my local patch and wildlife - Ian McDonald

[ian mcdonald]

This week has been mixed weather, with dull, cool days. We went into two of the woods where the water levels have dropped. Birds there are not very obvious due to the thick canopy of leaves. We searched for the fungus which I Posted on June 5th. so my colleague could take some photos. of it. It took about half an hour before my colleague said he had found it but it was on a different tree. That makes it at least two locations for it. Eventually we found it on the original tree. It had changed from yellow to a dull orange/brown colour. Back out in the open we saw a number of Hobby,s hunting for dragonflies. I think my colleague counted about 11 in one area. There were a good number of Damselflies on the wing. These included Azure and Large Red. As we were walking along a path, a female Red Deer came out of cover and stood watching us for a brief moment before disappearing back into the shrubs. A good number of fungi are showing just now. A fox was seen on a track but hurried away before we could get a photo. As we were leaving I saw a male and female roe deer close by.



Alder? beetle.



Long-horn Beetle, Agapanthia villosoviridescens.



A rabbit on the track.



Oyster mushroom.



Eyelash fungus, Scutellinia scutellata.

[ian mcdonald]

Trentepohlia? fairly common on the site.



Large Red Damselfly.



Azure Damselfly.



Silver Y Moth.



Roe deer buck.

[ian mcdonald]

Roe deer doe.

Birds seen this week were, crow, black headed gull, redshank, lapwing, sedge warbler, blackcap, willow warbler, sparrow hawk, hobby, buzzard, kestrel, blackbird, song thrush, great spotted woodpecker, cuckoo, pigeon, cettis warbler, reed bunting, swifts, swallows, marsh harrier, blue tits and tree creepers.

[ian mcdonald]

It was hot on Tuesday but raining all day yesterday so I was down to one visit this week. It started off well with good views of an Avocet stood in shallow water. A Cettis warbler was calling from a bush but I did not manage to see it. Walking along a dry baulk I noticed a roe deer walking in front of me. It turned and saw me then disappeared in some reeds. A Marsh Harrier was hunting low over the reeds and water. Warblers seemed to be everywhere. Sedge Warblers, Willow Warblers, Reed Warblers, Chiff Chaff, Grasshopper Warbler, Garden Warbler, Whitethroat and Blackcap. Later I sat for a while and watched three Hobbies chasing dragonflies. A Redshank and a Juvenile were on wet peat. They must have bred here. I searched for caterpillars of Scarce Vapourer moths, which breed on the site but could not find any. As I was leaving I saw three small waders which looked like Little Ringed Plovers on wet peat.



Avocet.



Snipe? fly.

[ian mcdonald]

Crested dogs-tail, Cynosaurus cristata.



Tufted vetch, Vicia cracca.



Adders tongue, Ophioglossum vulgatum.



Eyebright, Euphrasia nemorum.



Bladderwort, Utricularia vulgaris.

Birds seen were, avocet, mallard, tufted duck, marsh harrier, wren, cettis warbler, sedge warbler, reed bunting, stonechat, crow, pigeon, cuckoo, grasshopper warbler, swift, swallow, pheasant, buzzard, snipe, hobby, kestrel, whitethroat, willow warbler, linnet, blackcap, chaffinch, garden warbler, blackbird, chiff chaff, jay, little ringed plover, lapwing and reed warbler. Also seen were two roe deer.

[WSGR]

Ian, where is your patch!? Simply stunning and the photos are amazingly refreshing! I like that forthy pic with the deer? Enchanting locale!

