Spring comes to Ickworth in Geraldine's Walk

Some of you may have read my two previous posts about our recent visit to NT Ickworth. I mentioned that we were on a quest to see snowdrops ...

 

We took the path that snakes its way through the wood that straddles Geraldine's Walk.

It was not long before we saw some catkins (below). I was keen to observe the tiny flowers. You can see one in the photo above. The photo below shows the position of the flower on the branch.

Catkins are always a sign that spring is on the way, but there were other signs, too ...

... such as my first primrose of 2015. The flowers were a bit ragged, but they were there.

The photo below shows a tiny Treecreeper on a huge trunk!

This view of Geraldine's Walk shows fallen leaves and beechmast from autumn, bare branches from winter and a glimmer of spring sunlight.

And here are the snowdrops!

I suspect the Snowdrops below had been decimated by some creature,

but mice and most rodents are not usually attracted to these flowers. 

There were quite a few petals strewn about and a few flower heads and stalks. 

What a perfect place to spend an afternoon in early spring!

There were quite a few Aconites ...

... still wet with dew drops ...

There was a clump of daffodils ...

... and high up in the treetops a rook was busy making a nest.

You can read a littler more about Lady Geraldine's Walk here.

Ickworth is a lovely place to visit in all four seasons.

Fox-watching on a Winter's afternoon

The Rotunda at NT Ickworth

We saw our first fox of 2015 at Ickworth last weekend. We had had a lovely afternoon in Geraldine's Wood, looking for snowdrops and aconites, and decided to move to a more open part of the estate before the light gave way. The fox was small and active. It sat, then ran, then scampered back and sat for a moment. However, what interested me most was its pale colouring, which does not show up very well on these record shots.

I think you will see, however, that there is quite a large pointed area of white fur at the side of the neck. Apparently the fur above the brush is sometimes a grey colour, as can be seen in my photo below.

I found a fox colour chart, and discovered that foxes come in many classified shades.

Treecreeper and Nuthatch at Ickworth

We visited Ickworth last weekend to see the snowdrops (pictures still to come). While we were there, we saw two 'firsts' for 2015 ... a Treecreeper and a Nuthatch. Both these shy birds were high up in the branches, so apologies for the record-shot quality of my 'winter light' photos! 

Above and below: the Treecreeper

The photos below show the Nuthatch ...

Feeding time!

My total number of bird species recorded to date for 2015 is now 37.

Tree Following - February 2015

            and              

        2015                 

This post is the tenth in my Tree Following series, part of a wider project run by Lucy Corrander from the Loose and Leafy blog. I am following a Silver Birch, B. pendula, in Suffolk, UK. You will find the other Tree Follower links on the Loose and Leafy blog ... so do take the chance to catch up with happenings in the arboreal world!

Above and below: my Silver Birch on 6 February 2015

A Couple of Diary Entries

Date: 23 January 2015
Time; 11.30
Weather Cold and bright, blue sky slight drifts of white cloud

I had just walked around the garden in search of Snowdrops (but there aren't any yet) when a large form caught my eye, gliding above the Silver Birch. It was a Buzzard, and the first I have seen over my home patch. Down below, a Robin was feeding among the twigs under the coconut feeders that hand from the tree. A Song Thrush hopped into the frame. The two birds were quite unperturbed by each other's company: they were centimetres apart and yet - apparently - quite uninterested in what the other bird was doing.

Buzzard (though we saw this one on Skye)

Date: 30 January 2015
Time: 12 noon
Weather Cold and bright, blue sky, white cloud and patchy snow on the ground from a heavy snow shower yesterday evening.

I was reading Claxton by Mark Cocker (highly recommended) as I sipped my coffee on a cold January morning. The Long-tailed tits flitted between the Silver Birch branches outside, catching my eye every so often with their airborne antics in a bid to secure a morsel of fat from the coconut feeders. There was a sudden swoop and the Great Spotted Woodpecker flew in. The bird did not stay long on the coconut, but in the few seconds in which I had to admirer this striking creature, I noticed that there was no sign of red on the head or the nape of the neck. This convinces me that the bird is a female, so I'm hoping we may have a resident brood of young woodpeckers come the Spring.

