Wild and Wonderful: Tree Following - January and early February 2016

Welcome to my Tree Following post for January and early February 2016.

These tree posts form part of a wider project initiated by Lucy Corrander from the Loose and Leafy blog and continued by Pat at The Squirrelbasket. May I express my thanks to you both.

I am based in Suffolk, UK, where I have been keeping an eye on an Acer negundo (aka a Box-leaf Maple). I am also continuing to watch my Silver birch, B. pendula. Those of you who have read my previous posts will know that I love following the Silver Birch; but, for some slightly indefinable reason, I have not found the Acer negundo a very rewarding tree to follow. I may exchange it for a small flowering cherry sapling that we were given four years ago. I will let you know my thoughts on the matter in a month's time!

You will find the other Tree Follower links by clicking the Mr Linky link here ... so do take the chance to have a look at these new posts!

Once again, the main activity this last month concerns the birds who live around my home patch. Many of them showed up on cue - in, on, around or under the Silver Birch - during the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. You will find my report here.

Since my last TF post, I have noted the following ...

The feisty Robin (and another Robin)
Blue tits, a large cluster
Great tits, again a good number of these
Long-tailed tits, always in a small group
Starlings, every so often
Blackbird, around the tree, rather than on it
Magpies
Wood pigeons, the usual suspects
Carrion Crows, three noisy ones!
Greater Spotted Woodpecker - a male and a female
Bullfinch, male - seen once during its brief spell in our patch
Grey Heron, seen overhead twice, going in opposite directions
Sparrowhawk, which flew past the Silver Birch and on over the fence
Goldfinches, a large charm
Collared Doves, a pair
Jay, a few days before the Birdwatch.

There has also been a Grey Squirrel, who is perching precariously at the top of the Silver Birch as I type. A large black and white cat has visited the base of the Silver Birch on occasions, leaping up at a Magpie who was hovering by the coconut feeders.

On the insect front, I have one early moth to report, but it flew off before I was able to identify it or take its photograph. I also watched a queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee fly past the Silver Birch, and I gather from friends on Facebook that there have been other sightings of these bees during the past month.

And now for a few photos for this month ...

Silver Birch - this morning

Slow signs of spring (Silver Birch)

Acer negundo, looking pretty wintry still

Great spotted Woodpecker, male

You can see his back-of-the-nape red band very clearly

The Grey Squirrel managed to knock the lump of fat (with berries) to the ground ...

... ate as much as it could, and managed with some difficulty to carry the remains over the fence.

One of the Dunnocks at the foot of the Silver Birch

Blue tits feeding in peace

One of the Starlings

Above and below: Magpie (before the cat leaped up)

I mentioned in January that I would post my full TF species list once again this month. I shall probably continue to do this every other month or at intervals as it is becoming rather long! Here it is:

(Largely) Silver Birch Sighting Update
The few Acer negundo entries have been marked as such.

Avian sightings (on, in and around the Silver Birch, seen at any time since I began the Tree Following project over a year ago) are shown in pink.

I have marked the 'wild things' seen during this last month in yellow.

To date, the only birds seen on the Acer negundo are TFb13 Goldfinch and TFb19 Chaffinch.

TFb1 Great Spotted Woodpecker (a male and female)
TFb2 Great tit (several, often on feeder)
TFb3 Long-tailed Tit (large family, including juveniles)
TFb4 Blackbird
TFb5 Song Thrush
TFb6 Blue tit (several frequently on feeder)
TFb7 Robin (the feisty Robin has put in frequent appearances)
TFb8 Magpie
TFb9 Wood Pigeon (up to ten perching around the feeder area)
TFb10 Dunnock (two occasionally below the feeder)
TFb11 Starling (one or two)
TFb12 Carrion Crow
TFb13 Goldfinch
TFb14 Jay
TFb15 Green Woodpecker
TFb16 Wren
TFb17 Bullfinch (a single visit from a male)
TFb18 Sparrowhawk
TFb19 Mallard
TFb20 House Sparrow
TFb21 Chaffinch

New bird species this month ...

TFb22 Grey Heron (I have seen these in our home patch before, but apparently not since the start of my Tree Following observations. There is a stream in the local nature reserve at the back of our garden, so we see these birds occasionally).
TFb23 Collared Dove (a pair)

Mammal sightings include ...

