3rd May - 8th May Week Seven - Those Useless Trees Produce the Air That I Am Breathing

The week started with overcast conditions but with sunny spells, this would gradually improve through the week with very warm conditions experienced over the bank holiday weekend.  In the garden there were a pair of juvenile Robins following their parents around and constantly begging to be fed.

As I have said before as we move into May local activity begins to become quite samey and it becomes a question of finding something of interest that might not necessarily be immediately visible.  Both Swallows and House Martins have now arrived, the House Martins though not always present around the houses while the Swallows are yet to be come resident at many of the usual spots around the patch.  There were though a couple about along Alton Lane on Monday.

The Rooks were busy still feeding youngsters in the rookery.  At the bottom of Alton Lane we heard a Cuckoo call and caught a short glimpse as it flew from the tree tops and out of sight.  I was informed that it has been present for a good few weeks and seems to come mostly from the woods around Kitwood Lane.

Tuesday saw us walking through Old Down Wood once again, the canopy is closing over as all the trees now have a full set of leaves and with this the floor of the wood has started to look tired, the bramble too has restarted its attempts to take over everything.  A project I have considered previously was to try and identify as many of the trees in the wood, so I thought now would be a good time to start.  The leaves are in their most pristine condition, and these are usually the best way of identifying the trees. 

Lets start small, this is the Elderberry, not widespread in the wood but found in a few places probably the product of birds eating the fruit outside the wood and depositing the seeds.

The Hawthorn is widespread and found all over.  At this time of year the bushes are covered with the white blossom or May.

This one was an unusual find, I would hazard a guess this is the only one in Old Down, the Laburnum.

The next is probably the most numerous tree in the wood, the Beech.

The last one for this post is the Sallow.  I was surprised to find this, but it brings hope that maybe once day I would find a Purple Emperor butterfly as these are the food plant of the larvae, I can but dream

Stopping at the pond on the way home, the shallow edges of the pond were black with large groups of tadpoles.

Back home in the garden there was some interesting light and some carefully hidden meal worms attracted the Robins producing an illuminated bird with a nice dark background.

As is always the case when the Robins find or are fed the mealworms the Starlings and House Sparrows muscle in.  This Starling has young screaming in the roof of the house to be fed and I suppose you can't admonish them.

Wednesday saw us walking to Hawthorn Lane and then across the footpaths past the Garden Centre to home.  In the fields and paddocks along the footpath from Hawthorn Lane Rooks scoured the buttercup covered paddocks.

In a willow tree on the outskirts of the garden centre a Chiffchaff sang out in the open at the very top of the tree.

Thursday saw the daily walk put on hold as we sorted the garden out, new flowers had arrived.  However there was still plenty of activity, mostly over the house.  We visited several times by the female Sparrowhawk, her approaches though always spotted by the residents, alarm calls sending the robins and blackbirds to cover while the Starlings flew up to intercept the threat.

More alarm calls alerted me to a Buzzard that was drifting over the garden.  This time it was the local crows that took on the air defense role.

Moving in to intercept

Which resulted in the buzzard taking evasive action and using it's most lethal weapon, it talons, by rolling on to its back to face the crow and lunging with the talons

The Crow backs off as the Buzzard falls away

Talons safely out of the way the crow keeps a safe distance but ensures the Buzzard leaves the air space.

Shortly afterwards a Red Kite drifted over.  The small birds seem completely un-phased by their presence not seeing the beautiful raptors as the same kind of threat imposed by the Buzzard and Sparrowhawk.

All through the afternoon our Blackbird had been singing, something he doesn't do tha often, and could only mean one thing, his mate was sitting on another clutch of eggs.  We think the previous nestlings were taken, probably by a Magpie.

Late in the afternoon the blackbird moved to a different tree and was the first time visible in song.

That evening there was the last super moon of the year, a flower moon, so called due to the fact that flowers are now all out and blooming.

The Friday Bank Holiday was very strange, it felt like a Saturday and I suppose the whole feeling was compounded by the strange days we are living in presently.

It was another warm and sunny day with temperature forecast, once again, heading towards the mid twenties.  I set out for a walk around Old Down Wood late morning, hoping to catch up with some butterflies.  As I walked along Brislands Lane I did see butterflies, a male Orange Tip and Large White, but true to form they just flew on by.  

Long-tailed Tits could be heard calling in the hedgerows, I suspect that they have nests bulging with youngsters and they need feeding so the adult birds are scouring the bushes and leaves for insects and spiders to feed them.  This leads to the feathers, notably the tail feathers becoming very worn and tatty.

In Old Down Wood the Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps were singing, I took the diagonal path towards the west end of the wood.  As I came through the Beech Trees I heard the call of a Tawny Owl, the male's "toowhoo" followed by what sounded like the "keevit" call, but a lot quieter and without the usual clarity.  This was then followed by a strange warbling call.  I checked the calls of the owl on my phone and found that the strangled "keevit" was most likely that of young owlets, the warbling a form of contact.  I walked to the area where I thought it was coming from and scoured the trees without any luck.

Not able to find the owls I went back to the original plan to search for butterflies, notably Green Hairstreak.  This proved to be a fruitful as the search for the owls.  In the location I have found them there was no sign of any butterfly.  After waiting for sometime I had to conclude they were not there.  Walking back to the crossroads I did come across this Speckled Wood.

And at last this Large White that settled on a dandelion.

From the wood I walked to Swellinghill Pond, it seemed quiet at first but then I spotted a male Broad-bodied Chaser settled on a bullrush.

It was then off doing a circuit of the pond , looking to settle but teasing and moving.  Another flew over my head and settled in the tree on the bank, this one was a female, having the orange brown body in contrast to the male.

The male then returned and perched very nicely for me on another bullrush stem.

A walk around the pond finally managed to find some damselflies.  One Azure Damselfly was around the emerging Iris but never settled for me to get a photograph.  A Large Red Damselfly though did and I was able to record the first of the year.

As I searched for more damselflies I came across this exuvia or the old skin of a dragonfly nymph on the leaf of an Iris.

There were now two pairs of Broad-bodied Chasers touring the pond and I suspect that one of them emerged from this exuvia.

I left the pond and walked to Kitwood where I crossed the field back into Old Down Wood.  Here there were two more trees to add to the list.  First the Larch, the only deciduous conifer in the wood,  After the beech the larch is one of the most numerous tree species in the wood.  From a distance the Larch can easily be recognised as they are one of the tallest trees present.

Less numerous is the Silver Birch.  They are probably easier to identify in winter by their silver grey bark, but when the leaves do appear they take on a gentle beauty of their own.

I walked to see if the owl was in its tree but I couldn't see it.  If it had of been I would have been able to assume that the owls I had heard earlier were different, but with it not present it was impossible to make the call.

As I turned to leave I heard another Firecrest singing.  After a short search i was able to find it in the canopy.  I know more Firecrest photographs, but I just can't resist them.

This was now the seventh singing bird around the patch,m not bad for a bird that only recently was considered a rare breeding bird in the county.

I left the Firecrest singing and headed out towards the Gradwell entrance.  As I headed towards the footpath I heard yet another Firecrest singing.  I could n't get to see this one, but the number is now up to eight birds, amazing.

Crossing the field towards Gradwell a Red Admiral that was a little worn and worst for wear settled on the dried ground of the path.

The rest of the day remained warm and sunny and this was to be the same on Saturday as well, however the weather was set to change to cold but sunny next week which I am sure will come as a shock to many.  Whether it brings in anything of interest locally remains to be seen.  There is also the hope that maybe we will see some relaxing of the restrictions to our freedom we have  had for the last six to seven weeks.