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Tag Archives: wood pigeon

Wintergreens

17 Sunday Jan 2021

Posted by theresagreen in Nature of Wales, North Wales

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

bird behaviour, birds eating ivy berries, blackbird, hedera helix, ivy, ivy berries, January, Nuthatch, winter, wood pigeon, woodland

January arrived quietly this year, bringing with it a mix of winter weather. It’s been consistently pretty cold, with even the mildest days barely rising above 4° C, but we’ve had ethereally misty days, drizzly-rainy days, bright sunny frosty days and even some snow. In between, more than a few days have been dull, sunless and still, the kind of winter days that feel like time’s been suspended and the day somehow never really got started before it was over. But little by little the days are getting longer, and on my restricted Covid-lockdown-exercising-only-from-and-to home-route around my local woods, there are definite signs that spring is not so far away.

A wintergreen path carpeted with shed leaves

The shed leaves of the deciduous trees, mostly oaks, ash and sycamores lie in a thick carpet on the woodland floor and are still covering the less-trodden tracks. Their absence allows through the bright winter sunlight and also highlights the extent of the permanent greenery here; indeed, there’s so much of it you might feel you were in a tropical forest if it wasn’t so cold. There are several species of evergreens contributing to the winter verdure; dark brooding yews, tall twisted Scots pines and masses of shiny holly, all of which are native plants. Then there’s Holm oak (also known as Holly oak or Evergreen oak) and cherry laurel, both non-natives and classed as invasive. But most responsible for creating the jungley ambience and linking everything together, is just one species of plant; ivy. It is quite literally everywhere, covering the ground, clothing tree trunks and forming leafy frames to woodland views.

  • ivy climbing up a sessile oak tree
  • a framed view across the valley

How ivy affects trees

Although prolific amounts of ivy may look unkempt and alter the appearance of trees, there are some common misconceptions regarding the effect this climbing plant has on them. The first is that ivy kills trees: be assured it doesn’t, and neither is it parasitic. Strong, healthy trees are not adversely affected by ivy; its roots take no nourishment from or through a tree’s bark, and the tree’s leaves don’t allow enough light through for the ivy to grow too vigorously.

It is only when a tree is naturally weakened and begins to die back that ivy will reach into the thinner crown, so ivy doing particularly well in a tree might indicate a tree that is already struggling, but it will not have been the cause of the tree’s sickness. In this instance though, the ivy may make a tree more vulnerable to wind damage; the added bulk of the ivy increases its resistance during high winds and may make it more likely to be blown over, so hastening the tree’s demise.

About ivy

There are two subspecies of ivy that grow in these woods, both of which are native to Britain: these are the climbing Hedera helix ssp. helix and Hedera helix ssp. hibernica, which doesn’t climb, but spreads across the ground.

Specialised hairs on ivy stem

Ivy is an evergreen, woody climber which can grow to a height of 100ft (30m). The stems have many fibrous, clinging, adhesive-covered roots which help it to climb. Mature older plants develop thick woody stems that can allow them to become self-supporting.

The leaves are dark green and glossy with pale veins. The leaves on non-flowering young plants have 3-5 lobes and a pale underside. On mature plants leaves are oval or heart shaped without lobes, although leaf edges may sometimes be wavy.

Ivy is an essential part of the habitat, providing food and shelter for a diverse range of different organisms.

Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus

Being evergreen, ivy provides year-round dense cover for a wide variety of wildlife. During the winter it offers hibernation sites for many insects, which in turn attracts birds that come to forage for them. Butterfly species which survive the winter in their adult form often hibernate in ivy, including the lovely Brimstone, usually amongst the first species on the wing in the spring. Ivy is also the foodplant of the second, or summer generation of the caterpillars of the beautiful little Holly blue butterfly. In late July/August female Holly blues lay their eggs on swelling buds of ivy flowers, which caterpillars burrow into and eat from the inside. Once fully grown they leave the buds and pupate on the underside of Ivy stems where they will overwinter and emerge as an adult butterfly in March/April the following year.

In some instances very dense ivy may provide winter hibernation sites for bats.

Nuthatch working its way up through ivy

One of my favourite woodland birds is the handsome Nuthatch. Although they are colourful, these beautiful birds can be hard to spot when they are foraging around tree trunks and branches, but when they choose to be heard, particularly when singing or crying out in alarm, they have a very loud voice. On a recent walk I traced the whistling sound one was making to an ivy-clad tree a few metres away. Believing itself to be well-concealed I was able to watch it carry an acorn from somewhere around the bottom of the trunk right up to near the top. I momentarily lost sight of it several times as it wove in and out of the ivy, travelling in an erratic kind of spiral up the main trunk, but I managed to follow it disjointedly until it got so high it was making my neck ache to watch it. I couldn’t see if it still had the acorn when it got to the top, it’s quite likely it may have cached it for later consumption somewhere along the way and was foraging for hibernating grubs or caterpillars to eat now.

