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Tag Archives: song thrush

…and back down again

26 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by theresagreen in birds of Wales, Nature, Nature of Wales, nature photography

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

dunnock, Little Orme, Rhiwledyn Nature Reserve, Robin, song thrush, views from the Little Orme, views of Rhos-on-Sea, walk on the Little Orme

January 11th, last leg of the walk on the Little Orme

The winter months offer an opportunity to see places as they really are. Stripped of leaves and layers of foliage, without the colourful distractions of wildflowers and the movements of their insect visitors to draw the eyes, this is the time to appreciate the structure, the bare bones of a place. Walking back down from the top of the Little Orme, not only are the views spectacular, but you also see more clearly the layout of the reserve. On this scale you get a sense of how the patchwork of differing habitats mesh together and create the synergy that has resulted in the rich variety of wildlife that make this such a special place.

140111TG-Little Orme-View from near the top

A myriad of textures in one small patch of land

The sun, lower in the sky now reveals the true contours of a landscape. You realise a surface which til now has appeared smooth and rounded, is actually textured with a multitude of dips and hollows that are revealed by back-light and shadows.

Going down-a view of the pastures on the Little Orme

Further down a view of the enclosed pastures on the Little Orme that add yet another layer of texture

There is some farming activity on the lower slopes of the reserve where small fields are cultivated for crops and pastureland is enclosed with hedges or small walls and used for grazing sheep. Sheep are also free to range and graze other parts of the reserve too; they are an effective way to keep areas of grass shorn and clear of too much shrubbery and are aided and abetted in their mission by a healthy population of rabbits.

Despite what I wrote earlier about their being less distractions from the bigger picture of a place, I should probably know myself better and accept that I will always find distractions in the details whatever the season. Like a leafless, gnarly, knobbly hawthorn twig softened with lichen and highlighted by the sun.

Lichen on a sunlit hawthorn twig

Lichen on a sunlit hawthorn twig

Going back down Rabbit Hill was trickier than going up as it turned out, as it was quite wet and muddy and slippery underfoot. There was a dunnock so intent on feeding himself before going to roost for the night that he allowed me quite close before shooting off into cover. He wasn’t presenting his best side now, but its good to see things from a different angle now and then. I felt sorry for my disturbance, I know how hard it is for birds to find enough food to keep them going in the winter, especially through the cold nights.

A dunnock feeding on the slope of the downhill track

A dunnock feeding on the slope of the downhill track

At the bottom the Robin was still about too, adopting the classic hunting method of the species by perching up off the ground and scanning the ground beneath them, then pouncing down onto potential prey.

Robin scanning the ground beneath for something edible

Robin scanning the ground beneath for something edible

This little tree is testament to the strength of the prevailing winds

This little tree is testament to the strength of the prevailing winds

I had the thought of finishing off my walk along the quarried-out gorge that ends, or begins near one of the entrances to the reserve, but to my surprise much of its floor was covered by a pool of water several inches deep. My reason for wanting to go that way was to see if there may be a Song Thrush hunting for snails along the rocky wall there. Last year I spotted a pair nesting there and watched them as they hammered a succession of snails into palatable food for their young ones.

Song Thrush, photographed last July. One of a nesting pair.

Song Thrush, photographed last July. One of a nesting pair.

Instead I carried along in the same direction, but around the top towards the large, sculptural lump of limestone that always puts me in mind of the Sugar Loaf Mountain, but in miniature of course. Sort of, with a bit of imagination? Regardless, I love that rock and have often wondered how it ended up there. 

The limestone rock in context

The limestone rock in context- you can just see the edge of the man-man quarried gorge in the foreground (click on to enlarge)

I am referring to the Sugar-loaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro here, not the one in Wales that has the same name!

The rock baclit by the sun and the gorgeous view behind it

The rock backlit by the sun and the gorgeous view behind it (click on to enlarge)

One last thing, are there really green leaf buds on this tree already?

