Fungi foray

During this week, we went to a new, (to us), nature reserve around our area called Hedgecourt. Hedgecourt is a Surrey Wildlife Trust reserve that stands at 5 hectares, (very small), but packs in a lot for insects. According to the ranger, it is not very good for birds, but then he went on saying that there are bitterns that are seen on the lake. He also told us this is probably the worst time of year to come. That is definitely not true if you are interested in fruiting bodies! Fungi and mushrooms are everywhere! The first tree you come to when accessing the reserve is littered with lots and lots of tiny mushrooms!

Last year, I went to the New Forest, and I found some fungi on a walk. This is the same idea, just a year on. The photos, unlike last year, were taken on a phone.

The first tree I came to

 

 

Next year I will be looking for bitterns!

Jam jar wood.

I had an idea whilst in Brighton for a very cheep and easy project. I am not sure if this has already been done, but I am going to make plant pots out of used jam jars, (or any other types of preserves for that matter), and plant in seeds from trees found near to my home. I have already planted a tree, (conference pear, taken from our very own pear tree), and I hope to see if it works. The idea is so that we can watch the roots grow, as the jar is transparent.

This is what it currently looks like:

I hope to have a pear tree soon!

More trail camera footage!

Again, I put out my trail camera at Buchan Country Park, and again I got plenty of rodents and robins. But this time I also got a surprise guest, in the shape of a green woodpecker...

I used some of the same footage as I did a fortnight ago, (see below), and some new footage. It is still the same log, just a different postilion...

Trail camera footage!

I have got some new trail camera footage to show you! Here it is:

It is a minute long and involves rats, mice and a rather juvenile looking robin!

The logs are over a stream at Buchan Country Park.

A round up of the past fortnight

Hello! Since I wrote last blog post I did, I have done a lot of small wildlife things that are slightly too insufficient to do a blog post on them. So, here is A round up of the past fortnight (or so):

I have bought a new scope that I have used at Warnham LNR and Titchfield NNR. It is great for the garden feeders, they have a great focal range.

The siskins are back! And, as last year, earlier than they should be! They will stay with us for the next six months until early spring, when they go off and breed.

I have been the many nature places, including:

Pulborough Brooks
Grattons LNR
Warnham LNR
Buchan Country park
Tilgate park
Sheffield park
Petworth park

And that is about it! I hope I do a lot by this time next week. See you then!

Just a very very quick post on foxes

A fox den?

At 6:00 this morning my mum and I went to Grattons LNR. I was taking videos of the morning, (I may show these later today), and after the battery ran out, my mum spotted a red face. It was a fox! I was surprised, as foxes generally come out when it is dark, not at 9:45 in the morning. I managed to find something that looks like a fox den, and I saw something flinch inside it. Could this be the home to the fox?

I hope to find out soon...

Spain, sun and mountains...

Well, It has been a very eventful last week. I have been in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada on a family holiday. I have seen my first swallowtail butterfly, bee eater, eagles and much more! here is an incomplete list of the species I saw:

Ants - (not sure what species,) queen too!
Bee eater
Black kite?
Booted eagle
Cockroach
Gecko - not sure which
Goldfinch
Large Psammodromus (sand lizard)
Sardinian Warbler Red Admiral
Scarce Swallowtail
Swallow
Swallowtail
Swift

I may add some more later.

I was very lucky to see the bee eater, it was the last bird I saw. I had a mental bucket list and the bee eater was included. I saw it on the drive down the mountain, a species that I very nearly missed!

Here is my best photo of the swallowtail:

Wow! what a holiday it has been! I hope to return to sunny Spain soon.

Just a quick post...

The last post I did, (see here or scroll down), I said "I found a shoe with something special in it". Now that I have talked to one of the people who help manage the reserve, I can safely say it was a signal crayfish, an American invasive. Alas, I can't do anything about it, but just keep an eye on the population and destroy any that I find.

I am sorry it was a short post, but I am going to Spain for the first time tomorrow so I am sure I can do plenty then. Adiós!