Perhaps the greatest gifts that ivy gives to wildlife are firstly that it flowers late in the summer or early autumn, providing a bounty of late nectar to a wide range of insects from hoverflies to bees to butterflies. Then following the flowers come generous crops of berries, some of which begin to ripen in the early winter and others slightly later, providing a bountiful progression of nutritious food, lasting through to the spring, which feeds a great many birds, both residents and winter migrants.

Male blackbird feasting on ivy berries

The amount of ivy and the resultant bounty of berries it produces are a great draw to two species of birds in particular, Blackbirds and Wood Pigeons. Winter walks are practically guaranteed to be accompanied by a soundtrack of rustlings, flappings and often crashings as birds of both species fly from one ivy vine to another. From the blackbirds there are frequent alarm calls too; there’s a lot of competition for the best berries and they’re worth squabbling over. Neither bird is really purpose-built for the acrobatics required to reach the berries dangling temptingly out of range, but that doesn’t stop them trying. Blackbirds often launch themselves upwards to grab a dangling berry, a rather ungainly method, but who cares if it works?

Wood Pigeons are more ponderous and considered in their approach, eying up the best-looking berries before stepping cautiously towards them, craning their chicken-like necks forward as far as they can and making a grab for them, sometimes losing their balance and flapping madly to restore it.

Ivy berries are loved by other species of birds too, including the song thrush, mistle thrush, redwing, blackbird and blackcap. Although the berries appear in October-November, birds don’t tend to start eating them until later into the winter, shorter-lived berries such as rowan and hawthorn are eaten first, leaving the longer-lasting ivy berries until last. The berries are a great source of protein and, according to the RSPB, gram for gram contain nearly as many calories as a Mars bar! No wonder our local Wood pigeons are looking so plump!

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Getting to know my new neighbours

07 Saturday Feb 2015

Posted by theresagreen in Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, Nature, Nature of Wales, nature photography, Rhos-on-Sea, woodland birds

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

blackbird, Blackcap, Blue tit, Bullfinch, coal tit, dunnock, Great Tit, grey squirrel, redwing, Robin, wood pigeon

The beginning of this year has been a busy one and I’ve been distracted and often frustrated by the myriad of mostly mundane issues involved in moving home, but it’s all done and dusted now and at last I can get back to more enjoyable activities. I haven’t moved far and I know my new location is going to be the perfect base from which to carry on discovering more about the rich and varied habitats and wildlife of this part of North Wales.

A good few of my posts have related to the nature reserve of Bryn Euryn, the big bulky hill around whose base much of Rhos on Sea is built and my new home, on its eastern slope couldn’t have put me into closer contact with it. The beginning of a public footpath leading up onto the Bryn’s Woodland Trail is within a few metres of the entrance to the apartment block I live in now.

Early morning view

Early morning view to the east across Colwyn Bay

The views from the living room of my top-floor flat, although partially screened by trees, are ones I have photographed many times, albeit from higher up on the hilltop and then from the kitchen window the steeply rising wooded hillside is just a few metres away. Thanks to residents on the ground floor who put food out for the birds, I have a wonderful eye-level view of an array of woodland birds making the most of the food on offer.

There are almost always wood pigeons somewhere close by, most often perched up high surveying the busy little birds flitting about below. Pigeons nest pretty much all year round and on several occasions in the past weeks I have seen birds carrying sticks, probably for running repairs.

Wood Pigeons keep an eye on an approaching Grey Squirrel

Wood Pigeons keep an eye on an approaching Grey Squirrel

Sometimes they descend from their lofty perches allowing a closer look at their lovely softly-shaded plumage.

A handsome Wood Pigeon

A handsome Wood Pigeon

Other larger birds I see on a regular basis are a pair of crows and a pair of magpies, who also strut around on the lawn and there have been a few glimpses of jays.

Where there is food on offer then there are bound to be opportunistic grey squirrels, there are several that scamper about amongst the trees here on the woodland edge. They generally get a bad press, but I love watching them, they are entertaining and clever and you have to admire their incredible agility. They are rather photogenic too.

One of the squirrels nibbling on a twig

One of the squirrels nibbling on a twig

A photogenic Grey squirrel

A photogenic Grey squirrel

There are always blackbirds of course and recently both males and females have become more territorial. Males are singing and there are many chases amongst those that arrive for food;  first arrivals see off those that may follow. I have no idea which, if any, are regular visitors, particularly since I watched the piece on TV about the Holt Blackbird Project, where the blackbirds are fitted with different combinations of coloured leg tags and residents monitor their comings and goings. To quote from the published results:  One of the really incredible outcomes of the project is an understanding of the sheer number of birds that use the garden during the breeding season. The greatest number of individuals recorded on one day was 74, and even then there were some unringed birds still present. So, next time you see ‘your’ pair of Blackbirds in the garden, remember that they may not be exactly who you think they are!  Who knew? I always knew there were a good few of them around, but as you only really see them singly or in twos or threes when they’re establishing territory, those numbers seem incredible. I have given a link to the article about the project, which makes fascinating reading.

Male blackbird

Male blackbird

Female blackbird

A dark and well-marked female blackbird

A lighter female blending perfectly in amongst the sunlit twiggy tree branches

A lighter female blending perfectly in amongst the sunlit twiggy tree branches

There are thrushes about too, or at least one anyway. Back in early January I heard one singing early one morning from a tree in the front grounds, when it was barely light. I thought it was most likely to be a mistle thrush as they are early nesters, but I am not at all sure and was even less sure when I heard more singing at 7.25am in the morning a week later, this time at the back of the building and looked out of the bedroom window to see him singing away illuminated by a nearby security light.

150109TG-Thrush singing (1) -Bryn Euryn (DC)

9th January – A thrush singing from high in a tree

Robins have been singing for a few weeks now too and as with the blackbirds, there is no peace for those that venture in for food; as soon as one perches another is almost sure to swoop in and there are frequent chases through the vegetation.

A robin enjoying a rare moment of peace in the sun

A robin enjoying a rare moment of peace in the sun

So far, the finches I have seen here have been goldfinches and chaffinches, but on Tuesday a lovely female bullfinch was here for a while. I was expecting to see a male with her, but alas no sign of one, so perhaps it was a young one that hasn’t got a mate yet.

3/2/15-Bullfinch female

3/2/15-Bullfinch female

There are no house sparrows and I miss their noisy chirping and cheeping, and no starlings either, but I still have contact with both when I go back down the hill to visit my daughter. There are dunnocks though. Male dunnocks are singing now too.

Of the frequent visitors, Blue tits are the most numerous and there can be several here at any one time. They seem to have an orderly queuing system, each one taking food then taking leave or sometimes carrying it back to a nearby branch to eat it. There are more feeders in the garden next door and there is much commuting back and forth.

150203TG-Kitchen window-Blue Tit

Blue tit

There are only ever two Great tits present at any one time, a male and a female. They have a  more business-like approach to their feeding and although they make regular visits, they do not hang around once they have what they came for.

Female great tit

Female great tit

There are one, or perhaps two delightful little Coal tits too. Their approach in to the feeding site is more discreet than that of the Blue tits, made via the lower twiggy branches of the shrubby trees. They are also quick to leave once they have taken food.

Coal tit

Coal tit

A small flock of glorious Long-tailed tits flutter in intermittently as they make their rounds, but I haven’t managed to photograph them here yet.

One morning I looked  out of the window and saw a bird that I didn’t immediately recognise, although it did look a bit thrush-like. I ran to get my camera and got just one image, through the glass, that I hoped would help with my identification. I had a feeling it was a redwing, but I hadn’t seen one for some years and couldn’t quite make the image I had fit with those in my books. I thought then maybe it was a sparrowhawk- right place, similar stance on the branch…? Anyway, I have been put right by fellow blogger Tony, who despite the not-so-brilliant quality of the image, immediately spotted it was indeed a redwing! I’m delighted – it’s another species to add to my list and to look out for again and I’m sure a sparrowhawk will be along any time soon.

150104TGBRD-Kitchen view 12- Sparrowhawk

Redwing-Turdus iliacus

Tuesday this week (the day I saw the bullfinch) was a glorious sunny day and a few of the birds took advantage of the warmth to take brief respite from their hectic feeding schedules to sit in the sunshine. I looked across to the laurel hedge and spotted a bird nestled into a small space framed by leaves. My eye was drawn by its pale-coloured breast, but it wasn’t until I looked through the camera lens that it occurred to me it was a blackcap, a female.

