A walk in the woods

The morning was overcast, but mild and not windy. I headed up to North Cliffe woods, which looked beautiful with carpets of Bluebells and drifts of Greater Stitchwort. Bugle was in bloom too. A Garden Warbler sung well hidden in a tall oak and I only got fleeting views of this and another individual later in the morning. I noticed little holes on the path, and then surprised a mole on the path itself, which tried to run away from me as fast as its short legs took him, which was surprisingly fast. The dry, compacted ground on the path appeared to have prevented it from going underground, but it finally disappeared in the long grass at the side of the path. It was my second live mole ever!
 Near the heath area a male Whitethroat was in full song and I heard the call of a Great Spotted Woodpecker.
A couple of brief sunny spells brought some butterflies out, including two Peacocks, a Speckled wood and a Large white and Green-veined white.
I walked inside the woods, where the most remarkable bird sightings were a Marsh Tit, a female
Blackcap with nest material and the laugh of a Green Woodpecker. A humming noise alerted me to the presence of an active honeybee hive inside a dead tree. A pair of robins were very agitated, but I couldn't spot the source of their distress. I was hoping for a mustelid, but failed to see any signs.
 I returned to the heath area. As I sat down on a bench for lunch a distant male cuckoo called three times, what a great sound. A Buzzard soared over the heath, while a Carrion Crow had me under surveillance the whole time I sat there. A lovely trip to the woods.

The mole, climbing the middle of the path.

Bugle 

A battered large white

Green-veined white

Peacock

Click beetle

Click beetle about to fly off

Bird list

1. Black-headed Gull
2. Blackbird
3. Blackcap
4. Blue Tit
5. Buzzard
6. Carrion Crow
7. Chaffinch
8. Chiffchaff
9. Coal Tit
10. Cuckoo
11. Dunnock
12. Garden Warbler
13. Great Spotted Woodpecker
14. Great Tit
15. Green Woodpecker
16. Jackdaw
17. Long-tailed Tit
18. Mallard
19. Marsh Tit
20. Pheasant
21. Robin
22. Rook
23. Skylark
24. Swallow
25. Whitethroat
26. Willow Warbler
27. Woodpigeon
28. Wren
29. Yellowhammer

A cold May morning at Kiplingcotes nature reserve

An early Sundaymorning trip to Kiplingotes with Robert and James mainly in search of invertebrates. As we arrived three hares fed in the field opposite the car park. Willow Warblers and Yellowhammers were singing and Linnets passed overhead several times.
There were a few sunny spells, but the wind was relentless and chilly, so not as many insects on the wing as we would expect for this time of year. We kept to the sheltered bottom of the reserve, where we inspected the scree and chalk stones, logs and nettle beds (one of my knees is still throbbing!). Two butterfly species were on the wing, a couple of Wall Browns and a Dingy Skipper (above), which was a first for me. Another nice first was the Ant Woodlouse, which we uncovered under a rotting log, and then found more under rocks near yellow ant nests. A photo selection follows.

Wall Brown

Deroceras reticulatum

Black and red leafhopper, Cercopis vulnerata

Candidula intersecta snail on a walkabout

Cinnabar moth

Millipede Polydesmus sp.

Silpha tristis, a snail eating beetle.

A black clock, Pterostichus madidus

A comparison of Pill Millipedes (two at the top) and Pill Woodlouse (bottom). Pill woodlouse seem to be quicker to unroll than the pill millipedes.

An ant woodlouse, my first! We saw many under a log.

An unrolled pill millipede.

A tiny Cecilioides acicula, shell

Arion intermedius, the Hedgehog slug.

View of the reserve

A flock of Linnets on the chalk.

And to finish, one of the hares, happily munching grass away.

Warm at East Park

I had a very pleasant morning today at East Park, with wonderful conditions for photography, warm and sunny. Butterflies and other invertebrates were about, swarms of flies including St Marks flies, flew over the lake, attracting the attention of starlings, who sallied out hawking them in the air near the bridge. There was a drake Shoveler on the lake, who attracted the attention of a coot,  and was chased several times probably seeing it didn't belong there. The Shoveler appeared reluctant to go, though, as it flew and returned a couple of times.
 I was glad to spot the great crested grebe chick. One of the adults was on the nest and I wonder if the chick had been resting there, as I didn't see it on my first walk around the lake.
 A nice surprise was the family of Canada Geese, which appeared very vigilant around their small goslings, and constantly called and signalled to them. A crow flew over to the shore to drink and the goslings, responding to the adult calls hid under their mother. There were several irresponsible dog owners that let them loose near the greylag creche, causing chaos amongst them.
 A few House Martins, Swallows and Swifts were about.

