9th to 15th May Week Eight - Only You Can Cool My Desire

After the warm and sunny day on Saturday, the first day of this period, a Sunday was a big change, overcast, but still with muggy conditions but gradually through the day temperatures falling in a cool north easterly wind.  The garden remains busy with the House Sparrows joining the Robins and Blackbirds with young birds appearing on the lawn.

We decided on a long walk in the conditions and set off for Weathermore Lane.  On the footpath off Telegraph the Firecrest was singing and walking along Weathermore Lane there was another singing bird in the conifer plantation.  This made eight singing birds in the area.  There was little else to report along the lane other than a Speckled Wood that wasn't put off by the overcast conditions.

From Weathermore we walked to Lord's Wood, taking the main path which now is much more pleasant the the waterlogged track of previous years

Walking from Brightstone Lane Larch trees can be seen on the left hand side

There is some forestry work clearing areas of mixed woodland, once again the dominant tree though is the Beech.

Just as we reached the bottom of the path I heard yet another Firecrest singing, this the ninth bird.  I stopped here to watch this one as used the leaves for cover as it moved through the branches singing.

Then out into the open for some great shots

A little further on we stopped to look at a bank of Wood Spurge.  In the overcast conditions the lime green of the leaves stood out.

This spurge goes through an extraordinary metamorphosis in early spring, the first buds appearing from woody stems. For the whole of winter, the spurge sits as a spindly bush, its dusty and jaded leaves reddened by the winter. Then the transformation takes place: the tips of the shoots expand, burgeoning into defiant fists of vibrant chartreuse and golden flowers, each with the remarkable floral structure that is unique to the spurges.

It flourishes best where woodland management has taken place, allowing light to reach the woodland floor, and where scuffing the leaf litter provides places in which these lovely plants can seed.

Like all spurges, its broken stems positively gush with a thick latex that looks rather like condensed milk. But it is not sweet, if the sap is wiped into the eye it causes intense pain and temporary blindness until its caustic nature is neutralised by medication.

In the flower heads there is a little glistening spot which appears to attract the insects, a form of nectar?

We walked up Kitwood Lane, a bridleway that has been formed into a tunnel by the hazel trees on either side of the track.  The tunnel emphasised here with a little effect!

The canopy has still to completely close over and wild flowers are still to be found on either side of the track, the dominant is the Cow Parsley, the delicate white flowers providing a colour all the way along the lane, but looking carefully it is possible to find some other little gems.

This is Woodruff, a herbaceous plant that gets its name from the German Walmeister which translates to master of the woods, preferring shady areas it is sometimes cultivated for its sweet smell and taste.

This I think is a Thyme-leaved Speedwell, but could very well be any type of Speedwell because they are one of the most numerous plant genus.  Despite being very common and widespread, this small speedwell is easily overlooked in lawns, meadows and pastures.  It spreads to form small patches of plain green hairless leaves that are carried in pairs and look similar to a large version of thyme, hence the name.

We followed the bridleway and then crossed the field with nothing else of huge interest to stop us.  The walk towards Newtonwood Farm also very quiet.  Here a view from the road across towards the distant and private Plash Wood.

For the first time this spring we came a cross a Pied Wagtail on the barn roof.  They are usually very common here, but with the cattle not in the barns they have not been about.  This was a very smart male.

As we turned towards Lye Way a Red Kite drifted lazily overhead.

Rather than walk the Lye Way bridleway we turned right and walked through the Newton Common Plantation, and area of lovely Beech Trees.

And as with many Beech woods light can highlight the beauty of the early emerging leaves.

From here we walked the footpaths between Hawthorns and Willis Lane and then up past te garden centre to Alton Lane and home.  The wind had now changed and the muggy air replaced with a cool fresh northerly breeze.

Tuesday saw the sunshine return albeit with a very cool northerly wind, but in sheltered spots it was quite pleasant.  Walking down Brislands it was pleasing to see that the swallows had made an appearance with a couple sitting on the wires above the lane.

This one appeared to take an interest in the sound of the camera shutter below.

In Old Down there was plenty of song despite the cool conditions.  I had walked in across the field from Gradwell and stopped in the clearing by the Larch Trees.  I stood and listened to what I thought was a Garden Warbler singing, and with a little patience I was able to get some brief glimpses of this drab little bird that prefers to sing from deep in the scrub.  It was having nothing to d with my attempts to coax it out.

As I struggled to see the Garden Warbler a Firecrest was singing behind me, this was the tenth singing Firecrest I have heard this spring and I stopped to see if this would be a little more accommodating.  It didn't let me down and once again I had a very nice collection of Firecrest photographs.