TFm1 (?Wood) Mouse
TFm2 Bat ... first 2015 garden sighting 7 May 2015 [Apr/May 2015]
TFm3 Shrew
TFm4 Grey Squirrel (high up on the Silver Birch) [Jan/Feb 2016]
TFm5 Stoat
TFm6 Hedgehog, a single sighting

No new mammals this month.

Insect sightings include ...

TFi1 Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly [March 2014]
TFi2 Buff-tailed Bumblebee [March 2014] [Jan/Feb 2016]
TFi3 Brimstone Butterfly [April 2014]
TFi4 7-spot Ladybird [April 2014] [October 2014] [Apr/May 2015] [Jul/Aug 2015] [Sept/Oct 2015]
TFi5 Skipper Butterfly [July 2014]
TFi6 Meadow Brown Butterfly [July 2014] [Jul/Aug 2015]
TFi7 Large White Butterfly [July 2014]
TFi8 14-spot Yellow Ladybirds [July 2014]
TFi9 Small White Butterfly [May 2014] [Apr/May 2015] [Sept/Oct 2015 - caterpillars]
TFi10 Orange tip Butterfly [May 2014]
TFi11 Harlequin ladybird [May 2014] [October 2014] [Sept/Oct 2015 - on three on Acer negundo!]
TFi12 Garden Chafer (Phyllopertha horticola) [June 2014]
TFi13 Ruby-tail Wasp [June 2014] [May/June 2015]
TFi14 Blackfly [June 2014]
TFi15 Marmalade Hoverfly [July 2014] [Jul/Aug 2015]
TFi16 Shield bug [July 2014] [Apr/May 2015]
TFi17 Migrant Hawker dragonflies [July 2014]
TFi18 Unidentified Damselfly [August 2014]
TFi19 Comma butterfly [August 2014]
TFi20 Red Admiral butterfly [August 2014] [October 2014] [Jul/Aug 2015]
TFi21 Peacock butterfly [August 2014] [Jul/Aug 2015] [Nov/Dec 2015] - flew past window
TFi22 Green bottle flies [August 2014] [May/June 2015]
TFi23 Ants [August 2014] [Apr/May 2015] [May/June 2015] [Jul/Aug 2015] [Sept/Oct 2015 Acer negundo]
TFi24 Squashbug aka Dock Bug, Coreus marginatus [August 2014]
TFi25 Birch Shieldbug (late instar?) [September 2014]
TFi26 Lacewing [October 2014] [Sept/Oct 2015]
TFi27 Cereal Leaf Beetle [Apr/May 2015]
TFi28 Unidentified Moth [Nov/Dec 2014] [Feb/Mar 2015] [Jul/Aug 2015] [Sept/Oct 2015]
[Jan/Feb 2016]
TFi29 Rosemary Beetle [[Sept/Oct 2015]
TFi30 Hawthorn Shieldbug [May/June 2015]
TFi31 Forest Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes) [Sept/Oct 2015]

No new insects this month.

Arachnids

TFa1 Zebra Spider (about ten) [Apr/May 2015] [May/June 2015]
TFa2 Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus) [May/June 2015]
TFa3 Unidentified spider

No new insects this month.

And finally ...

MY PREVIOUS TREE FOLLOWING POSTS

6 comments:

Simon Douglas Thompson8 February 2016 at 14:53
Great stuff! So envious you have a woody woodpecker visiting!
Kay Weeks8 February 2016 at 17:42
I would surely go on a nature hike with YOU, Caroline Gill!
L. D. 8 February 2016 at 20:45
I just took a couple of shots of a starling. I was surprise how good the photos were. You have birds that never cross our paths. The blue tits are a handsome bird with the great colors.
Hollis9 February 2016 at 03:07
Beautiful photos of the birch in silhouette agains the blue-and-white sky!
Anonymous9 February 2016 at 14:58
Lots of interest in your garden this month!
It's just as well grey squirrels are cute, or we would have to kill them, wouldn't we?
Won't it be wonderful when we see a bit of green on the trees? Not long now, unless winter takes a change for the colder.
All the best :)
Brian Skeys9 February 2016 at 18:28
A very comprehensive list of all the visitors to your garden with some good wildlife pictures.

Monday, 8 February 2016

Tree Following - January and early February 2016

6 comments: