Wildlife Wanderings

The unpredicatable nature of nature

2012-01-29T09:58:00.000Z

YOU never can predict just what you are going to see when you don the boots and trek out into the countryside. We (Steve and I) had a few targets, but somehow the show that nature puts on is always unpredictable, often surprising, and usually wonderful.

The Somerset Levels were clear and cold yesterday. We visited a number of reserves, including Greylake, Ham Wall and Shapwick Heath. At the first of these we were lucky enough to watch a very confiding water-rail. These birds are normally utterly elusive, with only their spine-chilling call giving them away or a snatched view of lurking shadow. However at Greylake this individual was very confiding.

The first image below shows you what a GOOD view of a water-rail is normally like.

But we were luckier than that...

Frankly...an exhibitionist!

A few snipe were showing...but generally these birds were resting. Four Roe deer crossed the reserve, quieting grazing.

The reeds of Greylake

Out next stop was CatCott Lows, but before we had even reached there we were given a full fly past by a large flock of lapwings and starlings. At Greylake there had also been a huge flock of lapwings which surpassed anything I have ever seen - its stretched right across the horizon.

The Lows supported the usual ducks. Here a Shoveller and a Wigeon show off their beautiful plumage:

Finally onto Ham Wall for the "starlings show".

The hoards of people that now go to see this event is quite astonishing. The carnage afterwards was hilarious, as three tractors all with trailers, decided to try to drive down the narrow road with two coming one way and one the other way, and with the road full of cars parked on one side.

There was a stalemate for ages, until some careful and complex manoeuvres that even Garry Kasparov would have been proud of, let everyone move.

Anyway...the starlings did not quite show up as predicted and so 150 or so onlookers were seen marching down a the track to where the birds were. As it was a calm night they tended to drift in in large flocks. The buzzard wheeling amongst them did not seem to make much of an impression on them either. Even so, the sight was as impressive and wonderful as ever.

First we waited for the sunset.

Then the birds arrived and just kept on coming, streaming over our heads. Its always wise to keep your mouth closed when looking up at so many birds!

Buzzard with starlings

They poured into the reeds

As the light faded a few stragglers rushed to join their friends.

Ironically we did not see the huge, wielding flock that we hoped from this vantage point, but later as we were waiting at the car the starlings could be seen on another part of the reserve near us in a huge wave passing over the reed in the darkness.

All together a wonderful day.

Snowdrops

2012-01-15T20:02:00.001Z

HOORAY! I have finally splashed out on a 100mm macro lens...I cashed in all my small change (£170!) and with other cash lying under the mattress, marched off to Jessops...and oh yes she's a beauty.

So today we took a walk in the ByBrook valley, NE of Bath, and headed for a snowdrop hotspot. We were a bit early in the season for the full flourish, but these delicate white harbingers of spring still looked a picture.

Unusually, this is a large colony of this species growing in a semi-natural woodland on a very steep slope. Someone, a long time ago, must have planted a few and today there are hundreds.

Anyway, I donned my waterproof trousers (steady ladies) and got down and dirty for these pictures. I now appreciate the importance of a tripod.

They feel quite alpine-like when you look at the close-up - beautiful.

BRRRR...

2012-01-15T10:20:00.000Z

THIS year's first snap of cold weather saw me get out of my warm bed on a Saturday morning and catch the sunrise. The temperature was -3.5C, which certainly stirs the blood and makes using a camera with metal bits rather unpleasant. Anyway, here are my offerings of the valley south of Midford and some other views SW of Bath, England.

I drove around the lanes to Wellow - a beautiful Cotswold's stone village with a significant horsey presence...

A steaming pile of horse manure being picked over by a pheasant - yum!

There is a small ford at the bottom of the village with an orchard next to it -all rather idyllic:

Flying things

2012-01-09T22:44:00.003Z

ON my last visit to Somerset there were quite a few flying things. Now I appreciate that none of these photos will win any awards, but they are quite an interesting log of the day:

Black-tailed godwits

A very close Chinook

Mute swans + spot the marsh harrier (I know...I missed it too)

Gadwall

A Tucano - apparently!

Tufted duck and a GCG

Quite a variety I think you will agree.

Starlings murmuration - peregrine dinner

2012-01-05T22:41:00.001Z

ON the last day of my break from work I trooped down to the Somerset Levels to see what was about. I had an embarrassingly large number of layers on to stave off the cold - it just about worked, but I did look like the Michelin man.

Glasto Tor

Along with the usual overwintering ducks and waders, I was keen to catch the starling flocks and try out my camera in video mode - I managed to capture a few sequences (video)

It was truly amazing to see the thousands of birds - they make an astonishing whooshing noise as they fly low over your head - it honestly sends a shiver down the spine. However the real excitement comes when the starlings are preyed on (sorry I know that this sounds mean), as their reaction is amazing. I was surprised to see a buzzard swoop into the flock and have a pop, but was more thrilled when a peregrine did the same. The peregrine managed to catch its dinner and flew off with the poor victim in its talons.

I just caught the moment that it dived in on video - its at about 48 seconds into the sequence. If you watch, listen out for the sound of the birds flying over too. Enjoy - if you can!

When I was looking through my photos I realised that the peregrine had been harassing the flock earlier too. Also a picture of the Tor (like the one above) had a marsh harrier loitering in the background. How unobservant am I?

My Arne photo

2012-01-02T10:30:00.001Z

I have been asked by the RSPB if they can use some of my photos on their leaflets, to advertise their work at Arne NR in Dorset...of course I was delighted.

However I have also just come across their website (http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/a/arne/sightings.aspx) which has my photo of one of their wardens ("Rob") with a sand lizard...cool!

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T15:15:00.001Z

WELL...I had to write it on one forum\website\tweet\via email\text, banner behind a light aircraft, so why not here?

Thanks to all those who have read my blog offering over the last 12 months. Also a special thanks to those who have left comments; I can't tell you how much I appreciate them...well I could but I don't want you to shed a tear of pity!

Just so that there is an element of wildlife in this blog, here are a few of my favourite photos of the year:

Roll on 2012 and more wildlife adventures.

A song thrush sings

2011-12-28T11:07:00.002Z

WE live on a main road, so the chances of hearing bird "song" are confined to tawny owls in the middle of the night and a passing gull. However staying at my parents' over Christmas, I was not sorry to be woken at dawn by the flutely tones of a song thrush. Joining it was a robin and a wood-pigeon.

The song thrush has had a hard time of late. I have heard the theory that this may be due to the reduction of snails through the use of slug pellets in our gardens. This seems somewhat unlikely to me, as I sometimes use pellets and our snail population is still overwhelming...maybe we have a particularity tasty garden.

The song thrushes song is half way between a blackbird (clear, tuneful, structured and strident) and a mistlethrush (melancholy, high pitched, unstructured and strident). The song thrush repeats every phrase that it sings, and this is the big give away that helps you to identify it, even when half a sleep!

Robert Browning wrote:

That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!*

(*Copied from British Garden Birds)

The mistle thrush seems to love singing in the worst of wild and gusty weather, and hence has acquired the name "storm cock".

Anyway, hearing the song of this song thrush certainly fills me with optimism for a spring that is just round the corner, however we all know what February and March can be like and I do want that snow shovel that I bought my dad to have some use this year!