Cleaning Grattons

This is not the first time I have done a post like this one. Two days ago, I went to Grattons LNR on an evening walk. The summer holidays have just started, and it seemed as if someone had had a party, not cleaning up after themselves. It was in a right state!

So, yesterday I did a habitat clean. I found so many objects in the river. Newspaper, a penny, (I have lost the penny, but I would probably have given it to a charity), a school planner and books, a car tyre, a whole factory worth of tin cans and a lot of clothes. I found a shoe with something special in it, but I will address that crisis later.

On one corner, I found a whole bin bag's worth of rubbish. It took me ten minutes to clear it all up. It was quite steep, with muddy banks leading into one of the deepest parts of the whole river! I managed to not get too wet, but my trousers will never be the same after that!

Picking up cans, photo taken by my dad

We were there for about 75 minutes at the reserve. Two whole big bin bags worth of trash out of our rivers and I have (possibly) found an IUCN red listed species. All in a day's volunteering!

I would recommend doing a litter clean as well. Find a local event, or maybe organize your own. Make a positive impact on the places around us, save the environment, one bottle at a time!

Kingfishers, swallows and some very angry swans...

Today, I went to Warnham LNR in Horsham. I go every other week, and we should have gone yesterday, but an event was on, and you can't see that much wildlife if it is teeming with people! So, we went today. At the meadow, staring at the juvenile terns, I suddenly spotted a single kingfisher, the first one I have seen at Warnham this year! Then, without warning, a second flashed past, heading down the stream that feeds the mill pond.

Heading straight to the kingfisher hide, (or as we call it), we sat quietly. Whilst we were waiting, a group of swallows, five odd, suddenly started to skim the algae infested waters in front of us. It was amazing to see them hunting, mostly perfectly racing against the water line, now and then touching the surface.

Then, a single kingfisher made a curve towards a nearby post. It sat there for five or so minutes, before giving up trying to look through the algae, and flew off. But suddenly it stopped in mid air and started to hover over the clearer, faster flowing part of the river. It was hunting! Unfortunately, it was too far to take a good photo of it, but just the sight of it is incredible!

A mute swan - it was very protective with its four cygnets!

Pulborough phone challenge

Pulborough Brooks is the closest RSPB nature reserve, (with a cafe), to us and on Tuesday, (strike day), I went there, alas not with any of my cameras, but with a phone. The task of taking great photos on a phone is easy with portraits of other people or ourselves, (selfies), but macro shots are hard. It isn't easy getting in close, and a digital zoom can massively reduce the 5 mega pixels quality.

However, the good thing was, my main subject were the sparrows. They are one of the highlights of every trip. They are really tame. Why? Cafe latte Cake. The sparrows are truly addicted to the sweet stuff. Don't believe me? Well, when we were looking at the rabbits and red deer on the field the eating area overlooks, one adventurous female braved the homo sapiens, (us), and took a chunk out of the main wedge of cake! Oi, that's my lunch! :)

The sparrows gave us a great insight into their feeding as they were so tame. You can feed them out of your hand. So, slapping the camera phone on grey-scale, I took some perspective shots of the birds. Here is the photo.

I am pleased with the dramatic result. Now off to the LNR...

Rabbits, rabbits and more rabbits.

At Grattons LNR, there is a large population, (16 odd) of rabbits. I tried to, like the woodpecker, take a video of the rabbits. Here are the results:

This shows the rabbits grazing on the field with the river running through it. I hope to get some videos of the kits.

Frogs, recycling bins and a macro lens...

Wildlife will make its home pretty much everywhere. Under the bed, in car bonnets and even in the street lights! But one species that I didn't expect to find underneath our recycling bin is the common frog. We have a puddle-sized pond that some frogs have previously made their home, but I haven't seen an amphibian in our garden this year. We didn't get a breeding success, but finding this individual was positive.

They aren't always in ponds, and I have found them in the most peculiar places. By the garage, under the rabbit hutch and in the long grass. I will be looking out for more frogs under recycling bins...