4/2/15-First glimpse of the female blackcap

4/2/15-First glimpse of the female blackcap

She ventured out onto a twig in the sunshine

She ventured out onto a twig in the sunshine

150204TGDC-Blackcap female first sighting this year (4)

She sat in the sunshine for a short while before flying off

She stayed around for a good few minutes, then moved across to an evergreen shrub in the neighbouring garden for a while before flying off. I expected to see a male somewhere near her, but as with the bullfinch there was no sign of one. More about blackcaps here.

Thursday morning was again gloriously sunny and a much warmer day too and a few minutes spent watching the usual comings and goings brought forth two more additions to my list. Firstly a glimpse of a greater spotted woodpecker high up in a tree, half-hiding behind a branch, then even more excitingly a tiny goldcrest. I was fairly sure I’d seen one here flitting about in the vegetation on a couple of occasions previously, and I stopped to watch one on my walk on Tuesday, but this was a really good, though brief sighting that confirmed my previous sightings weren’t just wishful thinking. We have a good number of conifer trees close by, which they like to use as nest sites, so I’m hoping to see more.

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From blustery beach to sheltered woods

17 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by theresagreen in Colwyn Bay, nature of woodlands, woodland birds

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Tags

blackbird, coal tit, coastal birds, Collared Doves, dunnock, Fairy Glen, herring gull, magpie, wood pigeon

I had driven along to Colwyn Bay to have a closer look at the beach-building, not because I am lazy, more to do with there being a bitterly cold wind blowing with too few  compensating warm sunny intervals to make it a pleasant place to be. I did stop for few minutes though and bought a mug of tea from one of the snack shacks to warm me up a bit while I stood perusing the beach, which I’m glad I did. Over the last few days I have spotted a few small flocks of small birds flying in across the sea and there were more as I watched then; finches by their up and down bouncy flight and I’m pretty sure goldfinch by the contact calls they were making. I never have binoculars when I need them, which was a shame today as I also had sights of incoming house martins; fortunately very close ones, so no doubts there. There’s nothing like the first sight of these amazing little migrants, it is always uplifting and hopeful.

As I drank my tea I was entertained by a courting couple of herring gull, both looking bright eyed and beautiful in immaculate plumage and freshly coloured beaks.

Herring gull pair bonding

Herring gull pair bonding

Female begging for food

Female begging for food

She was quite insistent but he was not sharing

She was quite insistent but he was not sharing

A nice pose from the pair showing the difference in sizes

A nice pose from the pair showing the difference in their size

One of the best aspects of living here is that within a very short time and distance you can move into a completely different environment, so as I was close by I headed up to Fairy Glen to seek out some wildlife in the shelter of its trees. As I’ve said before this small local nature reserve within the bounds of Old Colwyn village can be a bit scruffy when viewed through human eyes, but the presence of the fast-flowing stream of water and a well-established variety of trees, shrubs and woodland plants combine to make this the perfect oasis for an impressive number of woodland bird species as well as those that have learned to live amongst people.

First to attract my attention was a Collared Dove that was pottering around on the ground by the side of the river before fluttering down onto a rock to take a drink. There are usually a pair of these pretty doves here, but as there was just the one today I hope the other was sitting on a nest.

A collared dove on a rock in the river

A collared dove on a rock in the river

Next to come into view was a pair of magpie, which I had never seen actually within the woodland before. This is another opportunistic bird species that gets bad press and is not much liked by a lot of people, but they are elegant birds, strikingly handsome in appearance and in common with most members of the crow family, clever and characterful.

One of a pair of magpie on the handrail of the walkway

One of a pair of magpie on the handrail of the walkway

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

A wary wood pigeon taking a drink

There were numerous blue tits out hunting for food, minutely examining twigs and leaf buds for insects as they do. Blue tits have the inexplicable knack of timing their egg-laying to coincide the hatching of their young with the emergence of caterpillars. This cold but rather dry spring may well have set them back by a few weeks this year; I have only seen one butterfly so far this spring. There were great tits too, in lesser numbers as always, and I was pleased to see a coal tit, always one of my ‘target’ birds here and generally to be spotted in the same spot, close by to where there are a number of large conifer trees, some type of cypress, maybe overgrown leylandii.

A dunnock drying itself off after taking a dip

A dunnock drying itself off after taking a dip

I heard several birds singing, blackbird, robin and wren most frequently and one short and sweet tune of a dunnock. I spotted a dunnock bathing in shallow water at the edge of the ditch that runs along the side of the footpath and collects run-off water from the high bank above it. It flew into some brambly scrub to dry off and sat for some minutes shaking water from its feathers and preening them back into shape.