Shaking off some early Christmas excess

2011-12-19T22:59:00.000Z

I have already reached a point where exercise is critical for survival now its the party season. A short walk in the southern extremities of the Cotswolds was enjoyed by the boss and me on Sunday last. There is little wildlife to see at this time of year, but tramping up and down hills does you the world of good and helps justify that extra mince pie.

The frost had all but gone by the time we ventured out, but this mushroom was still capped with a thin layer of melting ice:

We have taken walks through these valleys many times. There is flower rich grasslands, a wonderful stream with crayfish, dippers and even lampreys apparently. Many of the slopes support beech woodland - in the winter sunshine the trunks of the trees literally shone:

Its very rare nowadays that we don't see buzzards as they nest locally - this time was no exception.

There are a number of small villages which are straight out of a fairy tale - this house nestling in the valley was not too shabby either!

One new feature were on the walk was a small holding, where some saddleback pigs have made a home - they were happy pigs...

Westonbirt late fungi & Somerset Mistletoe

2011-12-08T18:30:00.001Z

THE National Arboretum at Westonbirt (Gloucestershire) was surprisingly quiet last weekend, except for people (like us) buying a Christmas tree, or partaking of the hot soup in the restaurant.

The recent mildness and wetness has meant that there was a good show of toadstools, in spite of the time of the year. We were impressed by some super large fairy rings surrounding a number of trees. The fungus in these cases probably has a close (ecto or endo-mychorizzal) association with the trees, where the fungus gains a free home and the tree gains nutrients obtained through the fungus's hypha.

Wood blewit

As its getting towards Christmas I thought that the mistletoe found on Saturday on the Somerset Levels would be worth sharing:

Kiss anyone?

Exmoor, North Devon

2011-11-13T17:23:00.001Z

THIS weekend we spent a couple of days staying at the Stag Hunter's Inn near Exmoor. I think that the word for the weather was "feisty". There are some amazing deeply cut valleys, supporting beech and oak woodland, to the north of Exmoor; as both these tree species hang onto their leaves, even now, the colours were breathtaking - at least when the sun was out!

Mist hangs in the valleys as the sheep go to their breakfast

On Saturday we did a circular walk of about eight miles onto the soggy moors. This was a real test of our boots - well done left boot - bad right boot! The locals seemed pretty relaxed about the wetness...

This old laid hedge, long since left unmanaged ran along the edge of the open moor.

We did manage to lose our exact location at one point, but soon found our way into a beautiful valley as planned.

The air is very clean and the lichens on this hawthorn were the proof.

Towards the end of the walk we passed through this quite magical woodland, with tall oaks and moss covered boulders.

Once back to the start, the sun shone upon us...

During the day we came across the local "hunt". Whilst I am not in favour of hunting, I enjoyed seeing the hounds and riders, especially the chaps in their bowler hats. One or two hounds became distracted and missed the pack ride off..here is one particular tardy...

I have have decided not to publish the images of the riders and other hounds, as I did not ask their permission to take their photos.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

On Sunday the weather was much more overcast and dramatic...

Darkening skies over Exmoor

Now homeward bound via Dunster, we drove through a stunning National Nature Reserve woodland.

Finally one last view of the moody moors...couldn't resist it:

A really fab weekend in a stunning place.

Dyrham Park, North of Bath, UK

2011-11-10T21:49:00.001Z

AN afternoon out last Sunday: although bitterly cold in the wind, the sun shone and the landscape was a picture. The oaks and horse-chestnuts were still holding onto their leaves:

I'm not a great fan of grey squirrels particularly, but I was really pleased to actually get anything in shot as these two chased each other quite manically at my feet. The one on the left seems to have something in its mouth...

Catcott Lows, Somerset

2011-11-06T08:17:00.002Z

The sun eventually shone on us yesterday in Somerset - although it remained cold (as you would expect in November).

The water levels at the Lows are starting to rise, and with it, the many wintering wildfowl and other birds arrive. There were good numbers of teal, wigeon, pintail, lapwing, golden plover (200+) [these guys looked amazing in the sun and this is the best view I've ever had of this spp in the Levels], 100s of startlings, snipe, plus an egret and buzzard. There was no appearances of any more exotic raptors however, which normally raise the birds into wielding flocks. However they did occasionally get spooked by nothing in particular.

starlings, lapwings, golden plovers and some ducks

Mostly lapwings and golden plovers

I also managed to get a nice view of the Sabine's gull at another site up the road (Noah's hide). This was a lifer for me - yipee! Thank you to the generous chap who allowed me to look through his scope just before the bird flew off..

Autumn sunrise

2011-11-04T23:44:00.001Z

Lower Woods, South Gloucestershire

2011-10-25T21:37:00.006+01:00

THERE is a fabulous ancient, semi-natural woodland owned by the Gloucester Wildlife Trust called Lower Woods, which we paid a visit to last weekend. It never ceases to amaze me how few people make use of a place like this...ho hum.

In the spring time the ground flora is breath taking, and now of course the colours take on their mellow autumn hues. There is a healthy stream that works its way through the woodland, cutting through the often muddy clay. Along with a few huge, open, broad rides, there are many way-marked paths to wander along, without getting lost. Along the edges of the rides, which are managed by cutting, the devil's bit scabious flowers were still doing well. This is butterfly heaven for the marsh fritillaries...

The bright sunshine on Saturday meant that it was perfect day for our visit.

The leaves are of course in full swing of their annual change. The ash trees have largely lost their leaves, which is a bit of a cheek as they are also last to unfurl their leaves in spring. However, the oak trees hang onto theirs' for much longer, turning brown and golden yellow.

Nature can also create its own art - such as in the autumn leaves making this pattern in the stream.

There were a few fungi - this was a fine example of a puffball species, possibly Lycoperdon perlatum:

Oyster mushrooms too...

Generally it was very peaceful...

The uncommon Wild Service Tree is a sign of a truly ancient woodland (or at least a woodland that has been around since the 1600s, i.e. a place that has naturally grown up as woodland rather than been planted). I had not noticed this species here before, but the leaves on the ground helped me to spot it before I looked up to confirm its presence.

The leaves take on a range of autumn colours, and with their jagged edges look splendid in the canopy.

A highly recommended nature reserve at any time of the year.

On the edge of the site there is a glade where the blackthorn was heavy with sloes and the red rose hips were plentiful:

The start of the fungi season

2011-10-15T23:26:00.005+01:00

Last week we paid a visit to the New Forest in Hampshire, to get away for a day or two. During our walks around the woodland and heathlands I was particularly on the look out for fungi and deer. Saw a fair few of the former, but very few of the later unfortunately. However another important grazer was abundant - the new forest ponies. They can give you quite a surprise if you are not expecting them.

A rare moment of sunshine

Boletus

Honey fungus

The wood ants in the forest make some pretty impressive nests:

There's one particular group of fungi that you often smell before you see them - they attract flies to the sticky top where the spores are - this one is called Phallus impudicus...can't think where it gets its name from...?

Last years visit around the same time was a bit sunnier and I found a few more interesting characters: http://wildlifewanderings.blogspot.com/2010/10/fungi-pigs-deer-and-sunshine.html

Autumn on the Somerset Levels

2011-09-11T10:13:00.002+01:00

A warm and partially sunny day in Somerset and as Autumn starts the highlights are the dragonflies and the changing birds. At this time of year dragonflies are everywhere on the Levels.