Signs of buds bursting

Signs of buds bursting

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Spring has finally arrived in Fairy Glen

18 Saturday May 2013

Posted by theresagreen in Local Nature Reserves, Nature of Wales, nature of woodlands, nature photography

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

cuckoo pint, dog violet, Fairy Glen, horsetail, ivy-leaved toadflax, marsh marigold, min-y-don, osmia rufa, Pied Wagtail, ramsons, red mason bee, river Colwyn, song thrush, spring flowers

Last Friday was a day typical of our Spring so far this year, overcast, showery and cool, but as I began driving home at lunchtime the sun came out, so I stopped by the little bridge at Min-y-Don woods as I often do, just to have a quick look at whatever is about. Today that was small birds flying back and forth across the river that I thought may have been Chiffchaff, but turned out to be House Sparrows taking drinks and chasing flies over the water. Then near the bend in the river I caught another flash of bird movement that made me think ‘grey wagtail’. Of course I had to follow it, being ever hopeful of a good photo opportunity. I finally caught up with the bird and saw it was actually a Pied Wagtail that was by now intent enough on catching insects not to be too disturbed by my presence.

A Pied Wagtail adeptly catching flies

A Pied Wagtail adeptly catching flies

Maybe he has a nest nearby and was out hunting for food to feed young ones, or maybe because he was alone, perhaps has a mate still sitting on eggs and he was feeding her, or, maybe he was simply feeding himself. Whatever his aims, he was very entertaining to watch and seemed to be catching plenty of insects.

Pied Wagtail - Motacilla yarellii

Pied Wagtail – Motecilla yarellii

A couple passing by stopped to see what I was photographing and told me they had seen the grey wagtails further upstream, so I had to carry on walking then, just in case.

On the way up to Fairy Glen my eye was caught by a mass of bright green liverwort at the mouth of a drainpipe, giving the impression it was cascading out like water.

Liverwort at the mouth of a drain pipe

Liverwort at the mouth of a drain pipe

Flowers are generally late this year, but they are making up for lost time now. On the stone walls bounding the river and roadside, the pretty, albeit non-native Ivy-leaved Toadflax flourishes.

Ivy-leaved Toadflax- cymbalaria muralis. A native of Mediterranean Europe, but widely naturalised elsewhere

And here and there the darker purple-blue blooms of the Common Dog Violet peeked out.

Common dog-violet

Common dog-violet – Viola riviana with its pretty  heart-shaped leaves

Garlic mustard is beginning to show its modest white flowers; I love the shape and texture of its leaves too.

Garlic Mustard

Garlic Mustard – Alliaria petiolata

Just inside the woodland of the Glen a few stands of graceful bluebells arch up through the masses of  almost-done lesser celandines, surrounded by encroaching wild garlic.

Bluebell -

Bluebell – Hyacynthoides non-scripta

Further into the woodland the air was filled with the pungent scent of masses of ramsons, or wild-garlic, just reaching the peak of its flowering. Great swathes of it flow down the sloping riverbank and it carpets much of the ground beneath the trees too, to the apparent delight of a host of nectar-seeking insects.

130510TGNJ4-wild garlic-fairy glen

Ramsons, Wild Garlic – Allium ursinum

Ramsons flowers and buds

Ramsons flowers and buds

I watched big beautiful bumblebees, several different species of hoverfly and some little bees that I didn’t recognise visiting the starry white flowers. Looking afterwards at the photographs and checking several identification books and websites, I have ended up with mason bees. If anyone knows better, please let me know.

One of a number of tiny mason bees feasting on the nectar of the wild garlic flowers

One of a number of tiny mason bees feasting on the nectar of the wild garlic flowers

Red Mason Bee – Osmia rufa

One of the little bees (male), pausing briefly to soak up some warmth

One of the little bees (male), pausing briefly to soak up some warmth

 Description: 

The male bees

are smaller than the females at

just 6 -11 mm long. Both

sexes

are covered in dense gingery hairs, the male with white tufts on the head while the female’s head is black.

Habitat: 

Around suitable nesting sites. 

The Red Mason Bee is active from early spring, the male being the first to appear when the weather becomes mild in March, the female emerging later. Like all bees it feeds on pollen.

 Life History: This is a solitary bee, each nest being the work of a single female working alone. They nest in pre-existing cavities such as hollow plant stems, old garden canes, air bricks, and even old nail holes in fence posts, lining the inside of the cavity with mud.

