4th - 11th April - Winter Strikes Back!

So from the summer temperatures of the end of March to snow flurries and bitingly cold winds over Easter and into April.  The evening of the 6th saw prolonged snow falling and on the morning of the 7th we woke to a good dusting of snow and quite a hard frost.  Needless to say the birds were knocking on the back door as I came down to make some tea.

I had the week off so it was much easier to plan the walks and with Helen popping into the school i took off to explore the winter scenes around the village and also to try and find some of the local specialties.

First stop was along Brislands, this time last year there had been a singing Firecrest present.  They are either not very vocal through the winter or return to breed in the area, so far this year I haven't managed to find one.  It seemed this was going to continue as all I could find in the spot was a pair of Goldcrests that showed very well.

Unlike their cousins the Goldcrests have been vocal through out the winter, giving their presence away by either their contact calls or bursts of song

Leaving the Goldcrests I set off for the wood, but stopped as a small bird flew across the path.  I thought at first it might be a Chiffchaff, but when I finally got on to it I realised it was the bird I had been wanting to find, a Firecrest.

I then had the bizarre situation where i was photographing a Firecrest with snow on the fence and post, maybe a contender for the Christmas Cards this year.

It then moved to a bush with some emerging blossom to provide a more appropriate scene for the time of year.

So they are back which was very pleasing.  Hopefully we will have as many as last year when I found ten singing individuals, hopefully more though, this little bird is now doing very well in Hampshire.

A little further along that other photogenic bird at this time of year, the Nuthatch, showed well with some classic poses.

As the lane opens up to the fields, it was to a really wintry scene looking west towards the Old Down Wood.

On entering the wood as well it was quite wintry.

I walked around to check the Tawny Owl.  It was there looking at me as I watched it.

I walked through to the main path leading to the Old Down entrance.  The flurries of snow still gathered on the bracken following the overnight frost.

The Long-tailed Tit nest was still there but there were some worrying signs of moss and lichen hanging from the bottom which might mean it has been attacked, we shall have to wait and see.

At the west end there was the bizarre scene of Bluebells surrounded by snow.

I could hear Stock Dove calling and managed to locate on e of the owners high in a beech tree.

Walking down through the Desmond Paddocks the cloud was gathering away to the east over the top of Old Down Wood.

From the paddocks I crossed and walked up Andrews Lane.  About eight years ago I had found a smart male Ring Ouzel in the horse paddocks and always hoped to repeat, today though wasn't going to be the day, instead there were five Meadow Pipits.

At the top of the lane a Yellowhammer was singing from the top of the trees along the footpath.

Hoping once again for Wheatear I walked around to Lye Way.  All the birds I could find were two Pied Wagtails, but there were plenty of these.

Walking back to Lye Way Road the fields look like they had been recently seeded and this attracted many Woodpigeon and six Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

A scan through the Woodpigeon revealed a couple of Stock Dove too.

Along the road a couple of Yellowhammer were singing from the hedge.  The bright yellow of the males contrasts so well with the green of the fields in the background.

As I watched the Yellowhammer a single Raven flew announcing itself with the familiar "gronk" as it went flew over.

In the filed were a male and four Pheasants, two Red-legged Partridges and these two Brown Hares.

Back home in the garden things are getting a little more frenzied although without the male Blackbird feeding young it isn't maybe so pressured.  All three Robins appear to have young and Donald is venturing into the kitchen.  The Wren too has become so much braver and watches the Robins.  It has come close to the house and is very adept at nipping in to take a worm before a Robin.

One unusual observation was when the tame Robin waited on the patio chair, the wren was next to it.  The Robin flew up, took the worm and returned to the chair.  The Wren immediately begged with open mouth and the Robin fed the Wren the worm.  I also think that the Wren caches the worms, as it is taking a lot more than it was in the winter and goes to different parts of the garden with the worms.

A new visitor is a Song Thrush, not a common visitor to the garden this one seems to like the bird bath and also checked the worm dishes.  Lovely to see one in the garden, once upon a time they were considered a common garden bird.

The weather is considered to continue cold for the coming days, hopefully we will see some more typical spring weather soon.

10th - 17th January - Hey Hey, My My

 We moved into week two of the latest lockdown with a very cold day and a hoar frost.  At dawn there was little visible frost around, but as the day moved on the trees and grass started to turn a frosty white.  Cobwebs appeared on the hedges where they hadn't been visible before.

While the grass developed a frosting

The wall in the front garden is covered in moss and the frost appeared here creating some beautiful patterns.

The weather for the start of the week though saw a return to mild and wet conditions, this restricted my daily walks but I did manage to get out towards the end of the week.  A walk at the end of last week to the pond did not produce the hoped for Tufted Duck that had been there at the end of last year.  However a quick visit on Thursday found the drake Tufted Duck out in the long with the Mallard.  It was dull and gloomy, and dark water and a virtually black duck meant these shots were a little grainy.

A drake Tufted Duck will always attract my camera, specially if the water is dark and reflecting, but this Tufted Duck is very special.  Four Marks has little water to attract water birds.  Swelling Hill Pond is the only substantial water and it is only in the last year that Mallard numbers have increased.  Prior to that I was extremely excited about a Coot that stayed for 3 weeks back in April and May of 2015.  So finding another duck species, a diving duck, on Christmas Day was a mega find, the 106th bird on the patch list.  Coupled with that and the fact that I can get close to the duck, I have taken a lot of photographs.