Rear end of a barn owl

Kestrel

As usual I continued to try the almost impossible - to get a pin sharp image of a flying dragonfly. These are my best efforts:

There are still a number of flowering plants on the wet margins. However this iris seed pod struck me as being particularly attractive.

The darters are particularly accomodating and are quite happy to rest on your hand, if you are in the right place. They often alighted on my head or shoulder while I was trying to take pictures.

Some large and small (as below) toadstools have started to spring up.

A juvenile great crested grebe seemed to be determined to annoy this mute swan

Grass snakes and adders were in their usual places. There is a female adder with particularly red colouration who always basks in the same patch of grass...but I never see her before its too late and she is making a quick escape.

Grass snake

A few dozen swallows were gathered on wires - maybe thinking about their next destination...

A great day all round...shortened only by the need to watch the rugby first!

Which is your favorite?

2011-09-03T13:08:00.000+01:00

Wild snake's-head fritillaries

Summer garden

West coast beach, Scotland

Six-spot burnet

Summer orchids

Creek

Darter dragonflies

Emperor dragonflies

Orchid amongst bluebells

June foxgloves

Scottish sunset

Old olive tree

Loved dog

Poppies

Poisson

Roman temple columns

Rainforest leaves

Shaking dog

Speckled Wood

New Zealand

Panama beach

Coffee beans

Shaggy-ink-cap

Lambs

Swans

Toad

Please tell which you like the most...

P.S. I know that they are not all wildlife, hope that you'll forgive me this time...

Life on the (edge of the) road

2011-08-23T22:57:00.005+01:00

THERE are many road verges that I find utterly depressing, as us Brits like to use them as rubbish tips. However there is also sheer, wild beauty to be found along some road sides, as nature finds a small pocket of ground to exploit.

Just off the A46

Where the soil is thin and alkaline, and the sun beats down to dry the ground, the grasses do not always get the upper hand. This leaves space for species such as red clover, lady's bedstraw, wild basil, bird's-foot trefoil and marjoram to grow, along with wild carrot supporting its disks of delicate white flowers.

Here are some images from July which I thought were worth another look at.

St John's-wort

Nesting swallows

2011-08-07T09:45:00.001+01:00

THE weekend before last (23/24 July 2011) we dropped into the National Trust's Knighthayes Estate (after a weekend under canvas) to take a peak that their lovely walled kitchen garden. This is always stunning in Summer and you can often buy excess veg or flowers, not used in the restaurant.

The former stable courtyard, adjacent to the garden, is now set up as a restaurant and shop. The large archway into the courtyard makes a perfect spot for a pair of nesting swallows.

There was one nest with parents dashing in and out, pretty oblivious to the people below; however most of the people were equally oblivious!

I should think that this was a second brood as that the chicks are so small still.

Here are the piccies:

The local red mud making up the nest

Young chicks showing above the nest rim

Showing off the forked tail

Adult resting on guttering

Wowed by Scottish beauty

2011-07-29T20:43:00.002+01:00

THE north western corner of Scotland may not be a secret, but I was totally amazed by its unexpected beauty. Loch and lochans, huge imposing hills rising steeply like jagged teeth, open moorland and beaches that the Caribbean would be proud of - its could not have been nicer.

A working croft on the Assynt Estate, Sutherland

As you might have guessed we recently took a weeks holiday there. We stayed in a former croft owned by a friend's family, only minutes from the coast, and surrounded by a rolling, rocky landscape...we had a ball. It was situated near Lochinver (in Sutherland), which is north of Ullapool, in an area designated as a Geopark.

The area has been crofted for many years and in 1993 was bought from the absent landlord by the local people - this is the Assynt Estate.

Many houses and crofts stand alone amongst the hills. Almost all of the older crofts have been build right next to (or even abutting) the ruins of previous crofts, presumably lived in my the same family.

Much of the moorland is covered with heather, rough grasses, rushes, moss and rarer acid loving plants such as the heath spotted orchid (above), bog asphodel and sundews (below).

Lesser butterfly orchid

One of the many places worth a visit is Handa Island, only a short boat ride from the mainland. It is a wonderful, if not somewhat exposed, island managed exclusively for its wildlife. It supports tens of thousands of breeding birds on its sea cliffs and amongst the grassland\moorland. The breeding birds include great and Arctic skuas (which sometimes like to dive bomb you), razorbills, guillemots, fulmars, kittiwakes, Arctic terns and everyone's' favourites - puffins...as well as the usual gull species. We also saw a red throated diver in a sheltered bay. It is a fabulous place and the fishy smell that you sometimes get is worth the visit in itself!

A bay on Handa Island where a red throated diver was seen

Great Skua

The sea cliffs were packed with nesting birds - some accompanied balls of grey fluff in the form of chicks. The bird droppings paint the rock white and the fishy smell is quite intoxicating - its not wise to lean over the edge...

Birds nesting on the cliffs

Puffins near their burrow

Razorbills

Sky full or birds

Large unidentified egg shell

Another local beauty spot are the cliffs near the Old Man of Stoer - a sea stack. There is an impressive lighthouse and a van owned by a local woman doing great refreshments! It was from here and other cliff tops, that we spent some relaxing evenings (when it wasn't too cold) dolphin watching. I saw quite a few common dolphin pods and some harbour porpoises too. Practically all were too far out to get decent photos, although I do have a few pictures of black specks with fins. Gannets were also common.

Herring gull begging for my sandwich

View of fishing boat moored in a quiet inlet

A beach near where we stayed

We also had an enjoyable day out near Loch Assynt ,walking along a glen to some river caves, quite high up the side of the hill. The river was dry after only half a mile, with the water at that point springing from the ground. The flora reminded me of something that you would find in the Alps, with lady's mantle and thyme.

There are many ruined crofts in the area as a whole - this one had a particularly wonderful view. The only inhabitant now was a pair of nesting swallows. One of the adults can be seen flying out.

In pursuit of an otter one day, we had a really fabulous walk along Loch Glendhu. In spite of the copious seaweed fringe, which would have made perfect hunting habitat, there were no otters only great views. We were treated to a screaming fighter plane overhead and lots of biting things when the breeze was not blowing, plus a few seals and swooping terns.

This shrew was the only other mammal seen that day, not so exciting as an otter, but quite unusual to be able to catch it out of cover.

We paid a visit by boat to the romantically named Summer Isles too. On the way we spotted loads of common seals hauled up on the rocks, plus a few families of eiders ducks. We did not spot any male ducks strangely. The sun beat down on us that day and when the boat stopped we quickly took off our many layers to cool down again.

Heath spotted orchids on a Summer Isle

One final photo - the sunset on the first day...

Alpine splendor in Somerset

2011-07-16T22:05:00.001+01:00

A couple of weeks ago, an evening out in the countryside near us, reminded me of just how rich our grasslands can be.

A marbled white butterfly in the long grass

This year seems to have been the best one that I can remember for flowers, perhaps because the dry spring reduced the vigour of the grasses.

Its quite hard to show the beauty of that I found in this quiet valley, but the photos are an attempt at recording it. There were bird's-foot trefoil, small scabious, bedstraw, self-heal, red and white clovers, oxeye daisy, etc. plus a number of different grasses. With the butterflies floating around in the warm evening air, it was quite idyllic.

