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 ...
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| Silver Birch - this morning |
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| Slow signs of spring (Silver Birch) |
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| Acer negundo, looking pretty wintry still |
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| Great spotted Woodpecker, male |
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| You can see his back-of-the-nape red band very clearly |
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| The Grey Squirrel managed to knock the lump of fat (with berries) to the ground ... |
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| ... ate as much as it could, and managed with some difficulty to carry the remains over the fence. |
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| One of the Dunnocks at the foot of the Silver Birch |
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| Blue tits feeding in peace |
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| One of the Starlings |
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| Above and below: Magpie (before the cat leaped up) |
(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
- 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
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]
Arachnids
- TFa1 Zebra Spider (about ten) [Apr/May 2015] [May/June 2015]
- TFa2 Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus) [May/June 2015]
- TFa3 Unidentified spider
And finally ...
MY PREVIOUS TREE FOLLOWING POSTS
- December 2015 to January 2016
- November to December 2015
- October to November 2015
- September to October 2015
- August to September 2015
- July to August 2015
- June to July 2015
- May to June 2015
- April to May 2015
- March to April 2015
- February to March 2015
- January to February 2015
- November to December 2014
- October to November 2014
- September to October 2014
- August to September 2014
- July to August 2014
- June to July 2014
- May to June 2014
- April to May 2014
- March to April 2014
- February to March 2014