There were birds singing, I heard chiffchaff, blackbird, robin and wren, but most of those I saw, including blue tits, great tits and a coal tit seemed more intent on hunting for insects, so I imagine there are gaping little beaks to fill.

fern frond unfurling

fern frond unfurling amongst the wild garlic

An hour had passed by without me even noticing and I could have stayed even longer, but there began to be quite a few people about keeping the wildlife more discreet in their activities, so I started to make tracks back; I would have missed the sight of a lovely song thrush if I’d kept going.

Song Thrush with what I think is a worm

Walking back towards Min-y-Don I took a detour up and around one of the other paths and found yet more interesting plants to distract me.

Arum -

A strange plant with many names-Lords & Ladies, Jack-in-the-Pulpit,Cuckoo Pint or Wild Arum – Arum maculatum

Horsetail

Horsetail- Equisetum

An almost-orange Welsh Poppy

Sunlight catching the  almost-orange petals of a Welsh Poppy-Mecanopsis cambrica

Kingcups, or marsh maraigolds reflected in a pool of water

Golden kingcups, or Marsh Marigolds-Calthea palustris reflected in a pool of water

And finally an impressive clump of dock that has found purchase in mud on the shallow edge of the river. I know it’s not a desirable plant, but it looked quite well there with its big shapely leaves.

Curled dock

Dock

A crow strutting along the river-wall, feathers gleaming with shades of purple and green

a crow strutting along the river-wall, feathers gleaming with shades of purple and green

Two hours after setting off for one photograph I was on the way back home, but couldn’t resist the sight of rabbits amongst the mass of primroses on the embankment, which is where the current page header came from.

bunnies amongst the primroses

bunnies amongst the primroses

Back at home a large white butterfly was nectaring on a dandelion, the first I’ve seen so far this year. Large white that is, not dandelion, whose population seems to have boomed this year. I have never seen so many.

large white taking nectar from a dandelion

large white taking nectar from a dandelion

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A Trip to Pembrokeshire:Part 3: Woodland walk

17 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by theresagreen in ferns, Nature, nature photography

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

coal tit, dipper, foxglove, grey squirrel, hard fern, lady fern, Nevern, Pembrokeshire, Pilgrim's Cross, Pilgrim's Way, River Nevern, song thrush, tawny owl, wall fern

Our plan had been to head off to Skomer Island on Friday, but clearly we were thwarted in that by the extreme weather conditions and then constrained further by the fallen tree. We returned to the house after our ‘reccie’ of the tree situation, hung our waterproofs up to drip dry and headed indoors to warm up in front of the Aga.

Leaves ripped off the trees littered the ground and guessing that caterpillars and other tree-dwelling fauna may have come down with them, we thought some of the smaller birds may have been struggling to find food. On previous visits here we have always baited the bird table, usually with seeds and nuts, mainly to bring down the Nuthatches, who’s presence is surprisingly easy to buy. All we had to offer today was left-over bread (it was the more wholesome stuff), so we put it out anyway to see what was still around despite the rain. Within minutes a Nuthatch appeared, picked out what it fancied and took it back to a nearby tree. They don’t share well, so Blue Tits had to wait to dive in the cover of shrubbery till it was gone. A lone Chaffinch, I think it was a young one, pecked around beneath the table, as did a Robin. The Nuthatch made repeated visits, then the big boys arrived, crows and a gorgeous jay that grabbed great beakfuls and carried them off. A squirrel was not far behind them.

Grey Squirrel sitting cheekily beneath the bird table

A young blackbird in odd-looking transitional plumage hunting worms on the lawn in the rain

The song thrush was out hunting in some very heavy rain

The Pilgrim’s Way

By mid-afternoon the wind and rain had subsided enough for us to venture outside for a proper walk. We thought that if we stuck pretty much to the woodland that we would be protected from the worst of the rain and sheltered from the wind.

A pathway runs close behind the property, partially cutting through its private woodland but part of a publicly-accessible circular walk beginning and if you like, ending at Nevern Church. The church, dedicated to St. Brynach is at the end of an historic Pilgrim’s Way from St.David’s cathedral, dedicated to Wales’ patron saint and regarded as the holiest place in the country. (More detailed Nevern history to follow in a later post.)