There were some wildflowers to be seen, lesser celandines, one or two wood violets, a single stem of kingcups on the boggy part of the riverbank and on a sheltered bank under the trees, the first primroses.

I had been looking out for grey wagtails; I know they have returned as I’ve seen them around the houses in the vicinity of the lower end of the river, so on my way back to the car I walked along the lower end of the river down to where it flows into the sea. Although I was watching for them, the grey wagtails saw me first and took off from the water up and away. At least I saw them, if only briefly. To compensate though I heard a bird ‘singing’ that I didn’t immediately recognise and traced it to a large evergreen tree; I could see several small birds, I think four, that I first took to be blue tits feeding in the top of the adjacent tree, but they and the singer were coal tits.

A coal tit feeding at the top of a tree

A coal tit feeding at the top of a tree

I think perhaps my favourite sight of the day though was of crow attempting to pick twigs from a small tree. It was having big problems trying to balance on the slender branches and despite valiant efforts the twigs were too well attached to snap off easily, but fair play to the bird it kept on trying.

The precariously balance crow trying its best to break off a twig

The precariously balance crow trying its best to break off a twig

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Fair weather gardening

02 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by theresagreen in garden wildlife, Insects, Nature, nature photography

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Bee-fly, Drone fly, herring gull, house sparrow, starling, wood pigeon

There are times when life takes precedence over blogging and I’m lagging behind a little with my postings as a result, only by a week or so, but at this time of year when nature is pressing on apace, an awful lot can happen in a very short time, so I’m trying to catch up.

The hot weekend of 25-26th March brought the incentive I needed to finally get out and cut the grass for the first time this year before its height exceeded the capabilities of my daughter’s little Flymo. My antics attracted the curiosity of  a few of the neighbours, who peered down from their penthouses to see what the racket was about.

An imperious stare from the beady yellow eye of one of 'our' herring gull pair

A wood Pigeon chose an aerial view of proceedings and seemed quite surprised by them

The starling was more preoccupied with posing

The starling, recognisable as a male by the blue base to his bill, looked so gorgeous I am putting in another shot of him.

He was whistling and singing, hence the fluffed out throat feathers

“I’m only a poor little sparrow, no colourful feathers have I, I can’t even sing when I’m nesting in spring……”

The garden hedges were bursting with House Sparrows, and I can see that at least two pairs are beginning to nest within the spiny pyracantha; more are occupying a space they have found high up in the eaves of the house at the front. Their constant cheerful cheepings and chatterings ensure I am aware of their companionship. They may not be colourful, nor can they sing, but I love them.

The male House Sparrows are all bright eyed and in their mating best plumage now

They may be brown, but how can you not appreciate the subtlety and detailed patterning of a female Sparrow's wing?

A weed is just a flower out of place

I’ve never been a fan of closely mown and weed-free lawns, partly because I never had the time or the inclination to spend hours on nurturing such a sward, but mainly because I could never bring myself to mow down daisies and would always leave little archipelagos of them strung throughout mine. I have a slightly different attitude to dandelions; whilst I do appreciate their golden beauty, they go to seed so rapidly and spread like wildfire so although I will leave a few, the majority do have to go. They are a very important source of nectar for early pollen and nectar foraging insects though, so I’m not too hasty to give them the chop.

Dainty blue speedwell is another wild flower I hate to cut down. They don't take up much space and are so pretty.

Hoverfly on lesser celandine

There are a couple of patches of lesser celandine in the lawn in this little garden that I am loathe to cut , even though I know they are just going to continue to grow and spread and probably get out of hand, but whilst I’m care-taking here they’ll stay. I was gratified to see a small hoverfly on a flower and delighted by a visit from one of my all-time favourite insects, a crazily-constructed bee-fly.

A favourite insect of mine, the bee-fly has a permanently projected long proboscis and ridiculously long legs to balance it

Bee-fly – Bombylius major

A very distinctive fly, a bee-mimic, these fascinating insects are most frequently seen in the early spring, from April to June when they may attract attention as they hover for several seconds at a time in the same spot, either over bare ground or over a  flower then dart off and return to the spot facing in a different direction.  Their hovering may be accompanied by a high-pitched buzz.

The body is rounded and furry,  the legs appear disproportionately long and spindly, but are probably required to balance the long rigid proboscis which is permanently fixed on the front of the head. Their boldly patterned wings have a distinct dividing border through the horizontal middle between the dark and clear portions. Their antennae are typically very short and pointed. The bee-fly’s behaviour belies its cute appearance though. The adult female lays her eggs close to the underground nest of a solitary bee 0r wasps, then flicks them towards the entrance. After hatching, the bee-fly larvae find their way into the nests to feed on the nest owner’s larvae.

A bee-fly resting on the ground showing better the patterned wings

There were lots of drone  flies about and a lesser number of smaller species hoverflies. Surprisingly my first butterfly sighting of this year was a little Holly Blue, followed a while later by the species I had expected to see first, a Speckled Wood. Neither obliged by resting for long enough for me to photograph and it feels like cheating to use ‘one I made earlier’, so I’ll have to wait.

Drone-fly-eristalis pertinax

An early marmalade fly

Inside the house, a large queen wasp had become trapped against the kitchen window: I had watched it earlier  flying back and forth along the bottom of the hedge. After taking the photograph I let it out. Must clean that window.

Wasp trapped on the inside of the kitchen window

On the living room window a pair of flies were mating - underside view

The upperside view of the flies on the outside of the window. Difference in size between the sexes is appreciable, the male considerably smaller.

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Come rain, come shine

27 Saturday Aug 2011

Posted by theresagreen in frogs & toads, garden wildlife, Nature, Nature of Wales, Rhos-on-Sea

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common frog, house sparrow, limacus flavus, rana temporaria, wood pigeon, yellow slug

Days of unsettled weather have limited my outdoor activities, but during dry spells and the occasional half-hours of sunshine, the local wildlife has been quick to take advantage of opportunities to venture out of hiding.

Some people have lions or pineapples decorating their gateposts ;we have woodpigeons
When not on sentry duty, the wood pigeons scour the lawn for freshly sprouted dandelion leaves

I tidied up the hedge recently, but was careful to leave the crop of berries along the top untouched. Now, although they still don’t appear to me to be ripe, the House Sparrows arrive several times a day to check for any that are edible.

The House Sparrows come several times a day to check for any berries that may be ripe enough to eat

The House Sparrows are still together in quite a sizable flock and although the young birds seem to stick together as one group and the adults appear in smaller groups, they are all within reach of one another.

Other garden birds have reappeared following their ‘summer breaks’ too. During a sunny spell of a recent early morning I was watching a young Crow pecking at fruit on the neighbouring apple tree; it was joined by three young Blue Tits that arrived to forage around the branches and they were followed by two adults and then a family of Great Tits. A Coal Tit was exploring the woodwork of the garden shed, no doubt looking for spiders or other sheltering insects. A Wren arrived and sang briefly from the garden fence, Dunnocks foraged along the bottom of the hedge and both a male and a female Blackbird put in an appearance.

Insects need warm sunshine to get them going:

A Small White butterfly basking on a privet leaf
A basking Speckled Wood from the front, ready for lift-off
5/8/11-A Marmalade hoverfly warming up in a spot of sunshine

Then there are those creatures that prefer the cooler, damper weather:

A Garden Snail enjoying a cool damp spell
I discovered this unusual Yellow Slug-limacus flavus whilst gardening. 

Limacus flavus, sometimes called the Yellow slug, is a medium to large species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Limacidae.The yellow slug is common in England, Wales and Ireland as well as most of southern and western Europe. Feeding mostly on fungi, decaying matter or vegetables, this species is strongly associated with human habitation, and is usually found in damp areas such as cellars, kitchens, and gardens. Generally speaking it is only seen at night, because it is nocturnal. Thus it often goes unnoticed and people are unaware of how (relatively) common the species is.

I know it’s a slug, but it is quite an attractive one

I filled four recycling bags with hedge-cuttings and other garden debris and when I began to move them to put them out for collection a few days later, I was removing the hiding place of a rather lovely frog.

Common Frog-Rana temporaria

Common Frog – Rana temporaria

Identification:

  • Tailless amphibian – Smooth skin
  • Tends to jump not walk
  • Horizontal ovoid pupil
  • Dorsal surface and flanks are very variable in colour, typically yellowish brown, but may be olive-green coloured and some individuals have a reddish or yellow appearance. Variably spotted or striped.
  • Ventral surface (underside) of males may be dirty white or pale yellow, speckled with grey or brown; females pale yellow to orange
  • The most consistent markings are the dark patch behind the eye and the strong barring on the hind limbs.
  • Length: 6 – 9 cm
This lovely fat frog was hiding between the garden waste recycling bags

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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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