This bee orchid was the best one around and was in the first group that I have seen this year.

There was also a good number of pyramidal orchids, including this large one being swamped by a bindweed.

High summer meadows, butterflies & moths

2011-07-02T18:32:00.003+01:00

THIS time of year can be a bit quiet on the birding front, so for a change I diverted my focus away from the honeypot nature reserves and wandered around the lanes and droves of the Somerset Levels instead....and WOW - it proved well worthwhile.

I must admit that the area in question is mainly a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), but is farmed for a profit, not for nature per se. Being an inquisitive sort of chap I did venture into an old derelict set of buildings, including a cattle feeding barn. I could see the tell-tale bird droppings on the rafters and who should fly out of a quiet nook, but a beautiful barn owl. It was about 2m from me but it did not make the slightest sound vocally or with its wings - we were both surprised. On the floor were regurgitated pellets with the usual remains of small mammals and fur.

Back outside, the track leading to the barn was overgrown with wet-loving plants and flowers, and enjoying these were numerous butterflies and dragonflies. In fact the whole day seemed to be spent coming across clouds of insects.

In my obsessive (-ish) drive to photograph flying insects I did try to catch a few, including these ones below, of the abundant ringlets butterflies feeding on the thistles.

Around the area of the barn there were a number of wonderful flower rich meadows, still uncut. These were packed with black knapweed, meadow sweet and vetches - they really were a sight for sore eyes and such places are quite rare nowadays

Black knapweed meadows

Old stone gate post with its own flora

Whilst walking along the track I was amazed to see flashes of red and black. There were hundreds of Scarlet Tiger moths. It appeared to be males mobbing the females. These day flying moths are no less spectacular than most butterflies.

Although its hard to show on the image below the rhynes were full of meadow sweet and valerian.

The brambles were being enjoyed by the small skippers

I did not totally shun the reserves. My hunt for amphibians came up trumps with four slow worms, three adders and a grass snake. This female adder can just be seen amongst the foliage.

Adder (female)

Slowworms

Young grass snake

Dragonfly in flight

A real stunner on the reserve are the white admirals. This species is wholly dependant on honeysuckle for its caterpillars to eat.

White admiral

Summer trundling on

2011-06-24T23:34:00.001+01:00

AS summer trundles on and the longest day passes, subtle changes can be seen; new flowers come into bloom, certain butterflies appear, bird song changes or stops completely. Together these observations build up to a set of signs that are predictable, but also delightful.

This week one feature that I have been able to capture is the emergence of small skipper, ringlet, meadow brown and marbled white butterflies. The excellent book "The Butterflies of Britain and Ireland", which I can't recommend highly enough, gives a helpful insight into which species to expect where and when. The marbled white adult, for instance, which has a southern distribution, emerges in late June and the disappears in August. Personally I associate it with the flowering of pyramidal orchids in tall upright dominated brome grassland, where yellow vetches and knapweeds add flecks of yellow and purple to the sward.

Marbled white

Pyramidal orchid

One slight obsession that I have recently acquired is trying to capture images of flying insects. This needs to be done during the warmer part of the day, as in the evening butterflies are often stationary on grasses as they settle down for the night. The evening does, however, enable me to photograph them closely.

Marbled white in flight

Of course at this time of the year there are masses of different plant species at the height of their power, so to speak. We visited a local nature reserve where I came across a hidden valley, full of common valerian growing on the edge of a clump of trees. I normally associate this with woodland glades, but here it had invaded the grassland in amazing profusion. The small skipper butterflies particularly liked the nectar on offer.

I also found this particularly fine example of a knapweed broom rape. This is a parasitic plant which grows on knapweeds' roots, as the broomrape has no chlorophyll itself.

Knapweed broomrape

On an open meadow, where the grassland had been allowed to grow tall, the meadow crane's-bill is now coming into flower. It was buzzing with bees and the flowering of this plant is strongly associated with mid-summer for me. When the petals fall from the plant the resulting immature seed pod, and sepals left behind, do look like the head of a crane, approximately. I suppose were we to name it nowadays we might struggle to find a suitable bird - maybe a heron's bill...doesn't quite work does it?

Meadow crane's-bill

On another site this week where I was searching for butterflies, deer, flowers etc. I came across this local speciality in wonderful blooming brilliance - the Bath asparagus. It has been substituted for the veg of the same name in the past. It is a large, elegant flower that is usually found along woodland rides and hedgerows. This one was in tall grassland.

Marbled white at rest

Red admiral caterpillar?

Small skipper

Meadow brown

Marbled white

Poppy-tastic

2011-06-10T21:50:00.005+01:00

I took the opportunity last weekend to to make my annual trip to the wonderful Martin Down NNR on the Wiltshire-Hampshire border to seek out butterflies, orchids and maybe nightingales. This large area of ancient chalk grassland has been carefully managed to promote a wonderful host of interesting and rare species, its a gem of a place and a rightly famous site; ironically it was the arable field next door that really captured my attention!

For some reason the weed-killer had not done its job - I'm not sure if it was the timing or the weather or maybe it was even deliberate, but either way it was a mass of poppies, Shepard's pursue and other weeds in a fading sea of yellow flowered rape.

Field Pansy

Common fumitory

Petty spurge

Field pansy

Daisy-tastic

2011-06-05T09:13:00.001+01:00

I'VE been meaning to write a quick piece about the amazing profusion of oxeye daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare) along our roadsides, and in some of field margins, this year; the abundance of flowers seems to have surpassed any that I can remember.

As Councils and the Highways Authority now limit the use of weed-killer to manage verges, these, and other "weed"s species, have been able to thrive. They favour areas where the grass is not too thick, such on newer roads or steep banks. However it is annoying that some Councils still find it necessary to cut strips of grassland along our roads in the middle of summer, when the flowers are most profuse and the insects that feed our wildlife are most abundant. Apart from where there is a road safety issue this is unfortunate, to put it mildly.

I took there pictures locally on a small common, rather than on a verge:

RSPB Arne Reptiles

2011-05-29T23:45:00.007+01:00

TODAY could have been quite disappointing as the cool, overcast weather did nothing to persuade the reptiles, dragonflies and songbirds out at Arne, the beautiful expanse of Dorset heath on the Purbeck Peninsula. However, the RSPB managed to turn the day into an exciting experience by way of their demonstrations of some of the local wildlife superstars. The superstars that I am referring to are of course the very rare sand lizard, smooth snakes and other such beasts that inhabit this amazing heathland.

Each hour, on the hour today (Sunday 29th May), wary adults and fascinated hands-on kids are treated to a short show and tell of these animals by one of the local RSPB staff; this was an opportunity too good to miss so I was keen to look, listen and learn...and hold!

Each of the individuals displayed are newly caught from the reserve, held carefully in separate heather filled boxes and then released at the end of the day. These are not pets or zoo animals. They were caught and handled under licence and it is obvious that the wardens feel passionate about conserving these species and their habitats.

Sand Lizard and RSPB Warden

Kids love wildlife

The species on display were:

slow-worm
common lizard
sand lizard
smooth snake
and grass snake

Each one was brought out and its commonness (or otherwise) and biology were described. The small audience at the beginning quickly grew, and included adults and children - everyone was captivated. I took lots of pictures and was lucky enough to hold a slow worm and a grass snake, and stroke a smooth snake. Both the smooth and grass snake are non venomous species that constrict their prey. Our only snake with venom was an adder - there were no adders at this event.

