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SUNDAY 2 FEBRUARY 2014

With a fine weekend and a rare Sunday off,it's time to take a trip to the Fens. Not surprisingly,there is a lot of water on the flood plains this year,as this picture clearly shows:

Soon we made our way up to Welney Wash,a Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve,having seen lots of kestrels and a couple of buzzards on the way.

Here the visitor can get close-up views of ducks,geese and swans.

With their red-brown heads,grey backs and dumpy shape,pochards are one of the most attractive ducks to be seen here. They are nearly all males,it seems the females spend the winter in the Med-perhaps they have better map reading skills than the males!

Common as they are,mallards are one of the most handsome of all ducks. Although they look the same as the ones on your local pond,in fact most of these mallards come to Britain from Russia and Siberia!

Mute swans can be seen here all year. There are the swans we see on our local lakes and rivers. They don't move far,few fly more than a few miles away from their birth place during their lives.

In contrast,whooper swans can be seen here,and they are long distance migrants,coming to East Anglia all the way from Iceland,where they breed. They are as big as the mute's,and often squabble among themselves,particularly at feeding time. Nowhere can you see wild whooper swans closer than right here at Welney.

Normaly,the staff wheel a barrowfull of grain out at 3.30PM,but today,with the flood so high,it was a floating lunch!

Several other wildfowl species can be seen and,on the roadside just outside the reserve,two barn owls were a fitting way to end a rather splendid winters day out.

Lovely shots - I wish we had a closeish wetland reserve, most years have to depend on winter field floods down in the valley if they occur

Phil

Should be plenty of floodwater in your local valley this winter,Phil!

SUNDAY 9 FEBRUARY.

Booked another Sunday off,but my own Essex conservation day was cancelled,so i headed down to Sussex to join Michael Blencowe and the Sussex volunteers,to do some work at the Park Corner Heath and Rowland Wood BC reserve.

Park Corner Heath has been a reserve for many years now,but now,Rowland Wood next door has recently been added. A massive amount of hard work has been done since i last visited early in 2012, and,to start with,i hardly recognised the place! Blocks of pine have been felled,widening rides and creating new clearings,letting far more light into the wood.

This reserve is good for a wide range of butterflies and moths,but it is perhaps the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary for which the site is known to most people. This,i believe,is the last site for SPBF in south-east England,but this colony is now completely isolated,with no chance of new recruits coming in from other sites. Numbers of adults have become worryingly low in recent years. We can only hope our work here comes just in time to save this special colony from extinction.

Hazel catkins were abundant and,out of the wind and in the late winter sunshine,you could almost imagine the first Brimstones fluttering down the woodland rides here-wont be long now!

Good luck with the Small Pearls this year Essex - it would a shame if the colony was lost Is there no way that their numbers cold be bolstered from another colony? I know that interference like this is often frowned upon but it seems like their numbers have dwindled due to our interference (or lack of it) in the first place

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Like you said,Wurzel,i think that sort of thing is frowned upon! Thanks for your comments,though.

There have been some nice,sunny days this week.It really seems spring is just around the corner. The bumblebees have been flying,and i even saw my first Red-tailed Bumblebee-and my first 2014 butterfly! Six weeks earlier than last year! It was a Red Admiral,and in pretty good nick too. Sadly no photo,as it was at work and i didn't have the camera.

So i'll sign off with the lovely Myrobalan Plum-the first blossom to appear-which has come out this week,and some crocuses.

HAS SPRING SPRUNG?

People often ask me when spring begins,and are surprised to hear there is no such thing as an official start of spring in Britain. For weather records,spring consists of March,April and May. The real start of spring varies widely from year to year. For example,last year,spring didn't really get going until mid April. This year,however,the opening crocusses,daffodils and blossom would have us believe spring had already arrived by the end of February,at least in the south.

So it's time to look back at what has been a remarkable winter. It was mild throughout the Kingdom,with no cold spells,and scarcely even a frost,where i live at least. Temperatures were 1.5C above average for most.