The route of this walk has become familiar over the last few years, but each time I have visited there has been something different to see. This year I have resolved to take more notice of ferns and make a proper effort to identify the ones I see and learn more about them. The damp woodlands of Wales is a great place to find them without having to try very hard at all and I spotted one I was looking out for within a very short time, a Hard fern.

A lovely specimen of Hard fern-blechnum spicant growing from the rocky bank

Most ferns produce their spores on the mature fronds, but the woodland hard fern is one of a few species that does it differently. This plant has developed special fronds, the sole purpose of which is to bear spores, so they resemble a flowering plant in form with a rosette of leaves and some spore-producing structures in the middle.

The most abundant species here is the Lady Fern – Athyrium filix-femina, which forms large graceful clumps with the fronds arising from a central point rather than along a rhizome. The fronds are a light yellow-green and very dissected.

The frond of a lady fern

Ferns lining the steep banks of the woodland path which is cut into the rock and roughly follows the course of the river.

The river runs along the bottom of a valley that is bounded on ‘our’ side by the steep rocky hillside that is thickly wooded with a variety of tree species including beech, ash, sessile oak and sycamore. On the opposite side is a narrow belt of trees with grassy farmland beyond. This combination of  old mature woodland, the river and adjacent farmland has created the perfect habitat for a wonderful variety of flora and fauna.   In April and May, before the tree canopy closes over there are masses of colourful wood anemones, primroses, bluebells and ramsons (wild garlic), but now we were surrounded by lush greenery in a myriad of shades and forms broken surprisingly often by the flower of the moment, the glorious foxglove.

A beautiful display of foxgloves in a clearing

More foxgloves on the side of the path

Navelwort and moss growing on a shady length of the stone wall that bounds woodland from the farmland

There were birds singing despite the rain, Song Thrush and Wren mainly, but also Blackbird, Chiffchaff and a very tuneful Garden Warbler. On other occasions we have had lovely sightings of Great Spotted Woodpecker, Treecreeper, an array of Tits – blue, great, coal and long-tailed. Some of my all-time favourite sightings of birds have occurred here; the three following photographs are all from our May 2007 trip.

A Coal Tit with food for chicks taken in Nevern woods in early May 2007

We had gone out quite early one morning and reaching the point along the path where there are two, now tumbledown, old stone buildings, we heard a sound from the roof of one and looked up to see a young Tawny Owl watching us.

11/5/07 A young tawny owl peering down at us from the chimney of an old tumbledown stone cottage

The end of this section of path intersects with a wider access track. Turning left onto it brings you to a bridge that crosses the river that is just wide enough for one vehicle to cross. Today the river was in full flow and deep muddy water rushed through the arches of the bridge, but usually at this time of year the water is shallower, although still quite fast flowing and it splashes over rocks that are now submerged. We have had lovely views of Grey Wagtails here, balancing on the rocks and chasing after flies; beneath the bridge has been a favoured nesting site for them and one year we were treated to views of  newly-fledged young perched on nearby vegetation being fed by their parents.

It has also proved an excellent spot from which to see the charismatic Dipper, a bird that is present along this stretch of the river all year round. Sadly we had not even a glimpse of either bird this time.

9/5/07- Looking down on a Dipper from the bridge

We didn’t linger long on the bridge as it was raining again and crossed the stone stile to take the slightly higher farm track where we had some cover from more trees.

Stone stile

Frothy elder blossom

Further down the track passes between some old stone farm buildings, no longer in use, which we had a little nosy around. We have done this several times before, always hoping we may find evidence of a Barn Owl nesting there, but still no luck with that.

More navelwort, this time in a more open spot, but overhung by pine trees

Maidenhair Spleenwort -Asplenium trichomanes

At the end of the surfaced track there is a gate that leads into an open meadow; much of it is marshy and supports a lovely array of flora that thrives in such conditions, including the glamorous Yellow Iris, or Yellow Flag Iris as it is also called and an abundant amount of Water Horsetail.

Yellow Iris-Iris pseudacorus

Passing through the gate at the far end of the field brings you out into Nevern village, almost on the bridge. It is a lovely old stone bridge, dating back to medieval times and is a Grade 2 listed building. The rain had eased by the time we got here and we stood for some time watching a party of young House Martins practising their fly-catching skills over the river. They seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves, swooping through the arches of the bridge and skimming low, sometimes perhaps a little too low over the surface of the water. It was hugely entertaining and a real treat to watch them, but a bit risky too – more than once we had excited birds passing at great speed by our ears, close enough to feel a change in the air pressure.