The smooth snake was indeed very smooth, with none of the bumpy roughness of the grass snake. The small size of the slow worm belies its robustness, it feels just muscled and strong. If attacked at the tail end this can be sloughed and will wriggle vigorously to attract the predator. The slow worms that I have seen often have stumpy tails where tail loss has happened and the new replacement has not quite emulated the old one in length.

Smooth snake - really quite small

Smooth snake

Now that I think back I can't quite believe that I held a grass snake in my hands - I feel quite honoured. It was very calm with the weight of its body in my left hand and the remaining in my right, with the end of its body curled around my wrist. Snakes are not slimy, but dry and sinuous, they are quite wonderful beasts.

What I did not realise is that grass-snakes really stink - or at least they can do when distressed. This one did not smell too much, but a close sniff of its body told me that a full on evacuation was not something that I wanted to experience. This noxious spraying is one of its defence mechanisms, along with hissing and playing dead.

Grass snake (female)

Grass snake and onlooker

This was a great event, so thanks "Bob" (the Information Assistant at Arne) for such an excellent talk and hands-on experience, and thanks to the RSPB for managing this magnificent reserve, even with such a large human pressure..

Grass snake

Some of the non reptile highlights were the beautiful bright red sundews, towering foxgloves, roaming deer, and the shellduck and waders, particularly the three redshank chicks accompanied by both parents out on the marshy tussocks.

More dragonflies & more dragonfly slayers

2011-05-22T11:13:00.005+01:00

I had the pleasure of showing a friend some of the best bits of Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve on the Somerset Levels yesterday and it turned out to be a corker of a day.

Our route to get this wetland reserve takes you through the flat landscape of small and medium sized grassland fields, surrounded by thick hedgerows or rhynes (pronounced "reens" which are wet ditches).

Many of these fields are down to permanent grassland, rich in wild flowers including orchids, yellow rattle, black knapweed, ragged robin and a whole host of different grasses, sedges and rushes. These only survive intact because the local farmers have continued a traditional farming management, which has not included herbicides and artificial fertilisers, and the ground has not been ploughed and reseeded in modern times (if ever). They are a joy to see.

We were hoping to see the large number of hobbies that stop off at the reserve on their migration each year and we were not disappointed, but more of that later.

Our first port of call was to see some of the orchids up close. At the moment the species in flower is the southern marsh orchid. Other flowers currently out are the tall and robust yellow flag irises. These are quite frequent here.

Here is an example of irises where they have been allowed to completely fill a rhyne:

There was a good number of insects of all kinds including this fabulous yellow darter.

The next port of call was the areas of the reserve where there are flooded peat cuttings which are now extensive reedbeds. Some areas have remained wet woodland and fen however.

Along the edges of of these areas the tracks were alive with dragons...well dragonflies anyway - I have never seen so many at this site during spring. Approaching a bramble bush sends up clouds of hawkers and blue damselflies. I was keen to capture a dragonfly in flight. I have not quite managed to get the shot that I'm after but here are the latest attempts - they're fast little beasts!

There is a stand of mature oak woodland adjacent to silver birch carr; this area with some fallen wood sometimes kicks up interesting wildlife - this time the highlights were a wasp beetle, hornets and brimstone and red admiral butterflies.

We were keen to see the hobbies which hang around for a few weeks on the Levels on their way to their breeding sites. As the clouds were high so were many dragonflies and hence most of the birds were quite far away. One or two did venture down to hear the water level and just for proof I took a few far off blurred pictures - you can see the hobby holding a dragonfly. Sometimes it is possible to see them clip of the wings off their prey in flight, which then tumble to the ground catching the sun as they fall.

Later on when walking back from Noah's hide (where this picture was taken) we were spooked by a sudden whooshing sound; a hobby had passed over our heads like a mini fighter plane - it was quite amazing.

There were no sounds of waterrails or sightings of kingfishers, which is perhaps a sign of the impact of our harsh winter. There were loads of willow and garden warblers, blackcaps and whitethroats. There were loads of swifts too. However the locally freqent Cetti's warblers were also few and far between.

We heard a few cuckoos too, but the best call of all was the bitterns with their unusual booming calls. We had some good sightings as the flew from one reedbed to another. At the scrape near the Ham Wall end of the reserve, the black tailed godwits (see below) were happily feeding, but the great white egret and heron seemed to have a bit of an issue as they squabbled together.

A moment captured

2011-05-17T21:58:00.004+01:00

LAST Sunday we were determined to stretch our legs and so followed a set walk in the beautiful Wylye Valley in south Wiltshire. This valley is a hidden gem, with stunning picture postcard villages abutting the "SSSI" and "Special Area of Conservation (SAC)" designed river, which is full of wildlife. The water cuts through the great chalk mass south of the mighty Salisbury Plain and joins a number of other rivers, such as the Avon and the Nadder in beautiful Salisbury. In winter these rivers conspire to flood the local residents of this city, sometimes filling the low lying land until the water spills over onto the roads.

River Wylye

In the past, these flat rivers valleys were managed as specialist water meadows, where careful husbandry of the land kept the grass wet in spring and slightly warmer than it would otherwise be, so that it was less prone to be covered in frost. This allowed for earlier grass growth ("flush") in spring and the sheep that grazed the ground to get an "early bite" - significantly earlier than other areas around the country.

The sheep, which also grazed the downland hillsides of the valley, were then penned up ("folded") on the neighbouring arable land during the night to fertilise the ground with their droppings. This virtuous cycle (sic) brought great wealth to the county as woollen fleece was highly sort after, and along with the meat, was a valuable commodity.

The moment captured in this blog's title was the sighting of the first spotted flycatcher of the year. I managed to capture the one moment that it showed itself before we had to move on (I can't use up all my credit on one image!). I did not realise until I looked at the photo that it is possible to see the insect that the bird was actually eyeing up (the distance here was a bit of a stretch for my lens):

I also was glad to also see healthy populations of house sparrows snapping up the flies by the river; this chap was posing on the roof of an old church.

Our walk took us along the river banks, amongst cattle pasture dotted with pink ragged-robin, along hedgerows stuffed with cow parsley and open arable fields.

We had to make a special detour to see the downland, but by the time we reached the downs the wind was biting and we were in no mood to dally.

Evening butterflies and slowworms

2011-05-11T21:14:00.002+01:00

THERE'S a special place not too far from where I live which must remain secret, but which supports something very special and exciting - marsh fritillary butterflies. These are dazzling little insects, with a wonderful chequered colouring.

The lack of grazing on this small site gives rise to long, lush grasses dominated by upright brome. However the absence of such management is not great news for many of the limestone loving flower species which get choked out. Only where the foot traffic is heavy are the grasses are kept in check; it still has a good population of commoner orchids, vetches and knapweeds etc..

Devil's-bit scabious is quite common here; the reason why this is significant is that this is the food plant of this butterfly's larval stage (i.e. when it is a caterpillar). I knew that there was a colony of marsh fritillaries, but had not managed to see them before. The individuals that I saw this evening (05/05/11) were fresh and bright, and I suspect have appeared quite early this year.