As we know,it was wet and windy throughout,and many southern and western parts had between 1 and a half and twice the average rainfall,as did eastern Scotland,during the three winter months. Only Norfolk,north-east England and north Scotland were maginally drier than average.On high ground,much of this fell as snow,esecially in Scotland,where avalanches have occured.

It was also very dull in many western areas,including west Wales,and in particular north-west England and south-west Scotland,where they recorded less than 65 per cent of the expected sunshine. In contrast,much of England and parts of eastern Scotland were remarkably sunny,and some areas of East Anglia recorded 50 per cent more hours of bright sunshine than expected.

All this indicates that the weather was dominated by Atlantic lows and,sure enough,long drags of wet and windy weather swept from west to east off the relatively warm Atlantic throughout. As a result,it was probably the wettest and windiest winter in living memory,and the floods and gale damage thet resulted were devastating.

So what will spring bring?

WENDNESDAY 5 MARCH

In the late morning and lunchtime sunshine today,i went for a walk in my local woods. Hazel catkins are still abundant,and the primroses are starting to flower. In the rides and clearings,i saw several new species for 2014.

A male Brimstone was first up,then my first Peacock,Comma,Tree Bumblebee and Common Carder Bee.

So,at the beginning of March,i already have seen 4 butterfly species! A great start to the spring-long may it continue.

My only regret is that all i managed to photograph was this record shot of the Peacock...

It looks like the answer to your previous post is "yes definitely", four species already and a shot of an early Peacock

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I agree,it certainly seems like it,Wurzel-i hope so!

Today,after a couple of cloudy days in the south-east,the sun returned,and so did the warmth,with 15C recorded at Writtle,near Chelmsford. After the lovely photo's posted by many on this site,i thought it was time i joined in!Although i was at work,i managed to sneek out at lunchtime,and find some butterflies. I saw my first Small Tortoiseshells on sunday,so today,i took my camera.

As Guy said,the Sallow catkins are popular with insects,and soon produced a Comma and a Small Tort. Elsewhere,a peacock was on some heather,and another on Viburnum tinus. A few more butterflies,including a Comma, were basking on bare ground elsewhere. All to soon,it was time to get back to work,having spent some most enjoyable time with March butterflies!

Great stuff Essex - the lunch time butterfly foray is a must now the season has begun

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Hi Mark,

Thank you very much for making the big effort to visit us all at our AGM in Cornwall today all the way from Essex!! Well done & look forward to seeing you again this summer on any of the fieldtrips I arrange for Cornwall Butterfly Conservation. Martin Warren was mighty impressed at you coming to see us & Martin's excellent talk on "Fritillaries" in Cornwall today mate after a several 100's of miles drive!Cheers mate & good speaking with you.
Lee Slaughter (Cornwall Butterfly Conservation).

Thanks,Lee,though the pleasure was all mine! Thanks to you all for the 'behind the scenes' stuff involved in organising such a great day! More on that to follow,but first,

CROESO I GYMRU-WELCOME TO WALES!

Last week,we took a trip to the Welsh hills. The weather was glorious,so one of the things we did was took the drive over to Devil's Bridge,and back along the Elan valley to Rhayader,stopping at intervalls to soak up the scenery in these beautiful hills,and enjoy the sunshine. All the way we were treated to buzzards,kites,a couple of sparrowhawks and,at one point,a swarm of thousands of starlings! A late flock of fieldfares was also notable. We didn't miss out on butterflies,either,with Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells seen,the picture below was taken at Cwmystwyth. As we drove back down the Elan Valley,we stoped at the reservoirs. It seems most of the water in them finds it's way to Birmingham and the west Midlands conurbations! At one of them,a pair of particularly friendly chaffinches took crumbs,almost from the hand.

We had the place almost to ourselves,but i imagine it gets busy here at weekends,if the weather is good.

Hi eb, some lovely views there

Just made a coffee with some of that lovely Welsh water

Cheers,

Neil.

Of course,Neil,that's where you live! Perhaps you can think of the lovely Welsh hills next time you have a drink,and think of all of those kites!

