Winter-Spring cusp

IT'S been a while since I blogged, but this winter has provided some wonderful wildlife experiences: its hard to beat the starling murmurations and the great flocks of sky-wielding ducks on the Somerset Levels.  However, now that spring is here I can turn my attention to a wider variety of subjects.  

Glastonbury Tor

The herons in the heronry are busy with their little egret neighbours nesting in the tree tops, many resident birds are singing and the wintering flocks are breaking up.  Pairing and carving out territories is certainly on the cards for many.

There's not much greenery yet outside of the garden, but the pussy willow is just starting to break buds with soft downy catkins, and the hazel pollen has already floated off.

On the journey to the core of the Levels in a muddy farm field a small flock (9) of expectant probing little egrets pursued the uninterested cattle picking off worms and insects in their wake.

I decided to visit Canada Farm Lake, not having been there for months - I'd faffed extensively and so took ages to walk from the car to the hide, but this meant that I was in the right place to see a crane flying overhead - I heard it trumpeting first (not sure to whom) - then it glided past:

The track to the hide yielding a huge flock of small, twittering birds, including gold finches and siskins.  From the hide I watched a pair of kingfishers going back and forth and a GC grebe catching and taking on a sizable fish.  A peregrine and marsh harrier both scooted over the reeds to the far right.

 

Grebe: 1 - fish: 0

On Ham Wall RSPB Reserve the gusting wind dropped the temperature, but the bittern still showed nicely and the ground nesting herons were in full nest building mode.

Little Grebe

Spring really is upon us.