Around the picnic area there was a small clump of Snowdrops.  These managed to take me away from the Tufted Duck.

Saturday saw heavy rain overnight and into the morning.  The threat of snow though did not materialise and by midday the sun had broken through and it and a fresh wind made it good enough to be able to get out.  

I stopped at the junction of Gradwell and Brislands to look for Firecrest, but only managed to find its cousin, the Goldcrest, it did though give some great views.

The Goldcrest is the UK's smallest bird, their average weight is around 5-6 grams, while a Wren averages a whooping 7 to 12 grams

Despite their size they are highly migratory and many of the birds seen locally through out the winter may have traveled from Scandinavia and the near continent to be here.

Walking towards Old Down Wood along Brislands a Buzzard appeared above the distant trees.

Looking to the west there was an interesting cloud formation building.

It was extremely quiet in the wood as it is at this time of year, every so often there would be a burst of Robin, and contact calls would come from the highest branches.  I stopped to watch a pair of Nuthatches evade my camera, while a Treecreeper put in a brief appearance confirmed by this record shot.

Four species of Tit were heard and seen, Great, Blue, Marsh and Coal, a trip to the Tawny Owl's tree of previous years did not find anything, but then it is a little early, it doesn't usually appear until February.

I was taken by the bare trees and the blue sky and white clouds.  It creates a lovely pattern looking up.

I spent some time following a flock of Long-tailed Tits, but this was the best I could get, they were very mobile 

It was then a visit to the pond where on first look there was no sign of the Tufted Duck, so I decided to pay some attention to the Snowdrops.

Moving back to the pond the arrival of a family, intent on feeding the ducks, had pushed all the Mallard and the Tufted Duck away from the reeds and vegetation into the centre of the pond.  The light today was much better so it was fill your boots time.

Tufted ducks are one of the commonest diving ducks in the United Kingdom, feeding on aquatic plants, insects and molluscs, a small fact, the increased distribution of the Tufted Duck at the start of the 20th century was attributed to the introduction of the zebra mollusc.

Yesterday I had seen the duck diving, today it remained on the surface, preening at times as it moved around with the Mallard

On one or two occasions I noticed it spending time with a female Mallard which was much to the annoyance of the drake Mallards.  It would also turn its head to look skywards, maybe this is just a reflex,.

It then started to preen and conduct some leg stretching exercises

You can have too much though and I decided it was time to move on, as I left the pond I paused to capture the whole of the pond.

Back home there have been some changes, the Robins have become more approachable watching as I put out the meal worms and daring to come close.  The tame Robin we called Donald is still about holding territory on the right hand side of the garden, he can be identified by the ridge in his feathers behind the ear coverts.

A addition to the garden is a Wren that has taken a liking to the meal worms, so much so that it seems to look out for me when I top up the trays, appearing almost immediately.  It will also appear even if I don't top them up, coming to inspect the trays.

It usually takes three of four worms depending on whether or not it is disturbed by another bird.  It will take them under the log to kill and then eat.  Quite a substantial meal for a little bird.

The amount of understanding and intelligence in such a little bird is quite impressive.

On Sunday the sun was out the skies were clear.  We walked through Old Down and then down to Andrews Lane.  In the woods Great Tit and Robins called and sang, but in general it was quiet.  Along the lanes there was a Song Thrush singing, Dunnock and Robins as well.  Waling down the paddocks a Meadow Pipit called overhead. 

At the top of Andrews Lane a Raven could be heard and seen distantly on one of the pylons.  We came back on the footpath through the fields to Swelling Hill, which meant there was the chance to drop in on the Tufted Duck once more.  It was hiding again and appeared as I walked around the pond, then spent the time preening.

From the pond we made our way home, a Red Kite the only bird of interest as we reached the crossroads with Lymington Bottom.

The air was still cool, but the lunch time sun was very welcome.  As we walked towards Chalk Close I noticed a bird fly up from the lawn of the house on the corner.  At first I thought it was one of the many Robins around, but then I noticed the tail flicking.  It couldn't be could it?  It was, a Black Redstart.

Then it flew across the road in front of me to perch on the small wall on the other side.

Then as I attempted to get closer it flew up and over the house and away into the garden.  After letting Helen back into the house I returned to try and find it to get some more shots.  This was a brilliant find, I have highlighted in my check list the birds I would have a hope of seeing around the patch, but never considered Black Redstart, however today there seem to be more appearing in the winter on housing estates.

I re-found it on the roof of the house I had last seen it fly over.

It is either a female or immature bird, I would suspect female.  The tail is constantly flicked although this one doesn't have the startling red impact of the male's tail, it still stands out.

The Latin genus name, Phoenicurus, means Red-tailed, while the specific name, Ochruros, means pale yellow, which is more the colour in the female.  

It flew from the roof across the road once again and settled on the roof.

From there it went to the top of the roof where I was able to watch it from the garden, taking the garden list to 64 and the Four Marks patch list to 107.  

I then left it, hoping it would still be about later and the next day, but both proved negative, I have not seen it since which only makes me feel even more lucky that I came up the hill when we did, a great way to start the year.  Is this an even better find than the Waxwings seen in 2010?  That is up for a debate I feel