While in Wales,and with great weather,we couldn't resist a visit to the kite feeding certre near Rhayader. It is said to be the worlds most spectacular bird table! If you want to see birds of prey up close,this is the place to come.

Up to 400 kites can be seen here on cold winer days,so it's easy to forget that,until recently,the kite was very rare,and threatened with extinction in Britain.It had been exterminated in England and Scotland by the 1900's and even in Wales,the few nests failed for several years.So it seemed it would soon be gone for ever. The second World War,a terrible event,actually helped the kite,as mans efforts were focused elsewhere,perhaps allowing the last pairs a chance to breed unmolested. Slowly,the numbers increaesed but,even by 1990,there were only 50 pairs. Now though,a viable breeding population has increased to over 1000 pairs of Welsh Kites. At the feed,kites tend to snatch food,often from crows,and rarely land.

Buzzards can also be seen here. They do often land,and eat the food on the ground. Regular visitors to my pages will know this is one of the species i have the very deepest love for,partly owing to my younger days in Cornwall. Although less well known,the buzzard story is broadly similar to he kite's,with tens of thousands of these splendid birds trapped,shot and poisioned in a bloodbath of persecution. This drove it to extinction over most the country,leaving pairs in the wilder parts of Cornwall,Exmoor,west Wales and west Scotland. At last,in the 1950's,buzzards began to increase and spread east. Suddenly, myxamatosis struck,and perhaps half the buzzards in Britain died of starvation. Then,in the 1960's,the Dieldrin used in sheep-dips killed many more,and reduced breeding success. Even in the 1980's, i soon noticed Cornwall had buzzards,while Essex had none. I can still remember the joy of seeing one for the first time here,and it has been a great pleasure to witness their spread accross the country.

Ravens also come to the feed. Their strange croaking calls and upside-down display flight are a joy to behold. Like the buzzard,ravens are spreading east as persecution reduces. Though i have seen them in Kent and Sussex,ravens have yet to colonise Essex,hopefully they will in the next ten years. At the feed,ravens are shy,and often grab a beakfull of meat,and eat it in peace elsewhere.

Some of the pictures below have been cropped.

Cracking shots Essex especially the Raven Crow comparison I'll have to try fog a few Kite shots when I visit the in-laws. The only problem with the feeding station is that I lost my first scope there so it brings back sad memories

Have a goodun

Wurzel

THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE

On the way back from Wales,i decided to spend a day in Gloucestershire. The area between Dymock,Ledbury and Newent is known as the 'golden triangle'. This is because many of the woods,fields and hedges here are carpeted with glorious Lent Lilies (Wild Daffodils).Untill the 1950s,special trains used to run up from London,to bring tourists to admire the spectacle,and buy bunches of the daffodils. Once the fog had cleared,i had plenty of time to enjoy this marvelous spectacle,visiting Betty Daws Wood and Gwen and Vera's Fields,managed by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust,and Dymock Woods,owened by Forestry Comission.

While enjoying these daffodils,i began to notice a few other things,too. Dymock Wood was full of Redwings,while at Betty Daws Wood,buzzards and ravens were seen. On the ground,celandines were starting to flower. As i have these in my garden, i have a bit of a love-hate relationship with them,as they are so invasive. Here in the wild,however,celandines are a lovely addition to the wodland flora. The first anemones were already out,too. Bumblebees were everywhere,and Small Tortoiseshells were seen-they seem to be everywhere this spring!

Lovely photos of the Buzzards and Kites Mark. The other day I had 6 Buzzards circling and calling over the garden but the number of Kites I have ever seen you could count on one hand so they are still very much a novelty for me. The daffodils are beautiful too but what makes a wild daffodil wild? Is it just a daffodil growing in a wild place or are they an old breed so to speak as there are so many varieties available now.

Lovely Daffodil shots Essex Buzzard, that must have been quite a sight

Lent Lilies - that's a cracking name for daffs, great shots Essex Let's hope that the multitudes of Small Torts are a good sign for the year.

Have a goodun

Wurzel