Brownsea travel writing

At school, we are learning about travel writing, and, I did a piece on Brownsea island, which I visited last autumn. I have already done a post on Brownsea, (see here), but this is a more descriptive piece on what happened:

Brownsea island

By David King

It’s around 9‘o’clock in the golden Hampshire morning when we leave the cottage in a particularity beautiful village in the new forest, (all of the New Forest is amazing), and after a quick hike to the local train station we are waiting for a train to pick us up to what feels like the largest settlement for miles. I have a great anticipation for today. I am secretly hoping to encounter maybe a couple of red squirrels, now a privileged sight in the UK, and a ghostly white dot in the far distance that could be one of the rarest birds on British soil. Little did I know the great adventure that awaits me...

When we got off the stuffy train in Poole, we had a quick stroll through the high street and to the harbour. After paying the, (rather pricey), boat fee, we just caught a 100 man ferry boat, with wooden seats exposed to the ruthless elements, to Brownsea island. There is only one place to land at Brownsea, and that was on the other side of the famous island. So it was a long wait as the isolated island drew nearer and nearer and nearer in the horizon.

I have seen red squirrels before in captivity

The reason Brownsea hosts the elusive red squirrels is because when grey squirrels were introduced 100(ish) years ago, they indirectly killed most of the native reds through squirrel pox, (the greys are sadly immune). But they never got to Brownsea island, it is protected by the sea, as the water acts as a natural barrier. When the mainland reds perish, the Brownsea ones thrive.

When we landed at the only port, managed by the National Trust, we went straight to the local nature reserve, run by the Dorset Wildlife Trust. It cost  us about £3 to enter, witch was a great price for a nature reserve. It is home to some great wildlife, and, (sorry National Trust), realistically the best bit; and also the cheapest.

I saw many interesting flora and fauna, including the red squirrels running around, and of course, the stars of the lagoon… the spoonbills. The spoonbills were in a tight flock of around 20 individuals. This felt like I was on a National Nature Reserve, or a RSPB Nature reserve, just with a strong head wind!

I managed to take quite a good photo, even if I do say so myself

We also found that the red squirrels were quite tame on the large reserve. I managed to take quite a good photo, even if I do say so myself, of a rustic red squirrel. Red squirrels are amazing; they are smaller than the invasive greys, who come from the USA, and are much less aggressive too. They spend most of their time in the canopy, and are an amazing sight to see.

We spent most of the rest of the morning walking around the never ending paths in Brownsea. Bar the red squirrels, Brownsea is remarkably like Buchan, my local country park where I regularly visit and put trail cameras out in the heathland. Brownsea is slightly more built on than Buchan, with the castle and the scout camp.

After lunch, we walked down the adder like meandering path to the beach, and it was already clear that Brownsea has it’s own biosphere and weather patterns. Looming cliffs guarded the beach; the chance of a rock fall felt inevitable. It was more of a shingle wave cut platform, but it felt like a pebbly beach. I saw many coastal birds, turnstones, gulls, the usual.

After the beach, we went to the magical heathland. I spend a lot of my time at Buchan just on the Target Hill heath, I am yet to explore it all, (it is bigger than you think), and it seems only the quarter of the size of Brownsea's. It is not hard to see that Brownsea's heath is managed. I found deer dropping hotspots; I picked some up: dry, cold and brittle. I also saw the odd small bird, (no Dartford warblers)=! ) and of course, the kestrel perched high in a tree.

We then headed back towards the nature reserve. We hadn’t even scraped the surface of it last time, so we went and found a peanut feeder, that was full of visiting reds. It was the best part of the day; watching the reds coming in close. Also, small garden birds, (tits, finches and co.), were allowing me to edge closer and see this unique spectacle in close up.

The rest of the day went quickly; it was soon time to catch the ferry back, which we missed by 5 seconds and got the best seat of the next boat. The journey was full of lights reflecting on the inky black sea known as Poole harbour. The natural barrier, between the reds and the vermin greys.