A Sparrowhawk on the hunt.

Many Holly Blues on the holly avenue. This female showed interest in the holly buds, where they lay eggs.

Upside down male Great spotted Woodpecker.

Drake Shoveler.

Canada family

The only female Tufted duck in the lake was closely followed by her mate.

One of the Pinkfeet, a male...

...and the other one, a female. I didn't see the third one today.

A swift chase high up.

This crow was displaying to a magpie on the ground. Note how the head feathers are all erect, making it look bigger.

One of the rook nests had a grown chick, which almost came out of the nest when one of its parents came back with food. You can see its head over the rim of the nest.

Coot and chicks.

One of the Great Crested Grebes and grown chick near the nest. This side of the large island looks like a mangrove swamp.

A pair of courting Specked Woods.

Male Holly Blue.

Large white

A female St Marks fly, Bibio marci, >1 cm in size, going into leaf litter likely to lay eggs.

Bird list

1. Blackbird
2. Blackcap
3. Blue Tit
4. Canada Goose
5. Carrion Crow
6. Chaffinch
7. Collared Dove
8. Coot
9. Dunnock
10. Feral Pigeon
11. Goldfinch
12. Great Crested Grebe
13. Great Spotted Woodpecker
14. Great Tit
15. Greenfinch
16. Greylag Goose
17. Herring Gull
18. House Martin
19. House Sparrow
20. Lesser Black-backed Gull
21. Long-tailed Tit
22. Magpie
23. Mallard
24. Mistle Thrush
25. Moorhen
26. Mute Swan
27. Pink-footed Goose
28. Ring-necked Parakeet
29. Robin
30. Rook
31. Shoveler
32. Song Thrush
33. Sparrowhawk
34. Starling
35. Stock Dove
36. Swallow
37. Swift
38. Tufted Duck
39. Woodpigeon
40. Wren

Noddle Hill Dawn Chorus

We were greeted at Noddle Hill by a very lively dawn chorus, with 14 species singing by 5:00 am. The moon was out, and the sky mostly clear and it was surprisingly mild. As usual this time of year, warblers were aplenty, with Blackcap, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Sedge, Reed, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler all singing. A Song thrush provide amusement by imitating some watch alarm, which confused us for a while, a house alarm and raptor calls, a Sedge Warbler wasn't much behind, with a spot on impersonation of a Goldfinch and a wagtail. We soon surprised a Roe Deer in the scrub. He seemed curious and reluctant to move away. We counted five roe deer in total, including a female, and two males that appear to chase each other playfully in a game of tig. Dark clouds appeared, followed by a cooler breeze and a glowing, giant rainbow. At the same time a Little Egret passed by. Robert spotted a Barn Owl, which we saw quartering the reserve most of the time we were there. The breezy, rainy day yesterday might have forced it to feed in the day time. After a very short drizzle, the sun came out again. A Skylark sung its song, and a distant Great Spotted Woodpecker drummed. After three hours walking around the many paths of the reserve and a total of 40 species it was time to go home for breakfast.

Roe deer.

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler

Sedge Warbler

Whitethroat with stormy clouds behind.

Whitethroat and Linnet

A short fight between the whitethroat and a sedge warbler

Rainbow

Record shot of Little Egret. 

Water Crow-foot

Barn Owl

Barn Owl

Reed Bunting

Bird List

1. Barn Owl
2. Blackbird
3. Blackcap
4. Blue Tit
5. Bullfinch
6. Carrion Crow
7. Chaffinch
8. Chiffchaff
9. Collared Dove
10. Coot
11. Dunnock
12. Goldfinch
13. Great Spotted Woodpecker
14. Great Tit
15. Greenfinch
16. Grey Heron
17. Greylag Goose
18. Kestrel
19. Lesser Black-backed Gull
20. Lesser Whitethroat
21. Linnet
22. Little Egret
23. Long-tailed Tit
24. Magpie
25. Mallard
26. Moorhen
27. Pheasant
28. Reed Bunting
29. Reed Warbler
30. Robin
31. Rook
32. Sedge Warbler
33. Skylark
34. Song Thrush
35. Starling
36. Swallow
37. Whitethroat
38. Willow Warbler
39. Woodpigeon
40. Wren