The coolness of the evening made the female adults much easier to approach and hence I even managed to get some to perch on my hand.

The tapering shape of their abdomens suggests that the individuals that I saw were all females. This once locally common butterfly species has declined rapidly where it is dependant on fast disappearing wet grasslands which support devil's-bit scabious. However it has managed to adapt to live on dry limestone or chalk grasslands where this larval food species also exists. This colony is however very isolated, so is probably very vulnerable to extinction should the site be managed differently.

There were also a number of common blue butterflies chasing one another, or in the case of the couple below, simply resting for the night.

Recently I seem to be coming across a lot of reptiles. I had already found small a slowworm under a piece of discarded chipboard. I very nearly stood on this one (shown below) as I made my way back to the car; it was a case of just stopping my foot coming down on it at the last second. Fortunately it remained absolutely still whilst I lay down on the ground ("slowworm eye level") to take its picture...(note to self - must get a macro lens!).

Finally I went hunting for a little owl which I have seen in the local area, but to no avail. However I did spot these two male pheasants having a "barny".

The joy of spring

2011-04-29T22:53:00.005+01:00

WHAT an amazing day, and not just because it was a day off work (Thursday 28th April 2011) - although that surely helped.

Hill-side apple orchard

Cow parsley lined lanes

Hawthorn landscapes

I paid another visit to the wonderful Somerset Levels and as ever they did not disappoint. The Levels are a maze of small fields, bound by hedgerows and rhynes (ditches), with pockets of wet woodland, along with large areas of both old naturalised peat diggings and newer pockets of extraction.

Its amazing what you can see if you keep your eyes open and look beyond the obvious. The highlights were:

an adder
fighting slow worms
16+ hobbies
a distant marsh harrier
two really clear bittern fly-bys
hundreds of dragonflies and damselflies
the first cuckoo of the year
plus loads of warblers
and the glorious sun shining over a lush, springtime landscape.

I toured the area going to all my favourite spots. I had been vaguely looking for reptiles and then heard rustling in a bramble bush. There were two, possibly three, grass snakes in a vicious, writhing tangle. They were doing their best to bite each other into submission. It was hard to get any pictures through the branches but these images give you some idea of their antics:

Fighting male grass snakes

One grass snake biting another

The damselflies and dragonflies were everywhere and looked stunning in the sunshine. Apparently they have emerged particularly early this year.

Damselfly sp.

I tried to get a dragonfly in flight - this one was using a very fast shutter speed:

Four spotted darter

Hairy dragonfly?

I wonder whether this is a dragonfly chasing a damselfly?:

This butterfly is possibly a female green-veined white:

Just when I was about to head home I found a sexton beetle rattling around in my car of all places. These bugs are famous for burying corpses upon which they lay their eggs; the corpses providing a food supply for the larval stage.

Sexton beetle

Swarm of bees

2011-04-28T23:53:00.001+01:00

WHILST out walking a couple of days ago (near Chedworth in Gloucestershire) we came across this amazing swarm of bees. I have never seen this phenomenon before and I must admit that my pictures are a bit shaky as I was a tad nervous...

The swarm had gone a few hours later. Apparently the bees do this in spring whilst in search of a new "nest" location. The queen bee is amongst them somewhere.

Purple, yellow and green

2011-04-24T21:59:00.006+01:00

WILTSHIRE Wildlife Trust's Clattinger Farm is a corker - it supports excellent unimproved flower rich meadows, and is at least an annual pilgrimage for me.

Field ablaze with cowslips

Currently it's a sea of cowslips, with some going over snake's-head frittilary flowers and countless green winged orchids. There are also many other meadow specialists in leaf making up the sward (such as great burnet, betony and sawwort) that come into their own later in May and June, before the hay is cut.

Snake's-head fritillary

This is one of the few Wiltshire sites that support snake's-head fritillary- it relies on damp, unimproved meadows which have never been ploughed - ever!

Mixture of cowslips and orchids

The common, but lovely, self heal

Adder's tongue fern - an unusual rarity that can only be found in ancient grassland

Two stunning green-winged orchids

A lighter form of the green-winged orchid

An overwhelming number of orchids

Cowslips

On one field the cowslips were showing up where the ridges and furrows in the grassland were - possibly a sign of drainage or ancient ploughing, before the days of artificial fertilisers and weed killers

The bright yellow kingcup, growing in a ditch

An ancient woodland in spring

2011-04-22T09:36:00.004+01:00

LAST weekend saw us take a ramble around a local favourite woodland owned by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. They are doing a great job with their limited resources and the woodland flora is benefiting. However I suspect that even more coppicing would be beneficial. Anyway here are some of my pics:

Orange tip butterfly over bluebells

Cuckoo flowers in adjacent meadow

Bluebells

Early purple orchid

Lesser Celandine

False-oxlip (a cross between a cowslip and primroses)

Beautifully laid hedge on woodland edge

Yellow archangel

Wood anemone

Wood spurge

Spot the bee

Bluebells and sunshine

Bluebell path

Woodruff

Cuckoopint

View from the woodland edge

Meadows, woodland, river, sun

2011-04-08T23:32:00.004+01:00

I made the most of the amazing, sunny evening by visiting a local wildlife hotspot in Wiltshire where I was keen to capture the early spring flowers.

A favourite meadow species of mine is the cuckoo flower, which likes damp-ish old grassland, but can be found in new habitats too. I was hoping to get the classic shot of an orange tip butterfly and was lucky enough to capture one just as I approached the only decent clump of flowers. I waited a long time but the butterfly never returned after that single moment.

Orange-tip on cuckoo flowers

A bee-fly

Blackthorn blossom

The meadows lie next to the River Avon and the reflection in the water showed of the blackthorn blossom beautifully. Iford Manor was also a great backdrop for other blossom bearing trees.

Iford Manor, Wiltshire

The meadows abut a small limestone grassland slope, which is beautifully managed through careful grazing. It supports numerous unimproved grassland specialities, including this green-winged orchid and cowslips

Green-winged orchid

Cowslips

Next to the grassland is a narrow strip of rich woodland, with a bridle path running through it.

Old coppiced oak

It is full of ramsons and bluebells, between the oaks and old hazel stools, along with a number of other ancient woodland indicators, such as yellow archangel.

Yellow archangel

Orange tip on a bluebell

Bluebells

Cowslips along the woodland ride

Greater stitchwort sapping up the sunrays

Bluebells in the evening sun

The sun going down behind the old stone bridge

Somerset Levels - a spring day

2011-04-02T23:13:00.019+01:00

ON the Levels today there were two things out in force - mosquitoes and sand martins - thousands of them.

Lots and lots of mozzies

The bitterns were also booming strongly - the call starts with a stuttering burpy noise, then goes fully into the resonant bottle top blowing - very strange. However hard I looked I did not see the bird. I did manage to great a great view of a sky wheeling marsh harrier and my first hobby of the year.

Thanks to the couple that I met today who pointed out a fantastic male adder curled up by the track. It was also accompanied by a beautiful gold and black female - I think that we may have been gooseberries!