Nevern Bridge has been a Grade 2 British listed building since 1952.

Moving on we continued walking towards the church, another fascinating building that again I will describe in more detail later.

The tower of St.Brynach’s Church, Nevern

Just before reaching the church we turned left to continue our circuit and return home. A short way up the first hill is the Pilgrim’s Cross that it is thought may have been a way marker to reassure Pilgrims of old that they were on the correct route to or from St.David’s.

The Pilgrim’s Cross is set quite high up in the rock face and can be difficult to see.

 

Quite difficult to spot initially, it is set just above head height on a rocky outcrop ; coins pushed into the cracks in the rocks may help to pick out the outline. There is a legend that behind this rocky outcrop is a hidden cave that contains the remains of Merlin, King Arthurs Wizard and one theory has it that the cross is not carved into the rockface, as such, but into the stone of a bricked-up entrance to a cave….

Even I know of several sites spread throughout Wales that reputedly hold the remains of the fabled King Arthur, but who knows? This is as  likely a spot as any other.

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What a beautiful day

24 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by theresagreen in birds singing, Nature, nature photography, woodland birds, woodlands

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birds singing, blackbird, lesser celandine, miniature daffodils, river Colwyn, song thrush, starlings roosting on Colwyn bay pier

Today was officially the  warmest February day recorded since 1998, with temperatures reaching 18 degrees in some parts of the UK. These are some of my views of this unseasonally beautiful day.

8.15am - Sunlit tulips

The sky was blue, birds were singing, the sun eye-squintingly bright and the sea calm and almost lake-like.

8.35am-View to Rhos-on-Sea showing the headland of the Little Orme & Bryn Euryn

8.37am-Calm, sunlit sea beneath a blue sky

8.38am-Turnstone foraging on barnacle-encrusted rocks

During my lunch break I spent a few minutes in the small wooded area at the bottom of Beach Road.

2pm-River Colwyn at the Beach Road end just before it runs into the sea

The river Colwyn flows through the original township of Colwyn. There are many brooks of the same name in Wales. It means ‘a young animal’ or ‘a pet dog’ and was probably used to describe the playful movement of the water.

Miniature daffodils flowering in the woodland garden

Carved wooden seat alongside the path

Lesser celandines open in the sunlight that filters through the bare tree branches

A wren was singing from a low branch close to the path, a chaffinch from higher up in a neighbouring tree and a robin from somewhere within the shrubbery. I caught sight of two long-tailed tits and a song thrush as it flew down onto the wall alongside the stream.

A blue tit low in a shrub beside the stream

I thought I’d missed the opportunity of a good look at the thrush, but as I was leaving there was another on the bank very close to the path that wasn’t bothered by me being there, even when I pointed the camera at it.

A beautifully marked thrush

Thrush from the front

A successful hunting blackbird

The views on the way home in the evening light were enhanced by the pink glow from the setting sun.

5.50pm - Evening view of Rhos-on-Sea

The tide was fully out and although the light was fading there were several people on the beach walking their dogs and a man probing the sand with a stick that I thought may have been searching for razor clams (?); he was too far away to see what he was putting into his bucket.

Man collecting razor clams

As I hoped, I arrived at the old pier at more or less the same time as the starlings.  The majority had already gathered into a large flock, a smaller flock arrived and blended seamlessly into the outer edges as they wheeled around across the sea then back to the pier. They settled quite quickly this evening, showering down like falling leaves to settle beneath the floor of the pier on either side of the structure.

5.50pm - Starlings arriving at the old pier to roost for the night

Starlings shape-shifting across the pink-tinged sky

Starlings flying out over the water

6pm-A final view of the rosy pink sunset

Tomorrow is predicted to be colder, ‘freshened’ by a NW wind …..

 

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‘But it is the common species that keep the living world ticking over and provide most of our experiences of wildlife, and I would argue that maintaining the abundance of these is as important a conservation priority as maintaining the existence of rarities’. Richard Mabey

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