The chances of finding this little pocket gem will decline now as they stop announcing their presence through singing, I think though this spring has provided some wonderful encounters.  Something I probably would not have experienced without the lockdown.

As I made my way out of the wood a Red Admiral flew around my head and then settled on the sunlit bramble leaves.

Nothing much was at the pond, I couldn't see any Dragonflies or Damselflies, probably too cold for them today.

I always check the lawn on the other side of the road, my thinking being that is looks so suitable for a wandering Hoopoe, but there is never anything there.  Today though I noticed a strange shape, on closer inspection I could see it was a Stock Dove and probably a young one just fledged.

Wednesday saw more sunshine and it was another walk through Old Down Wood.  Walking down Brislands the late afternoon sunshine was casting more shadows in the the trees and on the leaves.

Very quiet in the wood, but at the pond there were a pair of Mallard, the first I have seen their since March.  I a always amazed at where they go and then where they come from.

Yellow Irises are now in flower around the banks of the pond, the yellow flag petals contrasting with the dark backgrounds

Another check of the lawn produced two birds today, but not the one I look for.  A Mistle Thrush was feeding at the far side and this Red-legged Partridge was walking slowly across the grass.

Back home I took some time to photograph the madness that is the Blackbirds and Robins.  They both have young in a nest somewhere and are extremely demanding of us for mealworms.  It's our own fault and it is difficult to ignore them.  The birds have even take to singing at us if we dare try to ignore them.

This I think is a male, and we have affectionately called him Donald due to fact that the feathers can look like a wig, although they seem to be getting a little worse, I am not sure what could be causing it.  A male because we were able to watch him feed a begging Robin which had to be the female mate.

He has become very tame, though not yet taking the worms from the hand although he thinks long and hard about it

The experience of being shut in the house hasn't deterred him and he has flown through into the garage on two occasions, the instinct to collect food being very strong

He is always at the front when worms are about not worried at all to come into the house.

This is Donald's mate, she is not quite so bold.

Although she will stare you out, making you feel guilty the bowl is empty

There is another pair of Robins, but their young have fledged and gone.  They do not like this pair coming into the garden and will fight them off, but they are not so tame and stay away from the back door

And then there is the Blackbird pair, the female is such a good looking bird we are sure the only reason she entertains our Blackbird is due the fact that he has access to the us and the worms.  She has though become a lot bolder, even coming into the house and singing to demand being given some worms.

As you can see our male Blackbird is looking a little worse for wear once again, the feathers hanging off him.

He has been very attentive though this year, in previous years he has not been so focused in collecting food, taking on more responsibility once the young had fledged.

It is not all easy though for both pairs, lurking around are the House Sparrows and Starlings.  They will come to the bowls if we are not about.  They are bold and this unnerves the Robins and Blackbirds, although I have seen the male Blackbird turn on the Starling with an open beak.  The problem is the blackbird has a slight twist in its bill and once taking the worms out of the bowl it carries them off to a shady place on the lawn to sort them out by dropping them and then picking them back up.  This is when he is vulnerable and both the starlings and House Sparrows have worked this out and will dart into steal the worms.

Thursday we took a different direction, heading up to Blackberry Lane.  On a patch of waste ground I noticed this unusual flower.

This is a Wood Avens also known as 'Herb Bennet'. Small, quickly drooping, yellow flowers appear on slender stems from May to August and are a good source of nectar. 

Wood avens it is a straggly, hairy plant that has downy, three-lobed leaves with toothed edge, and yellow flowers with five petals. The flowers appear in loose clusters and are replaced by spiky seed heads with red hooks that can easily get picked up by passing animals.

A little further along we came across a lovely purple flower that looked fom a distance like a cornflower.  However closer up we could see it was something different and is in fact a Mountain Bluet.

It is in fact a member of the Cornflower family and a resident of mountains in southern Europe.  I suspect this is a cultivated one that found its way into the verge.

We crossed the field from Blackberry to Alton Lane then took the footpath down towards Hawthorn Lane past the horse paddocks.  It was very quiet with very little about.

Crossing the road we walked on towards Kitwood, looking back down across the valley a lovely view in the early evening sunshine.

From Kitwood we headed down hill with more views looking out across the field with the trees along Brislands standing out, the Copper Beech a sign that spring was almost done and we were moving into summer.

Some of the lockdown restrictions are now eased here in England allowing us to travel further and to be able to meet one person from another household outside.  This means that I can start to move a little further away from Four Marks, but I have decided to keep up this blog as I take the opportunity to get out of my home office during the week.  But look out for the travels elsewhere on the Away From Four Marks Blog