Adder (male)

Willow warblers, chiffchaffs and blackcaps were singing in the sunshine. This blackcap was particularly tame:

Blackcap

The great crested grebes have all paired up and at this time of year can be seen dancing their exotic courting ritual...this was was just fishing:

Great crested grebe

Fortunately the mozzies were not the only insects around. A few butterfly species that overwinter as adults can be seen now; for instance peacocks, comma and brimstones. I tried very hard to photograph the beautiful yellow brimstones in flight, as they shot up and down the woodland rides. They are speedy little blighters! This was my best effort:

Brimstone in flight

Spring also gives rise to seaonal fungi that only appear now. This yellow one I think is Coprinus micaceus (the Glistening Ink cap) and was found in a woodland. It appears from spring to autumn:

A longing for colour and form

2011-03-27T20:02:00.007+01:00

THE long, dark winter heightens our awareness of colour and new life in spring. As a result of this, many blogs right now relate to the excitement of finding the first butterfly, spotting a summer bird or a flower. And so here are some of my examples, first colt's-foot and pussy willow:

Violets, blackthorn blossom and early rockrose flowers:

A coot making waves:

Scenic ducks...

And finally little grebe chasing its shaddow...

The early dawn chorus

2011-03-23T18:21:00.005Z

IF you wake up at 05:10 (as I did this morning) then, even though it is still dark, the birds have already started to sing their dawn chorus. Well, I say birds, but in fact only the blackbirds were proclaiming their territories today.

The blackbird's song is one of the finest that we can hear in this country, with its clear, strident notes tailing off at the end of each phrase. I tried to listen to see if phrases were repeated, but sleep got the better of me.

To hear the song go to: RSPB's blackbird song

At this time of year only our resident birds are singing in the countryside and gardens, so now is a good time to start to learn to distinguish one from another if you are new to this game.

I was at home today and was surprised to notice a female blackbird collecting grubs in the neighbours garden - this means that there must be nestlings already. At the top of this page is a photo I took last summer of a male with insects ready to feed to his nestlings.

For a little bit more about birdsong visit: www.whentowatchwildlife.org

The cherry blossom in our garden is wonderful - there is an amazing buzz and hum as honeybees enjoy this early source of nectar. With the flowers and insects come the birds, looking for food - such as this blue tit:

P.S. You can also hear blackbirds sing in the evening!

Prima rosa

2011-03-12T08:43:00.002Z

In an undisturbed pasture, under the shelter of a thick hedge, the first primroses have appeared...

Primrose

The name primrose comes from the latin prima rosa - meaning "the first rose"; the latin name for this species is Primula veris. Either way it is surely the most charming of the spring flowers.

Spring sunshine

Delight in the common

2011-03-05T21:54:00.007Z

Inspite of years of wildlife watching, I still get enormous pleasure from seeing common species, especially when it is possible to get up close to them.

Today (Saturday 5th March) I decided to make my first ever visit to the RSPB's Swell Wood, an ancient woodland overlooking West Sedgemoor on the Somerset Levels.

View from Swell Wood over West Sedgemoor

The woodland runs along a steep escarpment and is home to a large heronry. There were quite a few adult birds on nests, often with the partner bird standing nearby.

Herons at their nest in an oak tree

At the moment it is relatively quiet, as the chicks are yet to hatch - good thing too 'cos it was bitterly cold.

There was a very good summary of nest activity at the site, so I have plagiarised it:

In the car park there are a number of feeders and I sat in my car for ages using it as a hide...I was able to get quite close...

Nuthatch

Coal tit

Blue tit

Dunnock and coal tit

Dunnock

Great tit

Blue tits

Coal tits

Robin

Tree-creeper

Great tit

Great spotted woodpecker

Marsh tit

Coal and great tit

Nuthatch

Blackbird

Great spotted woodpecker

Great tit and female chaffinch

Pair of nuthatches

Nuthatch and Great tit

Great spotted woodpecker

On the way home, I stopped off at Greylake RSPB reserve - these wigeon took flight. The mass flocks of lapwing and ducks seen a few weeks ago have now gone.

During the afternoon I was also lucky enough to see 6+ of the released cranes in a very far off field. They were being radio tracked and were kindly pointed out to me by the people recording their movements...otherwise I would never have spotted them.

There is an interesting map at Slimbridge WWT (as noted in a recent BBC article on their website) showing towns and villages that have crane association. It goes to show how common they must have been, so its exciting to think that one day they may be thriving like little egrets are now.

Places with Crane (or a derivation of crane) in their name

Burrow Mump, Somerset

Must see web site...

2011-03-02T22:56:00.001Z

I feel like a real cheat - I'm recommending a website (rather than blogging about my own experiences) AND its not even a British wildlife related site! Ho hum...maybe you'll forgive me when you see it. Why have rules when you can't break them...

http://www.ustream.tv/hummingbirdnestcam

Aaaarrrhhh!

Back to Blighty

2011-02-13T01:09:00.004Z

Back home now, so no more scorching temperatures and crocodiles amongst the egrets, but sometimes the familiar is just as good. The Somerset Levels were cold and bright today. There were no rarities, per se, but just the sheer number of birds was spectacular. Last week we watched the massing of the starlings, but this week was hide-bound birding over the wetlands: teal, wigeon, snipe, shoveller, peregrines, buzzards and lots and lots of lapwings. The piping wigeon and the plaintive lapwings makes up the quintessential winter sound track.

Here are some piccies (I've just hit the 10000th photo on my new camera) to give you an idea of what I mean about "lots of birds"!:

Costa Rica and Panama over New Year 2010-11

2011-01-24T21:41:00.008Z

My latest holiday with Claire, and her brother Dave, took us to Costa Rica and Panama.

It was not just a wildlife holiday, but we did pack in the excursions. C-R and Panama still support primary lowland rain forest as well as significant wetlands. These are very rich in bird, mammal, reptile and, of course, plant life.
.

I only had a small Ricoh R8 with a 7x optical zoom and 10M pixels resolution, so these photos show how close we got to the birds particularly. It was a fantastic holiday and I would highly recommend it. Unfortunately it was impossible to photograph the many hummingbirds and my camera did not cope well with the dark forests.
.

Bocas Del Toro, Panama

We went to the following places:

Costa Rica: San Jose, La Fortuna, Santa Elena, Manuel Antonio, Puerto Jimenez and Tortuguero

Panama: Bocas Del Toro, Boquete, the Panama Canal and Panama City

Anyway here are the best animal images from the three weeks, with a few plants thrown in too!

(Please note that the naming convention for the birds is the American Ornithologist's Union Check-list of North American Birds 7th Ed. - so don't complain if you disagree!).

Some of the birds seen but not caught on camera:

Chestnut-mandibled and Keel -billed toucan
Boat-billed heron
Ringed kingfisher
Rufous tailed hummingbird
Scarlet Macaw
Crimson-fronted Parakeet
White-winged dove
Semipalmated Plover
Gray-necked Wood-Rail
Great Kiskadee
Lineated woodpecker

I won't go on...!

Green heron

Yellow-crowned night heron (during the day!)

Magnificent Frigatebirds

Great Egret

Bare-throated Tiger-heron

Three-toed sloth

Caimen

American crocodiles

Lots of egrets

Great Egret

Northern racoon

Two blokes with starfish

Laughing Gull (1st winter)?

"Royal" Terns (school boy error...)

Two toed sloth

White-throated capuchin

Agouti

Lizard sp. (look closely)

Black Vultures

Large iguana sp.

