26th April - 1st May Week Six - There Was a Shopping Mall, Now It's All Covered In Flowers

Working from home introduced a little drama this week.  One of our Robins has become quite clever realising that it doesn't have to compete with the others if it trusts us.  This has involved coming into kitchen to be fed as can be seen for the photo.

On Tuesday we had lunch with the back door open after feeding the birds, just after one I shut the door and returned to my office upstairs.  An hour and a half later I went o make us both a cup of tea and on returning to the office found the Robin there!  It wasn't too difficult to catch and appeared quite calm as we released it back into the garden.  Afterwards we started to find little messages that gave some idea of where it had been in the house for those 90 minutes.  The Robin clearly wasn't put off by its experience and has resumed its feeding methods by coming into the house.  We, though are a little more careful after having the door open!

The week started with glorious weather once again but soon after this deteriorated into what can only be described as more "normal" April weather with much cooler conditions and four Seasons in one day, with sunshine, wind, rain and even hail, backed up by thunder and lightning.  As a result my exercise spells were restricted to only three days, the best of which was on Sunday when I took advantage of the sunshine to spend sometime in Old Down Wood.

Walking from home along Brislands I was accompanied once again by Orange Tip butterflies that would not stop, while in the fields on both sides of the lane Skylarks could be heard in song and the Cow Parsley is beginning to cover the verge.

The Greater Stitchwort are still in flower along the  in places the flowers are very open exposing the yellow stamen.

Finally an Orange Tip did settle on a leaf along the lane but it wasn't the sort after male but a female.

After negotiating my way around several groups of dog walkers I took the northern perimeter path.  The bluebells were still about, but are starting to go past there best.  However there were pockets that could still impress and with the sun streaming through the canopy it would pick them out, highlighting them in the darkness.

Here a larger patch.

This is the best side of the wood to see the Early Purple Orchids, they have been in flower for a few weeks now and several more have appeared.  I found this close to the edge of the wood.

And then another a little further along the path.

Where the sun managed to get through the closing canopy there were a group of insects warming up on the leaves of the Ransoms.as if they had just emerged

Identification has been difficult, but due to the large size around two centimetres, I think they may have been Hornet Hoverflies.

There were still plenty of patches of bluebells worth photographing.

Some distant in the middle of scrub not accessible to wandering persons

Solomon's Seal are also now flowering everywhere.

Coming around to the West End of the wood the clump of Bugleherb was still in flower.

And there was a lot of Wood Spurge about too.  The lovely lime green leaves being highlighted by the sun and backed by the darkness of the trees.

The view this morning from the West End was quite stunning.

The main path back up into the wood is beginning to become a little overgrown.  A Blackcap sang from within the Hazel scrub, once or twice a singing Blackcap would have me questioning whether it was maybe a Garden Warbler, but a brief glimpse of the black cap confirms the owner of the song and I know that when I hear a Garden Warbler I will know in an instance that it is one.

Competing in volume, if not maybe quality, was a Wren, singing from an elder bush.

Light was a challenge, however they are always a joy to watch, such power from such a little creature.

Large White Butterflies are on the wing now, however they seem intent on exploring and despite the fact that they fly around in circles they would not stop for me.  It was as I followed a Large White that I came across a Chiffchaff carrying feathers for nest building I presume.

The female Chiffchaff does the nest building, it is a domed nest built on or close to the ground.  Vegetation and leaves are used in the construction and feathers used to line the nest.  Here the nest must be complete.  

I watched to try and see where she went with feather but lost her in the bushes.  She did return though to watch me.

Again the light was a challenge but it does show that in certain conditions the appearance of the Chiffchaff can change, in the open it appears as a drab brownish olive bird, but here under the canopy it takes on a greenish hue to match the surroundings.

I wandered along the main path to the Crossroads, this is where the two main footpaths through the wood meet.  For more details about the sites and area of the wood I have written a description of those in Old Down and around the patch and they can be found here).

I turned Right and made my way towards the Old Down Cottage exit.  I paused in the open area in the hope of getting some butterflies to settle.  There were Red Admiral, Peacock, Brimstone and more Large Whites, however they didn't stop and I was left to just enjoy the view of the open clearing.

I stopped to take some photographs low amongst the bluebells, this gives a different perspective on the beautiful flowers.

