Tuesday 25th. March 2014

A damp , cool day today at least gave time to catch up on photographs taken over the last few trips out , and to post some of them . The warmth of last week brought more Adders out from their Winter hibernation . I have still only found males , but I have heard of at least one female showing .  Four

males here looked like they had been flattened by a steam roller , but when I passed them later

 on , three of them were charging around as if a female was in the area . A

 

 quick check didn't find one , but that's not saying that there wasn't one around .

 

Once Carol puts out the bird food first thing , anything up to 8/9 Jackdaws swoop down , bullying the other species . They do look smart in their breeding plumage . 

 

Another early morning search for Brown Hares failed again . All that was found was this Rabbit /Meerkat . 

 

Another Adder site almost overlooking the M25 , produced just two males . This one was happy for me to take shots , but swiftly made off when two joggers approached . The sun was out but a very

cool wind blew across the site , so I wasn't expecting to find this Sm .Tortoiseshell sunning itself . On site , I also had my first singing Blackcap of the year .

 

Found my first Bluebells of the year in flower , beaten this year by Warren/Pittswood Birds . 

 

Also found , lots of Cuckoo Flower / Ladies Smock / Cardamine pratensis , a member of the Cabbage family . Hopefully the Orange Tip butterflies who use it as one of the plants they lay eggs on , will follow soon . 

A stop whilst passing at Bough Beech Reservoir found very little on the water , but around the Visitor

Centre , what seems to be a growing colony of House Sparrows were very vocal . Whilst photographing them , the head of a Weasel popped out of a woodpile , and popped back in as quickly . I backed off and waited for it to show again . Half an hour later I gave up , chilled to the bone .

 

Having failed to see a Brambling last Winter , this one was going the same , until , whilst having breakfast this morning , I saw a white rump fly off from below the feeders . A wait at the back bedroom window proved successful , when the bird returned with the other Finches a while later . Unfortunately the shot was through double glazing and drizzle .

Thursday 20th. March 2014

I would like to take this opportunity to answer a comment made on my

 

last post regarding the advisability of hedgelaying , given the early

 

Spring with birds already nesting , having mentioned finding nests on

 

the post .

 

We three hedgelayers involved , are also avid wildlife enthusiasts and

 

conservators , putting in many hours each week to create habitat ,

 

surveying and doing general wildlife enhancing management , and

 

would not even think about destroying what we work towards .

 

To the commenter , and to anyone else worried about the situation ,

 

I can confirm that the full length of the hedge , which is only just

 

coming into leaf , was meticulously inspected by one of the layers

 

in the afternoon of the day before we started laying , and needless

 

to say , no nests or signs of nesting were found . If any had been

 

found , the hedge would not have been touched , and we would

 

have returned in the Autumn to do the job .

 

 

Wednesday 19th. March 2014

Another picture catch up on recent sightings include ; 

 

A survey of a pond with a fellow volunteer from the Common , who has a licence to handle Great Crested Newts , produced 15 specimens , some netted , others found under refugia . The larger one is a female and the white stripe on the male's tail can be seen on the other .

 

A few Common/Smooth Newts were also found , along with several male Palmate Newts , identified by the webbed back feet and the hair-like filament at the end of it's tail .

 

On the way out of the site , I saw a LTTit fly into Brambles with a feather in it's bill . Had it not been for that , you would pass the nest by .

 

An afternoon visit to Hutchinson's Bank in sunshine , found lots of Common Dog Violet / Viola riviniana in flower , along with 1 Peacock , 7/8 Comma , several in aerial combat already , and

6 Small Tortoiseshell , 2 of which were engaged in some serious courting .





 

A trip up on the Downs found another 3 , along with 3 Peacock and 13 Brimstone , including this , my first female of the year .

 

Several Bee Flies / Bombylius major , were also first sightings for the year . 

 

Like snakes , Common Lizards are able to 'flatten' their bodies , to maximise the warming up process , as this one shows .

 

Adders were at their constant 3 , including this male , who was just too fast with his tongue for the shutter speed on the camera . 

On my way home , I stopped to photograph a heavily laden Cotoneaster , which wouldn't have happened last Winter with all the Waxwings , and Winter Thrushes that arrived , and a Cherry tree in full blossom alongside .

 

A visit to the feeders in the woods , found the local ringers at work . It was mainly Tits being trapped and rung , but this Treecreeper made a nice change . In one of the ponds on the site , a female Mallard with 7/8 young , which she quickly shepherded into the vegetation .

 

A stop at Bough Beech Reservoir wasn't very exciting , except when a pair of Common Buzzards flew close to the Heronry , which put about 30 birds up in the air , 20+ in this shot . 

 

On the bottom lane , 9 nest are now completed at the Rookery , and the noise level is definitely rising . Interestingly , the Winter gales removed ever scrap of last year's nests , but a Carrion Crow nest in a tree close by , is still intact .