Northern Jacana

Black-bellied Whistling-duck

Not banana - Heliconia

Roseate Spoonbills and a Great (White) Egret

Roseate Spoonbills

Jesus lizard (can run across water)

Bare-throated Tiger Heron

Brown Pelicans

Egrets

Anhinga (a type of cormorant)

Black-necked Stilts

Terrapin

Red-kneed tarantula

Black Guan

Cloud forest

Howler monkey

Cloud forest

One-day orchid

Magnificent Frigatebird above the Panama Canal

Egrets

A local boar (not the only bore in Panama)

Flycatcher sp. (poss. Tropical Kingbird)

Weta sp.

White-nosed Coati

Collared Aracari

Harlequin beetle

False Fer-de-Lance?

Cloud forest tropical leaves

Tropical beach

A book review - "The Natural History Book" from Dorling Kindersley

2011-01-22T00:19:00.011Z

My books are my favourite possessions...I have a small, but cherished collection of natural history books (about 150) and I love everyone of them. Now this is not because I am lose with my affections, but because I am choosy and only buy books that I know will enlighten, delight and enthuse. I admire the art, I pour over the prose and I embrace the science. I think that maybe I am quite hard to please, however here's another gem for my collection...

The other day, out of the blue, I received an email from Dorling Kindersley who asked me to provide some feedback on their on-line natural history quiz, which they have set up to compliment and promote their new book "The Natural History Book". I felt very flattered to be asked and for this simple act, they very kindly sent me a copy of the book.

First of all this is a BIG book at 648 pages with 5000 images. It is truly encyclopaedic and it is obvious from the outset that it has been put together by some very clever people. It does not shy away from some hard science, as it reflects the natural world through the currently recognised "taxonomic" classification. What an endeavour - the whole of natural history (including rocks and fossils) in one tome!

Now there are probably 10 million plants, animals and fungi out there, so how can you chose what to include. Well the answer is you get some of the familiar and some of the oddities to try to reflect the true diversity of life. So when I looked at this book I looked for some of my old friends (yes there were some there) then, once reassured, could revel in the new-but-familiar, and many down right weird ones.

My background is in the sciences (although I have now lapsed and just look on admiringly), so the format appealed to me straight away. Order runs through scientists like the proverbial Brighton through the rock, and this books oozes this systematic scientific approach to the natural world, but in an easily understood way.

Each page contextualises the plants and animals into their kingdoms, classes, orders etc.. Each species is given its full English and scientific name and a short description, including identifying features and where it is found. Sometimes its habitat is also mentioned. In addition to these, each order has a more detailed description and for some species there are feature articles. This nicely breaks up the book's structure to provide a deeper insight into some of the "stars".

The pages of this book remind me those exciting, and slightly secret, museum specimen cabinets that most people ignore, but which invite the curious to open the up and peak inside. Each drawer holds another set of wonders from some far away place and the specimens speak of adventures in hot climes, where the only company is the leech and mosquito. However don't get me wrong - this book is not fusty and dull - its vibrant and exciting. Each page stands out with brilliance displaying a wonderous range of species.

It is a book that will particularly appeal to a younger audience who have, or are acquiring, an interest in the natural world. However don't think that only they will enjoy it. I suspect that it also may act as the catalyst for an interest not previously discovered. I really hope so, as what more can a book offer than to open a door to a lifetime of delight in the plants and animals that we share this planet with. Who knows, maybe the next David Attenborough is out there and will be inspired by this book.

This is not a book to use to enable you to identify species, per se, but enables the reader to get a thorough overview and helps contextualise them.

Do I have any criticisms? Maybe a a few small ones - I would have liked to have seen more detail at the front of the book about each subject, particularly habitats, which are so important in understanding species adaptations. I am not sure why rocks have been included, although they are of course interesting. Also some of the animal images fall slightly short of DK's normal high standards, but I expect that is because they are very hard to come by - this is being really picky though, and in no way spoils my enjoyment of this book.

I am a big fan of DK travel books, but I must admit was rather ignorant of the breath of their range and so will be taking another look now to see what other gems are waiting to be discovered...

For more (short) natural history book reviews go to my website: www.WhenToWatchWildlife.org

The effects of snow

2010-12-22T22:23:00.005Z

The current harsh weather must make life for our birds extremely difficult. The countryside looks barren, if not beautiful. Of course one effect of the snow is to bring otherwise shy birds straight to the doorstep. Our urban garden has seen the first bramblings this year, mixed in with other finches (goldfinch, chaffinch, greenfinch). The continental blackbirds also appear in numbers. Quite often you can spot one bird who has found a bush bearing berries 'setting up camp' and fending off all others - a tough job.

I have not yet seen any waxwings, but I have had many redwings. These excitable birds are magic and a joy to watch; they come right to the side of the house where there is a bush currently laden with orange berries. The limits of my camera are reached again, but here are some of my efforts.

The second photo down shows the one bird that kept dropping the berries...

Winter outing

2010-12-07T21:19:00.003Z

OUCH its cold! But the great thing about winter is the birding.

On the Somerset Levels the now famous starling roost is a spectacular event. Up to 5million birds visit from across Europe, when the flock is at its peak in January. Last Sunday there were enormous numbers. This not only attracted the shivering birders, and more casual visitors, but a peregrine. Funny thing about peregrines - apparently starlings are sh*t scarred of them - not so funny when the flock is directly over head! Anyway - made good watching. Unfortunately the mist obscured much of the spectacle, but it was still worth braving the freezing temperatures.

Other highlights were an ice-skating water-rail and a marsh harrier fly by.

Lots of starlings


Heron coasting over starlings in reeds

I did meet nice jolly chaps out there - all the way from Cambridge to look at fog - long way to come really!

Birders

One birder particularly struck me as displaying optimism over sense...

"Optimism"

At least Noah's hide looked scenic...

Noah's hide

And there was good sunset...

Most incredible of all was Glastonbury Tor sticking out of the mist - quite breath taking.

Tor

Frozen lake

The cold weather also attracts the more cautious visitors. I was very excited to have this chap visit - the photo is through a window and the bird is quite far away....!

Brambling in the garden

Fungi, pigs, deer and sunshine

2010-10-17T10:04:00.004+01:00

The New Forest was a feast today - rich in fungi, colourful with early Autumn tints, holly berries and pigolious - plus sunshine.

We hoped to hear the deer calling for the rut, take pictures of fungi, enjoy the trees and try to avoid hitting any cattle or horses that roam freely across the heathland. Success on all counts bar the deer.

We did enjoy seeing pigs taking up their pannage rights however - what little characters they are!. Their noses have a number of rings in to stop them trashing the ground, so they mainly stick to eating acorns and the like, that can they can forage for without digging up the soil. Commoners of the forest are allowed to run their pigs in this way, but this is a right only afforded to them and is an ancient tradition.

As soon as you stepped of any path in the woods you could see fungi - they were everywhere and quite amazing. Here are some of the ones that I found:

Boletus

Penny-bun bolete

Cauliflower fungus

Parasol mushroom

Lichens also festoon some trees

In between the areas of conifers and broadleaved woodland there are areas of gorse, holly, heather, bracken and grassland. The gorse is particularly important of birds such as the rare Dartford warbler.

Flowering gorse

Amazing numbers of berries on the holly

Scots pine

On the way back we found that a rain shower had drifted through Bath...I could not resist including this picture...