The saviour of our glorious reds.

Garden Bioblitz part 2

The most amazing thing about wildlife is the rich diversity of it. You can have many different types of one species, separated into subspecies, and even further down the line. I think gender, age, status, habitat and intention can be told by just one small clip of bird song or call. I can't tell you that in so much detail, but
it is probably possible. I could do that to a butterfly or larvae if I can see it, maybe even to the same brood.

A snail that was rather large and tame.

But today, I am yet to find a butterfly. However, I have so far found many other wildlife, around 50 odd. This is great compared to this morning's measly 14. I hope to do some more bioblitzing and even maybe some moth luring later. Let's hope the weather changes for the better!

Some star wildlife:

Harlequin Ladybirds mating, they look like they are different species, but they were actually the same, just a lot of sexual dimorphism happening.

A snail that was rather large and tame.

Oh, and the 13 cuckoo spit I found...

Garden Biobltiz part 1

It's 5 in the morning, and the alarm has just gone off. I walk down the stairs and then outside to count all the birds that visit the feeders at dawn. Sitting on the bench, I patiently wait. It feels like I am immediately rewarded when a large garden snail greets me. The bioblitz has begun!

Starling in winter

I saw quite a few birds in the garden, 12 individuals. It may not be that many, but it isn't a large garden. That or the wood pigeon hogged the feeder too much (again)! Ok, the 12 wasn't as good as my 19 from the Big Garden Birdwatch, but most birds tend to not visit garden feeders as much in the summer months.

I also saw some interesting behaviour. Our House sparrows nest in our gutter. However, today I saw them mating, suggesting that they will have another brood. I also saw the blue tit juveniles for the first time this year. They were adorable, trying to fly was a real challenge!

Here are the results so far:

1 Garden snail, 3 Blue tits, 1 Dunnock, 3 Wood pigeons, 1 magpie, 1 bumble bee, 3 house sparrows and 1 starling.

Total of 14.

Microscopes

Recently, my Dad purchased a microscope. When I got the chance to use it, (which was pretty soon), I had a look at some interesting things under it...

First of all, I found a dead fly on the windowsill, and after ripping of one of it's wings, (it was already dead!), I had an examine of it under the microscope...

the fine hairs on the wings under the microscope

You can see all of the fine hairs on the wings under the microscope, it is remarkably detailed, I am fairly happy with the results. 

Another thing I placed under the microscope is the seeds of the dandelion. These use wind to disperse the seeds, so have a furry sort of head. What I was most surprised about was the fur has fine bristles running down the fluff.

bristles?

I hope to in the future look at pond creatures, spider's silk and maybe some  leaves...

Woodpecker nest!

Yesterday, I went to Grattons LNR to do a weekly bioblitz, and I found a greater spotted woodpecker nest! So today, after school, I took my camera kit to the nest and took many videos of their behaviour, (over an hour and a half of waiting). I then stitched the best bits together and, well, here are the results...

I am very happy at the outcome. Both parents visited the nest and we think that there are two or more juveniles. The nest is in an urban environment, with a busy road 50 metres away and aeroplanes flying over every 5 minutes.

I hope they safely fledge soon.

Pulborough brooks; rabbits, damselflies and more

On the 14th of May my Dad and I went to RSPB Pulborough brooks. I saw many wildlife, including hobbies, rabbits, (up close), a tree creeper's nest, plenty of damselflies and four lapwings.

Here are some of my photos:

Head on shot of a damselfly

four-spotted chaser

Azure blue damselfly

Who could resist this cute baby rabbit?

I had a wonderful day.

One year anniversary coming up...

It has nearly been a year since I started blogging at the end of May last year. I have had some amazing experiences this year, and this post is dedicated to my top 10 moments:

10) At ten is my first images back from my trail camera at Buchan. It was amazing seeing the deer on the camera, and I was happy with the results!

9) Nine is the fox cubs at home, taken on my trail camera. They were very cute, and I also found out where my tennis balls go!