Getting ready to leave the house early for the last hedgelaying outing of the season , Carol spotted this fine specimen strutting about the back garden . I just managed a few shots before he flew off noisily back towards the woods .







And finally , although it is out of the news now , the flooding still continues locally , with several gardens and two rugby pitches under water . Mind you , that could be the least of their problems after what I spotted on the way past ! There are also a large number of yellow plastic ducks floating on the surface , so Jaws shouldn't go hungry .

And really finally , The Robins seemed to desert their nest down the garden in Honeysuckle , but today we noticed them in and out of the Ivy on the garage . Sure enough , another nest , this time in a spot where they can see Carol putting out the mealworms that they have been feeding on all Winter .



Monday 10th. March 2014

A catch up on visits over the last few days , starts with the bird survey at Down House . A sunny , crisp visit produced 19 species , just on the higher side of average for the site . The birds were in fine song , like us , probably glad to see and feel that sun . Great Spotted Woodpeckers were duelling on

their favoured drums , this one over by the cricket field , the other was answering from the formal garden . In the large paddock , a Green Woodpecker swooped down , probably to feed on ants . I tried

to get close , but just after this shot , I was spotted , and it was gone , along with a noisy 'yaffle' . In

the formal garden , tucked under a hedge , an Earthstar fungus / Geastrum triplex , the fleshy outer layer splitting backwards under fruiting body raised above the ground . Anything touching the spore sack , even raindrops , producing a jet of spores to be emitted from an opening on the top of the sack . Walking back to the car along the lane , a splash of blue close to the ground caught my attention . My

first thought was Borage / Borago officinalis , there being not that many blue flowers , but that grows to quite a good sized plant , and the top of this flower stalk was only 30 cms. off the ground . From the books , I now think it might be Abraham , Isaac and Jacob / Trachystemon orientalis , or maybe not ?
As the week warmed up , I made several early morning visits to an area I passed through many times en route to hedglaying over the years , and on 3/4 occasions , had sightings of Brown Hares . Unfortunately , the Hares didn't show , but it was worth while just for the song of the Skylarks . The only shot I took on the visits , was this rushed one , without a chance of changing any settings , of a

male Pheasant that appeared flying from behind a rise and disappeared into some adjoining woodland . After each failed visit , I consoled myself with a stop up on the Greensand Ridge , where

the warm weather has encouraged more Adders to come out of hibernation . Singles are still to be

found , but more doubles and trebles are becoming more frequent . Sorting out the number of heads

and tails , I must admit , is made much easier when the animals help out and stay separate . My best animal count to date is 12 , one of which I was really glad to find , a youngster born last Autumn ,

and proving breeding on the site .
This morning , with cloud forecast to take over from lunchtime , I headed to Sevenoaks Reserve , and

was welcomed by one of many Wrens , singing their hearts out . I was hoping to find Great-crested Grebes displaying , but only found two pairs , one intent on feeding , the other mirroring each other at distance and behind a reedbed . A very quick look in at Willow Hide , as someone had decided to leave their last meal over one end of the hide . The island on the East Lake was noisy , with this pair

of Egyptian Geese evicting the Canadas and Greylags , even though both species are bigger than them . A bit further along the track , another , or the same Jay , allowed me to get a few shots , before

flying off . But even that was eclipsed later , when I spotted a Treecreeper land on a tree just off the track , then fly on to a nearby Ivy clad tree . I waited a while , then it flew back past me , before returning again as before . I made my way to the area that the bird had been heading to , and got the camera ready , albeit not good light and lots of vegetation between , as I didn't want to get too close . The following shots tell their own story :

Assuming I was watching the female , she came backwards and forwards 7/8 times whilst I was there , with different nesting materials , whilst , who I assume was the male , took no notice of me ,

and stood guard on the surrounding trees , at one time landed on a close Elderberry , almost too close for the camera to focus . A few minutes that I will never forget . I moved on , hoping that the pair will

be successful . From Tyler Hide , a fine looking male Shellduck , but no sign of a partner . Whilst out

on the back of the nearest island , 13 Common Snipe , with another 3 just out of the shot . More

Wrens from Slingsby Hide , along with a male Reed Bunting , also singing his heart out . Around the site , Goat Willow , a great early provider of nectar was attracting lots of Bumble Bees , mostly

Buff-tailed , and also another Comma . With the first clouds showing , I headed home , and as I approached the bottom of Poll Hill , could see a Common Buzzard , quartering the adjacent fields . I

managed to get on a quieter lane and got a distant shot , unfortunately into the now milky sun . I

watched and waited , and was eventually rewarded with a better shot , as it turned towards the sun . By the time I got home , the cloud cover was complete .