Nature in the Raw.

After doing a bit of a garage clean out this morning, I had a walk along the cliff top this afternoon. I still haven't seen a Wheatear this year and was hopeful that I might bump into one. In fact I didn't but instead I was treated to one of those wildlife experiences that both thrills and horrifies at the same time. As I walked down from the Monument towards Hope Point I was suddenly aware of two birds moving at high speed across the "big field". As I focused my binoculars on them I immediately saw a Peregrine moving into top gear. Expecting to see a Pigeon fleeing for it's life I scanned left and was surprised to see a Woodcock trying to out pace and out manoeuvre the feathered missile behind it. Woodcocks, like most waders, are quite strong fliers but there was no chance for this one. The Peregrine caught up with it's prey, just over the top of the cliff. It may have been my imagination, but I think that I heard the thump of the collision. A cloud of feathers drifted down and the Peregrine made off with the Woodcock in it's talons. It called briefly and on reaching the edge I saw it flying below the height of the top of the cliff in the direction of Hope Point. I lost it as it rounded a bend in the cliff face. I spent some time looking from all the accessible view points but failed to find it devouring it's meal. Exciting as it is to witness a Peregrine in all it powerful splendour I have to admit to a tinge of sadness that it was a Woodcock that met it's end. I don't feel the same when it's one of the local Pigeons, after all there are thousands of them, but this poor Woodcock had had a hard life. Forced to fly over the Channel by the hard weather it was probably getting to the time for the return journey, but instead it had the supporting role in one of nature's spectaculars. Oh and yes, I did have my camera with me, but I stood no chance of capturing this drama, too fast and too absorbing to try.

I had a look at this little tree in my neighbour's (Chris's) garden today, I hadn't noticed it before. Initially it was the catkins that drew my attention to it, but it is a very attractive tree. Chris calls it by it's common name "Harry Lauders Walking Stick".

It's scientific name is Corylus avellena Contorta, and it is also called the Contorted Filbert. What makes this shrub so unusual is that the stems grow into contorted, twisted shapes. The branches, twigs and even the leaves are corkscrew twisted. Every Harry Lauder's Walking Stick was propagated from a single plant that was discovered in an English hedgerow in the 19th century. This one is only about three feet tall, but they will grow to seven feet or more. The early Spring catkins on the bare tree are very striking.

Heavy weight Volume

With the winds of the last few day the leaves that had been clinging on to their summer residence have suddenly begun to fall rapidly to the ground below, and then with the prevailing winds, into large heads against the back of the house.

This large Acer was still pretty well clothed last week, but now the majority are down. All I need is a nice rare warbler in it, now that it would be visible.

At this time the Ash out side my study sheds more than leaves, large twigs and even small, branches break off in to wind and litter the ground. Simon and Sam are visiting so I'm sure Sam will help with picking up the leaves! I was contemplating the clear up job when a large parcel arrived.

Volume 14 of the Handbook of Birds of the World, just two to go. 4.331 Kg of book, 893 pages, 17 Families, 120 Genera, 468 Species and 1176 Taxa. The largest family included is the Crows with 123 species. Many of these are the duller black birds that I've a habit of showing on here, but there are some dramatic looking Jays.

This photo of a Crested Jay was taken by Pete Morris, one of several photos he's got in this volume. It was taken on the Durango Road in Western Mexico. I was lucky enough to see them on a trip Pete led for Birdquest in March 2002. There are a lot of species of Jays in the southern part of the USA and Mexico, I think that this must be the area that they first evolved from as there is such a diversity.

Escargo, Crow style.

After a morning at Bockhill, which was very birdy (although I didn't see either of the Yellow-browed Warblers) I popped in to Bushy Rough this afternoon.

There were some very "New England" type colours in some of the trees, perhaps our changing climate is going to bring us more colourful autumns.

I don't normally see a heron here but this one was fishing and then flew up into a tree where it joined a second bird.

This Carrion Crow was paying a lot of attention to some thing on the ground and I was surprised to find that it was opening up snails for a little French type starter, or possibly if it found enough the main course as well. I can't recall seeing this behaviour before.

There were still several young Little Grebes (Dabchicks) following the parent birds around, begging for food. The one above was incessant in its calling. After a while I was surprised to see it diving after the adult as if it was having a lesson on how to find its own food. I didn't see it come up with anything and it still pestered the adult, but I suppose that they do learn by following the example of the parent bird.

This particular youngster was the palest young Dabchick I've seen, it stood out from the others, even when looking into the sun. It will be interesting to see if it moults into a normal looking adult bird.

I though that for a change I wasn't going to see the resident Grey Wagtails, but as I was walking back to the car two called, flying over, and one settled on the roof of the Lodge.

A woodland metaphor

When, two months ago, business minister Baroness Vadera claimed she could see "a few green shoots" of economic recovery starting she was roundly criticised.