8) Eight has to be doing the RSPB Garden bird watch at both home and Buchan. I saw lots of different species, including a treecreeper.

7) How could I not include my sonnet poem? It is at seven, this poem is about the idea of a dark side to robins...

6) Six is all of the lovely birds that visit our garden, a post on the unusual visitors that I am very proud of.

A red squirrel on Brown sea island

5) The New Forest is at number 5, the one week holiday in a wildlife haven. I visited Brownsea island, captured hedgehog on camera and saw some great mushrooms and fungi.

4) At number four is all of the trips out I have had. I have been to so many different places, Buchan, Warnham, Pulborough, Titchfield Haven...

3) Three is my attempts to rear caterpillars, and the diary that goes with it. Despite not actually yet been successful, I learnt a lot trying...

2) Two is the wild patch at the back of the garden. It has helped me understand more about wildlife, and has also given wildlife a home.

1) What about number one? Well, all of the blog has been amazing. I have seen marsh harriers, a dark green fritillary and a mouse trapped in the bird food tub!

I am looking forward to next year...

Grattons LNR

Wildlife is all over my home town of Crawley, gold crests in my own garden, adders at Tilgate and kestrels at Buchan, but one place that I easily overlook is the Grattons local nature reserve, managed by Gatwick GreenSpace. It is not new, but in the last two years, it has had a transformation. It has now got a river meandering through a field, better paths and with it, more people.

A poster I made when there was lots of litter

The last time I did a post about the LNR, which was last July, I picked up litter that was in the river running through the field (see here). This time, there was a lot less litter, clearer and cleaner water, lots of pond weed (which is good), fish, deeper water and a more established ecosystem.

Today, I did a 30 minute bioblitz to see what species there were. I saw (or heard) :

Blackbird
Robin
Woodpigeon
Great tit
Greenfinch
Carrion crow (the common crow)
Magpie
Jackdaw
Wren
Grey wagtail
Blue tit
Some not ID fish

I didn't see any mammals, which is surprising, as there are rabbits, grey squirrels and foxes commonly seen there (it was too cold and wet for insects).

I hope to do more bioblitzes in the future. It is still establishing so I hope I will see more more wildlife in the future.

Harriers, waders and a lot of gulls!

Yesterday, I went to Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve. I saw a great variety of birds on the scrapes, including, lapwing, avocet, teal, redshank, shellduck, oystercatcher, black headed gull and a pair of marsh harriers! I also saw turnstone and kestrel, but they weren’t on the scrape, but in the dock and over the reeds.

I took some photos and here are a select few of them...

A black headed gull

kestrel hunting

Male mallard

turnstone

two marsh harriers

I hope that I go back to Titchfield soon!

falcons, foxes and lizards!

Last week, I put out my trail camera at Buchan Country park the first time this year, and yesterday, I got the first set of videos back. I didn't get too much, (no deer, no grey squirrels, no wood pigeon), but what I did get was amazing. For the first time, my trail cam caught a kestrel in flight!

Well, I only got 6 or so frames of footage of this raptor, so here is one of them.

A male kestrel in flight!

I also got a fox, but the footage is a bit smudged by some rain on the lens. It is a good thing most trail cams are waterproof!

Today, I went back to Buchan to have a look for adders. I didn't see a snake, but I did see a common lizard, (see here for previous lizard encounters). It was basking in the sun. Reptiles need to do this as they are cold blooded. If they didn't, they would be slow, putting their lives in danger

Basking is the best way to warm up

Also, we think one of our nest boxes are inhabited! More on that when we are sure!

Pulborough's sparrows

Yesterday, I went to RSPB Pulborough Brooks and when I was waiting for lunch, a flock of house sparrows came close to where I was sitting, meaning I could take lots of photos of them.

House sparrows are, according to The Big Garden Birdwatch results 2016, the commonest bird in Britain, so it is easy to overlook their beauty as they are so common. But unfortunately, they have been in decline, and that means they are on the red list.

They were so tame and that meant I could get in close and get good detail. In fact, they where so tame that when the food came, I set up a small, not very scientific, but fun, experiment...