[ian mcdonald]

It has been hot and sunny this week and felt very muggy. As I write this it has just started thundering, as predicted. The first day I went to the East of the site. I scanned a small lake but apart from a lone heron in the shallows there was little bird activity on the water. A number of Whitethroats were making a noise in a large willow bush, perhaps there was a raptor which I didn,t see. I stopped at an area where there is a picnic table and good all-round views. I counted 17 Hobby hunting at various heights although one might have been a Kestrel. On one track I thought I heard the faint sound of a Snipe drumming. Turning round I was just in time to see it land not far away. Butterflies are numerous now, with many Ringlet and a good number of Large Heath. The Large Heath seem to be spreading to other areas of the site and local naturalists are counting numbers along a series of transects. The light has been so strong that photography has been difficult.  Some of the flowers, such as centaury, verbascum and mallow, have been "washed out." After a long and wet winter many of the seasonal pools are practically dry, exposing ancient trees, mostly pine. A small number of waders are prodding the wet peat for food. I saw five Redshank and a Greenshank at one site. Later I noticed two waders bathing in shallow water. I sent pictures to my two colleagues, (I,m not a birder) and because of the poor quality of the photos, it was difficult to get a positive ID but they thought at least one of the waders could have been a Ruff. Cettis Warbler are fairly often heard calling from the depths of bushes but rarely seen. I was sat on a bench with a drink of orange and listening to a Cettis when I saw a small bird fly onto a branch. At last, I thought and took several pictures, only to hear the bird sing. It was a Dunnock. They must have conspired to have a laugh at me. Greater Hay Rattle is doing well this year. On one plant I notice black edges to the leaves. I don,t know if this is a Gall or another organism. The Southern Marsh Orchids have been numerous this year in a variety of shades from pink to dark red but unless you are an Orchidologist they are just colour variations of the same species. The Bee Orchids formed two colonies of leaf rosettes in Winter but the flowers at one site were only about a dozen and none at the other site. Several Pyramidal Orchids are in flower. There are only two spikes of the Dune Helleborine noticeable so far. Perhaps more will be seen in the next few weeks, they are a late flowerer. There is no sign of Fragrant Orchid yet but again they flower late in the season.

[ian mcdonald]

Marsh cinquefoil.



Robins pincushion.



One of the tracks.



Large heath.



Drinker.

[ian mcdonald]

Agrimony.



Red admiral.



Trees visible in a drying pool.



Ringlet.



Dark mullein.

[ian mcdonald]

Greenshank.



Common sedge? C. nigra.



Musk mallow.



Self heal.



Marsh bedstraw.

[ian mcdonald]

Greater hay rattle.



Trailing tormentil, Potentilla anglica.



Meadow grasshopper.



Another drying pool.

Birds this week were, marsh harrier, tufted duck, grey lag goose, mallard, teal, willow warbler, stonechat, chiff chaff, chaffinch, blackbird, blackcap, cettis warbler, snipe, pigeon, hobby, kestrel, whitethroat, great tit, sedge warbler, reed warbler, reed bunting, linnet, crow, cuckoo, lapwing, heron, coot, redshank, dunnock, black headed gull, gadwall, greenshank, ruff? and pheasant. Butterflies included ringlet, skippers, large heath, red admiral, meadow brown, small tortoishell and brimstone. Also seen were two female and a juvenile red deer.

[cohan]

All interesting to see... I had to look up baulk! not  a term we use over here in that context (and had never seen the alternate spelling with u )

[Hoy]

What is the log lying in the drying pools? Do you know the age? Sometimes we find old logs in similar places in Norway. They can be several 1000 years old. The remnants of long gone forest when the climate was different.

[ian mcdonald]

Hello Trond, there are several species of trees preserved in the peat. Oak, pine and birch, mainly. I don,t think it would be safe to go out onto these drying areas as they are under water all winter. The trees are thought to date back to the Bronze Age. Some of the standing tree stumps show signs of having been felled by axe. A Bronze Age trackway was found in 1972 in the South of the site while a Neolithic Trackway was found at another site. This was made of Pine trunks of a fairly small diameter.

[Hoy]

Ian, that is interesting! I know they have found 9000 year old pine trees in bogs well above the present tree limit here in Norway. But I have not heard of axe marks!