The economy looked as bare as these coppiced chestnut trees in Captains wood.

But here there are some green shoots, the Bluebell leaves are growing fast and hopefully well soon see the first buds forming.

The leaves of Lords and Ladies are already assuming their arrow shapes,

and although most are still just buds a few wood anemones have ventured out to greet the spring.

Most of the trees are yet to stir but this birch has some catkins out. The wood was very quiet with very little bird song, apart from a few Robins and Chaffinches and the occasional burst calls from Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed Tits. I didn't see or hear a Woodpecker, but did catch a brief call of a Treecreeper but failed to see it.

Going with the flow.

I had time to kill while my car was being MOT'd today, so I walked down to Kearnsey Abbey.

Most photographers are draw to water, it is a subject with an infinite number of possibilities and the River Dour, that flows through the grounds has many interesting features. This afternoon was quite dark and unlike this morning there was no sun, but I quite like to lack of heavy shadows for taking these autumnal pictures.

I remember reading an article by Heather Angel about photographing moving water and I tried to get one of the effects that she showed. I took two pictures of the water as it goes over the weir, into the fallen leaves. The first was with an exposure of seconds and the second, the fastest I could manage in the light, at 1/50th of a second. I did get some of the misty or foggy effects on some of the water, but the main volume going over the weir is surprisingly clear.

Just down from the weir a Grey Wagtail was feeing in the eddies, but the light was too poor to get anything worthwhile.

The trees are at their most colourful at the moment an this large avenue is still looking very leafy despite the windy weather we've been having this Autumn.

I did hope to find lots of fungi under the trees. I'm sure if I'd looked in the right areas I would have found more, but this was the only clump I found. As usual I'm not sure what it is, but it may well be that same as I found in Captain's Wood, Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma fsciculare), but a bit more developed. again any advice would be welcome.

Across the road at Bushy Rough I walked along the formal ponds to a small folly. As well as water, doorways and arches draw photographers, so the combination with water and Swans is irresistable, no matter how clichéd the result.

Autumn Leaves

Things were very quiet on the birding front around St Margaret's, with most migrants appearing to have moved on, although a small flock of Tree Sparrows flying over the Freedown was good to see. Later in the day a Yellow-browed Warbler was found in the Pine Gardens.

In the afternoon I visited Admiral Wood for the first time for a while. Although many of the leaves have already fallen there are still enough on the trees to make it very dark inside although it was bright sunshine outside.

When I did come to the large opening in the centre I was aware of a strange high pitched noise above me and overhead a glider whistled passed. The Channel Gliding Club, in Waldershare Park, is right nest to the wood.

There were very few birds around, although when I got to the edge of the wood to look at the glider runway I did see this Jay go by. It was probably one of the local birds, but at the moment there does seem to be an influx into Kent, with sightings from places where Jays are seldom seen. It may be that in some areas the acorn crop is poor making the Jays move to find their winter food.

The sunshine penetrates better where there are stands of large trees, as opposed to the areas of coppice. Unfortunately the coppice industry is no longer very profitable and many of coppice woods are are left to grow, a much less interesting habitat than a well managed coppiced wood.

I'm not particularly good at fungi identification but I think these are Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma fsciculare). If I'm wrong I be happy to be corrected.

The walk through the wood is almost exactly half a mile (with out diversions) and most of the time it's like being in a tunnel. With the ISO rating set at 800 this photo was 1/10th second at f7.1, compared to the Jay, in the sunshine that was 1/4000 at f7.1 at the same ISO setting.

Mirror, Mirror

After trying to photograph Green-veined Whites all summer (if that's what we've had) and only managing a very tatty individual this one flew into the conservatory while I was emptying my moth traps.

The very heavily dusted veins are the main feature separating this species from the Small White. It resolutely refused to pose with it's wings open.

Double-striped Pugs have started reappearing in my traps, this is the second generation of the year. It's possible if the weather is mild to catch them through to October or even November, perhaps representing a third generation.

After the rain the puddle at the corner of the Droveway has reappeared, but the only birds using it while I watched were Linnets. Earlier this year I photographed several adults here, today they were mostly juveniles. I'm not sure if this one is going to drink or admiring its reflection.

There are loads of Thistles in seed at the moment, it's a family I really like and the seeds are a valuable source of food for birds, especially Goldfinches.

Looking around at trees the continuous wind seems to have taken its toll. Most of the leaves look "wind burnt" and the trees are decidedly tired looking already.

A flash in the woods.

Moth traps attract thins other than moths at times. A few night ago thee were hundreds of tiny Water Boatmen in one of my traps.

Last night this Water Beetle Agabus bipustulatus was in to bottom. It was only just over 1cm long and very glossy.

From the underneath you can see its powerful legs for swimming. It was happily re-united with water just after the pictures were taken.