I was also taken by the huge Sycamore leaves lit up by the sun and contrasting with the dark backgrounds.

A view I don't think I have posted before is that of the pathway into the wood by the Old Down Cottage.  The sign by the style says no horses but this hasn't stopped the many cyclists coming through here recently.  Hopefully the mud that will appear with the week's rain will put some off.

On Saturday I had noticed some Starlings hanging around the pole supporting the power lines, today I saw why.  They had nested in a hole in the pole and the youngster not far off fledging was peering out.

I can only assume this used to be a Great Spotted Woodpecker nest.  I don't see the Starling excavating the hole in what is quite dense wood.

I had a walk around the pond in the hope of finding some damsel flies but there were none about.  As I left a female Holly Blue appeared on the holly bush.  She is though looking a little worn, her flight season coming close to finishing.

I walked down Kitwood lane and crossed the field back into Old Down.  I couldn't resist going to look for the Tawny Owl and was pleased to find him in the usual tree although the light was awful and had to make do with this attempt.

I had been wandering around for some time so I decided to make my way home, the Sweet Chestnuts are just coming into leaf.

In the hedgerow next to footpath leading to Gradwell Lane another Holly Blue settled on the leaves.  Another female she turned to get the sun showing the underside and the dots that separate this from the other blues!

Then turning and opening the wings to show the dusky black wing tips of a female.

Back home from the garden a Greenfinch was singing from one of the surrounding trees.

Later in the afternoon a group of House Martins just appeared and started to inspect the old nests and other potential sites.  This is the nest on our house and as you can see needs some serious attention.  There was a lot of chattering as the nest was inspected.

Its mate was circling close by, probably keeping a distance from its chattering mate.

Then the two were finally in the nest together and the chattering became more intense as they looked at it.

Both birds twisting and turning around.

Whether deliberate or as a result of the inspections and both birds tucked into the nest, Monday morning saw the majority of the nest on the floor.  It now requires an almost total re-build.

Monday was a much cooler day, with some sunshine about but mostly cloud.  We were able to get out for a walk though and once again walked through the wood.  Over the last few weeks I have heard Stock Dove calling from the area around the Old Down Cottage entrance and down by the Ash Trees to the west end of the wood.  There has also been calls from the trees by the large house close to the pond.  My attempts to see the birds let alone photograph them have been very few.  I did manage a quick glimpse and then in flight last Saturday but that was it.  So when a couple of pigeons flew from the trees close to the pond as we made our way towards kitwood I thought at first they were the usual Woodpigeons, but as they landed on the roof of the little house on the other side of the lane I could see these were the sought after Stock Dove.

They look so much nicer than the Woodpigeon, more delicate and if you catch them in the light properly, with some glorious colours in the grey plumage.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday saw heavy rain, hail and thunderstorms, this eased a little on Friday and we were able to get out for a walk.  Keeping to the lanes we walked down Brislands and around Gilbert Street to Old Down Wood.  

At the bottom of the hill on the open grass a Mistle Thrush was searching for food, probably to satisfy youngster in a nest somewhere close by.  The Mistle Thrush is larger than the more commonly seen Song Thrush.  It has a slightly greyer plumage and a white breast with spots as opposed to the streaks in the Song Thrush.

As we left the Mistle Thrush behind Helen informed me that on the journey into Alton on Thursday she had seen a Hoopoe alongside the A31 just before you reach the Chawton roundabout.  She described it perfectly and I know she has seen them on our travels so there is no reason to doubt her, I was just gobsmacked that she was only telling me now!

The lambs we had seen the week before in the field along Gilbert Street were now much more independent and scattered around the field.

Walking up through the Desmond Paddocks there were newly born calves in the field and Swallows flew around the fields.  Looking south down across the paddocks the evening sunshine was very welcome.

Walking through the wood more trees were coming into flower, a Copper Beech.

While the Horse Chestnut were in flower along Lymington Bottom.

The weather for Saturday was a lot more preferable, however we were planning a short excursion to re-charge the batteries.  Next week will see a return to the warm weather of the past few weeks, however we will have to endure some rain to start with.  We are now entering a quiet time around the patch, typically this time of year sees few arrivals and the canopy in the wood closes over and the floor of the wood sees the wild flowers dying back.  There will always be things of interest it just means you have to work harder to find them.