 General Observations

We have had some pretty cold weather with showers of large snowflakes, but very little lying snow to date. The cold weather has certainly driven more birds to the coconut feeders on the Silver Birch. The sky has been very dark at times, and I apologise for the quality of the photos.

First there was ONE Long-tailed tit ...

... and then a few seconds later there were TWO ...

... then THREE ...

... then as the snow came down there were FOUR ...

... and soon there were FIVE (and a Blue tit?) ...

... yes, there was definitely a Blue tit ...

... not forgetting the feisty Robin, hopping around at the base of the Silver Birch.

Last month I mentioned the 'forked twig-ends' (in inverted commas, as you see). These have grown and swollen considerably, and there are no prizes for noticing that they are birch catkins. The pollen will be released into the atmosphere in April. I am waiting for new green leaves to unfurl.

Just beyond my home patch there were more signs of spring (I have included these nearby catkins for comparison) ...

... but in our neck of the woods it still felt as if winter had the upper hand.

Suddenly a new bird alighted in the branches of the Silver Birch ...

It looks a bit like a(nother) Robin here, but it was a Redwing.

That's about it for this month. Next time I will post my updated list of species in, on, under and around the Silver Birch. Who knows, by then we may have had some avian migrants passing through. I keep scanning the bird forum posts (and twitter, of course) to see if there have been any local Waxwing sightings. Apparently there was one in the vicinity, but not close enough ...


 MY PREVIOUS TREE FOLLOWING POSTS

• December to January 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

2015 Species List to Date

I am adding the first of my February sightings to my 2015 List ...

Our first Hare sighting in 2015, Suffolk, UK

The species in italics have been added in February. A star means that I have only spotted this species in one location - to date.


Birds

Home Patch

1. Blackbird (several)
2. Blue tit* (small cluster) 
3. Bullfinch* (one female - first female spotted in the garden. Snowy conditions)
4. Buzzard (one - a first!) 
5. Carrion Crow (several)
6. Chaffinch* (one)
7. Common Gull (about eleven)
8. Goldfinch (small flock)
9. Great Spotted Woodpecker*
10. Great tit* (about four) 
11. Green Woodpecker* (one)
12. Grey Heron (one)
13. Long-tailed tit* (about eight, possibly more most days)
14. Magpie (about five)
15. Redwing (one, in the snow of 31 January - a first in the garden)
16. Robin* (one most days)
17. Song Thrush* (one - and also one in the park)
18. Starling* (five)
19. Wood pigeon (plenty!)
20. Wren* (one)

Abberton Reservoir, Essex Wildlife Trust

1. Common Gull* (a few) 
2. Goldeneye* (two)
3. Greylag Goose* (a flock)
4. Lapwing* (colony)
5. Mallard (quite a few)
6. Mute Swan (about twenty)
7. Tufted Duck* (ditto)

Bawdsey

1. Barn Owl* (one)
2. Carrion Crow (one)
3. Coot* (four)
4. Cormorant* (one)
5. Grey Heron (one)
6. Kestrel* (one)
7. Lesser Black-backed Gull* (one)
8. Mallard (several)
9. Mute Swan (two)
10. Pheasant* (two)
11. Red-legged Partridge* (small flock)
12. Wigeon* (four)

Christchurch Park

1. Redwing (about seven)

Snape

1. Teal* (one)
2. Little Egret* (one)

Southwold

1. Turnstone* (twelve)

  
Current total of bird species seen: 37



Mammals

Home Patch

1. Grey Squirrel (one on several occasions) 

Bawdsey

1. Hare* (two)
2. Muntjac Deer* (one)  

Ickworth

1. Fox* (one)

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2015

I took the photos on this post some time ago as I was too busy looking and recording during the Birdwatch!