Quite a lot of Hoverflies end up in the trap, although this one was feeding in a bramble patch. It's a Great Pied Hoverfly Volucella pellucens and the larvae live in the nests of Common or German Wasps, sometimes several dozens can be found in a single nest.

The female Badger that came last night appears to be a hard working mum. We thought that it was a different individual to the female we've had before.

I had a quick look at Captains Wood this afternoon. It the first time I've been since the beginning of May, and stupidly I hadn't expected it to be as dark inside as it was. As a well grown, not particularly managed coppice woodland the trees are close and now the canopy was well leafed it was f8 for a fortnight or flash.

This Lords and Ladies, a common plant but always a favourite of mine is taken from an angle I normally wouldn't use. But I now have to remember to take a cushion or something similar if I want low angles, kneeling or squatting on my haunches no longer being an option. The birds were quiet with Song Thrush, Blackcap and Chaffinch being the only singers I heard.

The conkers are coming.

After most of the fields turning yellow it looks as if we are going to get fields of blue flax and fields of white something. It looks similar to the flax, but I didn't know you could get a white variety, so I may be something different, I ready for enlightenment.

A bit further out, towards Waldershare, I notice this field of Broad Beans. This Is a vegetable that I quite like, but when Pam and I grew more vegetables I always found that you needed too much room to get a decent crop. They really seem to do best in large fields.

The reason I wandered out here was because there's been a lot of talk about Spotted Flycatchers and their numbers of lack of them and several times churchyards, where there were pairs were mentioned. I decided to check on a couple of likely, or so I thought, sites. Of course I had no success. I have passed this avenues of horse chestnut trees lots of times, but today I decided to take a walk through the trees.

There were lots of open areas with nettles, but the only butterflies I saw were Meadow Browns, I suppose it was just about open enough for then, but I was disappointed not to find other species.

The only birds I saw or heard were Blackbird, Wren and Wood Pigeon, a pretty poor list, although afternoon is not a good time. The trees seemed to have a lot of young horse chestnuts on the way. This should lead to a bumper crop of conkers, but remember all the safety equipment that will be needed, under today's Health and Safety regime. Goggles are essential and I guess thick leather gloves would be advisable, how did we survive?

Use Your Imagination

I spent a pleasant time watching various parts of the Dark-eyed Junco at Dungeness. Luckily Lee Evans had it in his scope when I arrived and kindly let me look at it for a while to get my bearings. Thanks Lee. It was seen by the owner of South View Cottage, sitting up on a tree stump, early this morning. Fortunately he is birder and recognised what he was looking at. Unfortunately while I was there it mostly stayed hidden away in a Bay Laurel bush. If you have a good imagination you can see it sitting in the bush in the photo above, if not there are better shots here.

When I came away from Dungeness, I wandered across the marshes and stopped to look at a small colony of nest boxes, used by Tree Sparrows. I don't know how successful these have been for the last couple of years, previously I have seen lots of this beautiful sparrow around them. I don't know when they start to nest but you can imagine what a great sight they are at this site.

Back at St Margaret's, our snow all gone I was surprised to see how much snow was left on the other side of the Channel, just imagine more snow in France than there is here, it's a wonder they haven't all gone on strike!

At Waldershare all the snow had disappeared and I took a quick (sneaky) look at some of the larger trees in the park land. You can imagine what wonderful nesting tree these would make for some of our more sought after birds. Even with out nests I love the look of the parkland, a diminishing habitat, and one that can have a good mix of breeding birds.

Early Bloomers

As well as Daffodils flourishing in Cardiff and red Roses in Paris, Blackthorn is in full bloom in St Margaret's.
Most of the books say that the flowers are out in early March, but this year it has been in mid February. The leaves follow, normally in April, but this year they may be earlier.

It is an important tree as the food plant for several species of moths and butterflies, including Emperor Moth, Common Emerald, November Moth, Pale November Moth, Mottled Pug, Green Pug, Brimstone Moth, Feathered Thorn, Brown-tail, Yellow-tail, Short-cloaked Moth, Lesser Yellow Underwing, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Double Square-spot and the Black and Brown Hairstreaks.

Today the Parish News arrived and it has pictures of the four churches in the parish on the cover. One of them is the interesting little Norman Church in East Langdon. East Langdon was mentioned in the Domesday book. The word Langdon goes back to Old English, meaning long hill. In the first reference in 861, there was one Langandune, but in 1291 there was a reference to Estlangedoun and Westlangedone (West Langdon, about one mile to the north west).

The church is dedicated to St Augustine. In the Middle Ages the area around Langdon was run by the St Augustine’s Brotherhood. This lasted until 1538 when Henry VIII dissolved the Abbey and sold the lands. East Langdon was acquired by the Masters family who built on the site of the abbey.

In addition the Parish News is a very useful publication for learning what going on in the village. One of the items that struck me as particularly interesting was the "Launch of Low carbon Village and Sustainability Project" on Wed 12th March in the village Hall between 6pm to 9pm.