted woodpecker, pink-footed, geese, sparrowhawk  hobby, meadow pipit and yellowhammer. Butterflies seen were small white, small tortoishell, speckled wood, common blue, small copper and peacock. Also seen were an adder and a lizard.

[cohan]

Interesting comparison to 2005-- I probably missed it earlier on, but was this area a reclamation project or just disuse from whatever was done there in past?

[ian mcdonald]

Hello Cohan, there is a short history of the site on page 9:
https://www.srgc.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=14812.msg365354#msg365354

[ArnoldT]

Ian

thanks so much for the reference to the history of the site.

Can you provide a location for me. 

It's so easy to destroy an area but takes generations to return it to where it was.

[ian mcdonald]

Hello Arnold, I prefer not to say where the site is. It is such a special site due to human disturbance being kept to a minimum.

[ArnoldT]

Ian

I got it.  Thanks for the wonderful images.

[ian mcdonald]

Arnold, just my imagination? Did you used to be Engelbert Humperdinck?

[ArnoldT]

Ian:

that's the second time I've hard that.  My maternal grandmother always said I looked like him.

Afraid not.

Can't sing a lick.

Bad joke comes to mind.

Can you sing solo, yea, good than sing so low we can't hear you.

[ian mcdonald]

 

[cohan]

Hello Cohan, there is a short history of the site on page 9:
https://www.srgc.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=14812.msg365354#msg365354

Interesting, thanks.. had to look up warping!

[cohan]

Ian:

that's the second time I've hard that.  My maternal grandmother always said I looked like him.

Afraid not.

Can't sing a lick.

Bad joke comes to mind.

Can you sing solo, yea, good than sing so low we can't hear you.

have to remember that one..

[ian mcdonald]

Just one visit to the site this week. The weather was warm and sunny. Several buzzards were flying about fairly high up. I met my colleague on site and we remarked that it was quiet, as far as birds were concerned. We saw a green sandpiper standing beside some rushes at the back of a pool. We went to a large pool but water birds were not there. Just as we were about to leave a group of nine Goosanders, all female, landed on the water. A sparrowhawk came past, hunting low and hoping to flush something to chase. We then decided to look if anything interesting was in a small willow wood. One tree looked as if the bark had been stripped off. The bare trunk was covered in a white "fungus."



Goosanders.



Willow with stripped bark.



White fungus on the willow.

A Southern Hawker was resting on a branch in the sun.



We noticed many spiders hoping to catch a meal, including Araneus marmoreus  var. pyramidatus.

[ian mcdonald]

We then moved to another area hoping to see birds in a more open area. Along the centre of a track there are a number of Common Cudweed, Filago vulgaris. Some of the plants had a cluster of what appeared to be a white fungus in the centre. It was not until we took some close-up photos. that we realised that the white substance was in fact Woolly Aphids. These have not been recorded in the Entomology of the site.



Woolly Aphids on common cudweed.

We stopped for a while on the way off site to see if any more Raptors were around and were rewarded with a Merlin flying past.

Birds this week were, pink foot, grey lag and canada geese. teal, mallard, goosander, sparrowhawk, buzzard, marsh harrier, bullfinch, kestrel, hobby, snipe, green sandpiper, crow, green woodpecker, jay, swallows, cettis warbler, stonechat, siskin, lesser redpoll and merlin.

[cohan]

That's a good number of birds considering it was 'quiet as far as birds were concerned' !
Lovely spider... I don't see the orb weavers too often here..

[ian mcdonald]

This weeks weather has been mixed. The first day was sunny and warm, more like summer. The second day brought a cool breeze. As I write this it is grey and drizzle. I met my colleague on site both days. We first walked along a track to the East where several Skylarks were seen overhead. It was a clear day with good views.