I put the pastry from my meal and the cake from my pudding equal distances away from both me and the fence and sat away(ish) from the food. About a minute later, the cake was gone and the pastry was still there. It isn't surprising, the cake contained the calories they wanted. You can feed cake to birds, but only in moderate amounts.

A bee nest in Buchan Country Park

Today, I decided to go and put my trail camera out at Buchan Country Park and whilst putting it out in the heathland, I came across a nest of honey bees. The nest was in the crack of an old split tree. Already, some of the honey bees were bringing in pollen, probably from the gorse.

Looking into the nest

Also, the remote camera on the nest box at the visitor centre has two eggs, but I am yet to see a parent bird, so I am wondering if they will survive...

Why are the siskins breeding in my garden?

I have just seen some very unusual behaviour regarding our siskins. We have a flock of about 13 odd, (we don't know the exact number), and they stay for the winter months and leave for spring so they can raise their offspring
somewhere else.

A male siskin

But, after seeing something today, I doubt that they will leave at all. Our old peanut feeder wasn't being used by the birds, so we put in some fur from our pet rabbit, (we collected it when he was moulting, we didn't just yank it off him!), and we wanted to know if we would get anything taking the fur.

Today, my Mum saw something on the peanut feeder. It was a female siskin, with a bundle of rabbit fur in her mouth. This was a sure sign that they are breeding. But where is their nest? They normally breed in conifer forests, but this siskin is  in a town where, on many maps, is where siskins may overwinter, not breed.

The nearest conifer plantation is 500m away but we don't think they are travelling that far!

Birds and their birdboxes

It is that time of year when the garden birds are searching for a home to raise their chicks in. We already had 2 nest boxes up, (see here for more details), but to increase the chances of a successful brood.

The other identical box

We know that a blue tit had been going into the older nest box. This is the normal behaviour they show when choosing a good nesting site.

Today, my dad and I put up a nest box above the shed. This is the third box on our property. We used a larger hole than the nest box on the side of the house so that we could encourage a wider variety of species.

We didn't expect too much would happen until we got into the house and out of the way, but five minutes later, when we where sitting on the bench, a blue tit decided to have a look around.

All I can hope for now is that a family will breed in there, that would be a first!

Warnham LNR

Today, I visited Warnham LNR in Horsham. I have been there many times before, but this time, I saw a red kite and a redpoll.

A red kite and a buzzard in the same thermal

Also, the Grey Herons are starting to nest now, we think they might even have eggs.

And on the other side of the mill pond, there was a fox prowling along. I have seen them in Warnham, but they are mostly nocturnal.

Goldcrest, siskins and wrens - a normal day in my back garden!

Today is the first day of half term! Unfortunately, I have a dressing around my left index finger that I can't get dirty. That means this coming week, I might not go to that many places. So I am pretty much stuck to the back garden.

However today I have seen several siskins,  three goldfinches, two blue tits, a wren, three robins and at least two goldcrests. And I live in a town.

The siskins are a common winter visitor and we first saw them this winter in August. In the summer holidays! This is fairly unusual behaviour, as normally they are in pine forests that time of year. And now, we have had 13 or so siskins that visit the garden at one time!

The wren

Today I was trying to photograph Europe's smallest bird in my back garden - the goldcrest. Today, my mum and I saw 2 goldcrests - possibly a breeding pair - and I decided to try to photograph them. It is becoming a more common bird in our garden, but every time a goldcrest comes into the garden, which is frequent, we all have a good look at it.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of a goldcrest, but I did take a photo of a bird nearly as small - a wren. As well as being one of the most common garden birds in the UK, it is also one of the smallest.

I hope I will take the goldcrest's photo soon!

Big garden Birdwatch at Buchan Country Park

Yesterday, I did the Big Garden Birdwatch at home, (see here), and today I did it at Buchan Country Park. As last time, the RSPB has put it into a bar chart.

