Friday 1st. April 2011

Only managed to get out for a couple of hours this afternoon , in very cool , grey , blustery conditions . I decided to have a first look this year at Spring Park Pond , a regular site during the season for damsel/dragonflies , and the woodland beyond . Two drake Mallards were on the pond when I arrived , feeding around the edges . At this time of year with Toads and Frogs spawning , much of that spawn is predated by ducks , and I think that was what these two were eating . They soon flew off as I walked around the pond , finding the first tadpoles of the year feeding on the Parrots Feathers/Myriophllum aquaticum that has become a big problem on the site , where it is choking the life out of the pond , but more on that later . A welcome sight was the yellow of the first Marsh Marigold/Caltha palustris , a member of the Buttercup family , to come into flower . Apart from a few brief sighting of Newts , gulping air and diving back into the vegetation , little else was around , so I headed off into the woods . Even though there was no sunshine , the woodland floor was brightened by a carpet of Wood Anemones/Anemone nemorosa , another member of the Buttercup family . A new plant to come into flower was Ground Ivy/Glechoma hederacea , a member of the large Labiate family . On the side of a path , a couple of favourite woodland plants of mine , Wood Sorrel/Oxalis acetosella , and Moschatel or Town Hall Clock/Adoka moschatellina , with it's flowers on the four sides , with one on top too . On my way back to the car , I stopped again at the pond as the Ranger was having a look as I went by . While we talked , a Toad started croaking and was soon seen , along with a pair in amplexus , the male on the female's back , ready to fertilize her spawn as she lays it . He said that he hadn't seen any Frogspawn in the pond this year , so the chances are that the tadpoles seen earlier were Toad . We also chatted about the Parrots Feathers which was introduced by a member of the public , and now is such a problem that after 3 years of pulling the plant out without making any impression by the following year , he is thinking of using chemicals to destroy it , but of course , what else will be destroyed with the Parrots Feathers ? The Ranger left and I had a last look around , finding a Bee Fly feeding on Honesty/Lunaria annua , a member of the Cabbage family , it's long proboscis , probing deep into the throat of the flower . The cloud cover was starting to break , too late now , and encouraged a Ramshorn Snail , another introduced species , to browse on the Parrots Feathers . Birdwise , nothing special seen or heard , plenty of Great Tits and Wrens , a single Mistle Thrush and a couple of Chiffchaffs were singing , and of course , the screeching RRParakeets . As I passed the spot where last year I photographed a Common Whitethroat , I had a look amongst the Blackthorn and Bramble where I would see it taking food , and found the remains of it's nest , perched 6" off the ground . I wonder if they will use the same area this year ?