Wild and Wonderful: Rivers

Showing posts with label Rivers. Show all posts

Wednesday, 24 May 2017

A Grass Snake in the Water

Grass Snake

On what was not the most promising day in terms of the weather (and yes, we nearly got soaked), we had a remarkable time in terms of the wildlife we were able to see at Carlton Marshes, one of the larger reserves in the care of Suffolk Wildlife Trust.

There were damselflies, dragonflies (just a few), butterflies and calling cuckoos - but it was the rare Fen Raft Spider who stole the show for us, followed by the sudden and unexpected appearance of this Grass Snake. We hardly ever see these reptiles, and to cap it all, David saw a second Grass Snake at Minsmere the following day.

I have certainly never seen a snake swimming in the water before. This one carried on swimming, with its head held high before disappearing a few seconds later - and that was the last we saw of it.

I have included this photo because it shows the beautiful setting of the reserve. Plans are afoot, as I mentioned in my last post, to extend this area of Suffolk Broadland and to improve visitor facilities.

The landscape is flat, broken up with dykes, ditches and watercourses of various kinds. The Netherlands are not far away to the east (though there are roughly 120 km of sea water between the two shores).

This was the view that we saw first, and just as the Fen Raft Spider had been almost like another piece of waterlogged reed, so the Grass Snake could have been another strand of water weed or piece of twig.

Those distinctive yellow and black collar marks stood out sufficiently, however, particularly when the snake was moving on the surface, making its way down the watercourse.

The image above shows just how well camouflaged these snakes can be. As you may have realised, the quick pictures we took have been cropped and enlarged for the sake of detail.

We felt very privileged to have the unexpected chance to watch this snake for a few seconds as it carried on swimming.

Grass Snakes are protected by law under the terms of the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act. They must not be killed, harmed, injured, sold or traded.

Monday, 12 January 2015

Our First Barn Owl of 2015

What a windy weekend!

I was given a copy of Claxton: Field Notes from a Small Planet by Mark Cocker for my recent birthday. I grew up only a few miles from the Yare-side village of Claxton, so was particularly keen to read the volume. Mark Cocker writes compellingly about his Norfolk owl encounters in the book, and it was these accounts that made me feel the urge to seek an owl encounter of my own.

We headed for the Suffolk coast, watching for birds of prey on a small road that runs along the River Deben, keeping a weather eye on the state of the wind and high tide.

We pulled in at a favourite lay-by and looked around. Intitially the surrounding area seemed devoid of avian wildlife, but all of a sudden a Kestrel swept into view, hovering near the tree-line on our left. It did not hang about, but David was quick to spot a Little Egret in a dyke on the opposite side of the road.

We had watched Barn Owls, these magnificent giants, from this spot in the past. Astonishingly we did not have to wait long before a graceful, if ghostly, form spread out before us, quartering the fields. It circled round for a short while before taking roost in the dense bare branches of a tree. The photos below were nearly all taken behind the glass of the car windscreen and the conditions for photography were far from good. But the joy was in the seeing and the watching, and the record shots below testify to the excitement of what could otherwise have been a dull January afternoon.


We finally reached the waterfront, where we looked out on Felixstowe Ferry and its martello towers ...

For more Suffolk wildlife and superb photography ...

Old Man of Minsmere aka John Richardson: Suffolk (Kingfisher and) Short-eared Owl Sighting

Click on the logo below to see other wildlife posts from all over ...

Tuesday, 2 April 2013

Seasonal Splash: Spring is in the Air (we hope ...)

We have just returned from Salisbury. We didn't have any rain, but there was still a lot of snow banked up on the field edges. It was bitterly cold, but bright at times. The Mallard drake above was heading on downstream in the beautiful clear waters of the River Loddon.

I am trying to recall the name of this waterside plant (above) ...

Do drop a line in the comments if you know! It grows in large clumps along the banks of a river or in marshland.

It is always a joy at Easter to see a clump of Primroses. This clump was gracing the walls of Old Basing.

What a luxurious des-res above for the Basing ladybirds and mini-beasts! I have yet to see my first Ladybird of 2013, but hope that I will not have to wait too much longer.

Just as we were leaving the site, a familiar shape flew over our heads. I grabbed my camera, and the resulting record shot will show you our first 2013 sighting of a Red Kite. By the time we returned home, we had seen at least one other.

The clump of Coltsfoot above was in Wilton, on the river Wylie. if you know Wilton and Wilton House, you might enjoy Arcadia by Adam Nicolson, which pays tribute to the landscape and its literary figures like Sir Philip Sydney.

On our journey home, we stopped at Audley End, where I saw what I took to be a hybrid Mallard (above) among the ducks and geese. Dave Appleton tells me that he feels 'it’s simply a domestic variant of Mallard, not a hybrid between a Mallard and any other species. Domestic Mallards come in a bewildering variety of sizes, shapes and plumages.' So many thanks to Dave, whose 'hybrid duck' photos can be viewed here.

It was lovely to see some Tufted Ducks. These are classed Amber in the Conservation Status ranks. The dark duck on the left is a female.

It seems the staining on the swan's head above may be due iron or tannin in the water. Thanks to Martin Aldous for this information, which you can find here. I had assumed it was probably a kind of breeding or adolescent plumage.