Some major differences:

1) There are no Siskins, House sparrows or Starlings on Buchan's bird count
2) I didn't count any Coal tits, Nuthatches, Dunnocks, Marsh tits, black birds or Treecreepers at my house.

What I was most surprised to see was the treecreeper, as it is so well camouflaged and so small. Buchan has a more rural location and that meant they got different birds.

Big garden bird watch: Our results

Today I did the Big Garden Birdwatch with a friend and counted 19 individual birds. Last year, the average bird count was 17 birds per garden. Here are the results, (in a table by the RSPB):

When we submitted our results, we had a 6th of the Siskin population recorded!

Annoyingly, the goldcrest didn't come, and a blackbird came a few seconds after the hour was up, but you can't have everything...

Caterpillar diary entry 4

Last caterpillar entry, (see here), I wrote about the first caterpillar of the year, (see here). I can say that it is not dead, as I had thought it was,  but it is eating like, well, a very hungry caterpillar!

Now it has settled down in the butterfly habitat that I bought, (see here). Today I brought it outside to take the first few photos. Here are the photos:

Where is he? It is a game of hide and seek

The habitat is usually in the house

After school, I go out to the garden to get some winter flowering clematis which  we think is one of its food plants. I then replace one of the older, wilted shoots with a fresh new one.

I hope the caterpillar makes it to be a butterfly!

A Cold Morning at Buchan Country Park

Yesterday, I went to Buchan Country Park, and, unlike last time, it didn't hail. However, it was very, very cold. Most of the small ponds in the wild garden were frozen. Even the Island pond was covered in a thin layer of ice.

However, it was also beautiful too. the sun was low in the sky, (it had just risen), a little bit of mist was floating on the ponds, the frost still lay on the heath and it was just amazing.

It was just amazing.

I also saw a few water birds too. At one point, I counted 6 cormorants. The black headed gulls were, as usual, flying around in their flocks, and the great crested grebe was in the middle of Douster pond, swimming up and down. And of course, there were the mallards and a pair of coot.

Putting A Nest box Up

Today, my Dad and I put a blue tit box up on the side of the house. We have never before had success with nest boxes; however this time we followed some recommendations on good sites from a book. We bought the nest box nearly a month ago and with spring coming closer, Dad decided it was the right time to put it up.

Blue tits lay around 8-10 eggs meaning the parents have to find lots of insects (they mainly eat insects, including caterpillars), to feed their hungry chicks.

I hope we do get blue tits nesting, it would be an interesting natural event to watch.

Caterpillar diary entry 3

The first caterpillar of the year is.... a brimstone! We found it on the rabbit hutch, meaning it probably came from the clematis. I quickly placed it into a small enclosure (tubs are amazing things) with some different food plants for it to try.

However, it is not moving much making us wonder if it is dead or not. If you have more information on what it could possibly eat, then please post a comment below.

A trip to Buchan Country Park (and some news...)

First of all, a little news:

We think that the small white butterfly pupa is dead, it dropped off the top of the tank and disappeared without a trace. I have also bought a butterfly house so that I could potentially raise more than one caterpillar at the same time.

I have also ordered a new trail camera, better than the previous two. However, they have run out of stock in the UK, and it will be arriving in late February, so you will have to wait till then...

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On the  weekend, I went to Buchan Country Park. I stayed around Douster Pond, like last week. I took some photos there, but not much was happening. But nothing warned me of the unusual ending. After 45 minutes of silent waiting, a large cloud loomed over me. With a large clap of thunder, the heavens opened and it started hailing! Just a usual day at Buchan Country Park...

The odd thing was the weather forecast predicted light rain, I can only guess that global warming is responsible...

Cormorant at Buchan Country Park

As I have said in the past few posts, (bird of the month and the robin poem), I haven’t been out that much. Today I went to Buchan Country Park. I was trying to find the pair of Great crested grebe, but I stumbled upon the Cormorant posing beautifully on a branch. So I took some photos, and here are the results:

My attempt with using negative space and silhouettes 

 I hope that I can get out more often in the future.