Sunday 16 January 2011

Sunday 16th.January 2011

The sight of sunshine this morning had me heading out , knowing that the better weather would be short lived . I headed for Bough Beech first , and arrived to be welcomed by a stiff cool wind , blowing from straight down the reservoir . The water level was as high as I have ever seen it , and the waves were breaking on the concrete apron of the causeway . A look over the small North Lake produced little apart from a mixed flock of Pochard and Tufted Duck ( I suppose it's alright to mention the species now that they have graced the lake at Pittswood ) , but not much else . As I passed them , I had a word with two birders searching amongst the flooded trees for some Mandarins that had been seen earlier . Between us we couldn't find any sign of them , but there were obviously a lot more ducks further in , as the constant whistling of Teal could be heard . I didn't realise it at the time , but these two birders turned out to be Phil of Phil and Mandy's Wildlife Blog and his friend Denis , and still wouldn't be any the wiser if Phil hadn't posted a shot of Denis in the exact spot where we had spoken , on his blog today . Perhaps we'll recognise each other next time Phil .
The feeders in the orchard can be good for the odd species other than the constant Blue and Great Tits , but today , bird ringers had their nets close to the feeders and consequently were backwards and forewards checking them , so apart from a very quick visit from a Nuthatch , the usual suspects , Pheasants doing the housekeeping under the feeders , and some very smart looking Great Tits were all that posed for a shot .
On the way back , I stopped off on the Greensand Ridge to look for one of my favourite fungi , the Scarlet Elf Cup-Sarcoscypha coccinea , but my long walk was in vain , as I did not find a single specimen of this fungi which appears early winter to early spring . I did however come across some nice specimens of Velvet Shank-Flammulina velutipes , and also some Maze-gill-
Daedalea quercina , and as it's name suggests , was found on some dead Oak .
My last stop was at Keston Church to see how the Winter Heliotrope-Petasites fragrans was getting on . The milder weather has really brought it on from the first petals just having opened when I last looked , to some of the flower heads almost fully opened now .
I also found a few Primroses in leaf up on the Ridge , dare we mention the word again ?
By the time I got home , the odd spit of drizzle was in the wind .

8 comments:

Phil said...

Tempting fate with the 'S' word so early I think Greenie!
Nice Great Tit shot.

Simon said...

Agree with Phil, nice Great Tit shot! Haven't been to Bough Beech for while now, must try and get down there...

John Young said...

That S word is tempting, especially as I had a Brimstone on the wing today in the sunshine. Got a book on mushrooms now Greenie so you will almost certainly be correcting some id's during the year :-)

Warren Baker said...

Greenie, I'm over my Tufty tantrum now :-)

I too like that Great Tit shot, it's a proper yellow one, not one of those washed out drab ones....

Kingsdowner said...

I dunno, a bit of sunshine and we're all optimistic..... I expect you had your shorts on too?

It's been ages since I went to Bough Beech, so I must go again soon.

Phil and Mandy said...

I hope so Greenie, its good to put a face to a name. Thanks

Ken. said...

Hi Greenie.
Nice to read a report about Bough Beech. I haven't been there for a long time. It would be good to see some Mandarins again. I must get down there again soon.

ShySongbird said...

It's nice to be able to visit again Greenie, I hope all is well with you and yours.

So good to see the Winter Heliotrope is progressing well and I can't wait for those Primroses, my very favourite wild flower...I love them!