However, I am guessing that the Woodpeckers are our two 'semi-regulars'.

The list below shows the results of my BigGarden Birdwatch 2015 ... The birds (and Grey Squirrel) have been logged on the RSPB site.

We were thrilled when both Woodpeckers, the Green and the Great Spotted, showed up within minutes of each other in the last quarter of an hour. Sadly the Song Thrush failed to put in an appearance, but most of our usual birds were represented.

Ringed Long-tailed tit

I hope your surveys went well!

New Years Eve Caterpillar on the move at Sutton Hoo

Our most unexpected wildlife sighting over the Christmas holiday was a caterpillar. It was humping slowly along the path at Sutton Hoo on a frosty New Year's Eve afternoon. It looks similar to the Fox Moth caterpillar (see here, also) I saw on the site in October 2013.

If you are reading this post and know about these things, please feel free to leave a comment below (or contact me via email) as I would love to know whether it is indeed unusual to see a moving caterpillar in December.

 

 Other sightings that day included a charm of Goldfinches in the car park.

We turned for home, casting a backwards glance in the direction of the last sunset of 2014. 

Sutton Hoo, 31 December: Last Sunset of 2014

In advance of the Big Garden Birdwatch, my 2015 Bird List to date

Goldeneye, Essex Wildlife Trust's Abberton Reservor Reserve

These are my 2015 January lists, thus far. I am only counting each species once, even if it is spotted in several locations ...


Birds

Home Patch

1. Blackbird (about five)
2. Blue tit (small cluster) 
3. Buzzard (one - a first!)
4. Chaffinch (one)
5. Common Gull (about eleven)
6. Goldfinch (small flock)
7. Great Spotted Woodpecker
8. Great tit (about four)
9. Grey Heron (one)
10. Long-tailed tit (about eight, possibly more most days)
11. Magpie (about five)
12. Robin (one most days)
13. Song Thrush (one - and also one in the park)
14. Starling (five)
15. Wood pigeon (plenty!)
16. Wren (one)

Abberton Reservoir, Essex Wildlife Trust

1. Common Gull (a few) 
2. Goldeneye (two)
3. Greylag Goose (a flock)
4. Lapwing (colony)
5. Mallard (quite a few)
6. Mute Swan (about twenty)
7. Tufted Duck (ditto)

Bawdsey

1. Barn Owl (one)
2. Carrion Crow (one)
3. Kestrel (one)
4. Lesser Black-backed Gull (one)

Christchurch Park

1. Redwing (about seven)

Southwold

1. Turnstone (twelve)

  
Current total of bird species seen: 29



Mammals

Home Patch

1. Grey Squirrel (one on several occasions) 

Bawdsey

1. Muntjac Deer (one)

All species can be found on the RSPB site here.

If you live in the UK and would like to take part in the 2015 Big Garden Birdwatch, you will find details here. 

Redwings in the Park

It was a bitterly cold weekend, though the snow flurries were minimal. We visited Christchurch Park, where this Grey Squirrel was busy foraging at the edge of one of the grassy areas.

After our sighting of a Barn Owl last weekend, we thought it would be good to see if Mabel the Tawny Owl was 'at home' since I had read that she had been back in her favourite spot. There was, however, no sign of her on this occasion. I expect the afternoon was too cold for her to sit at the opening of her usual tree hole. 

This magnificent Song Thrush was hopping about, and we looked hard to see whether (s)he was ringed, but there was no ring in sight.

The Blackbird gives an idea of scale for the Redwing

Suddenly on this muted January afternoon, our eyes were alerted by movement in front of a female Blackbird. We thought at first that it might be a Brambling, a bird I would love to see, but it was a Redwing, another winter migrant. According to the RSPB site, it is 'the UK's smallest true thrush' and is on the Red List for conservation. There were, in fact, several Redwings hopping about in the dead leaves. I failed to find a good setting for my camera in the dim light, but at least I have a couple of record shots and another bird to add to my January list.