SKYLARK SUE’S REFLECTIONS OF NATURE 

December 2013

 

Chill December brings the sleet,
Blazing fire and Christmas treat

Winter sunshine on Old Man's Beard

 We didn’t have sleet in our part of Essex, but we certainly had storms, hail, flooding and torrential rain. Many parts of Britain suffered terribly with raging seas, sections of cliff and beaches destroyed, winds that tore down trees, and in numerous places people were left without electricity, sometimes for days – for them, there was no ‘Christmas treat’. On the plus side, the weather was extraordinarily mild with temperatures often in the low 50s F.

Starling and Great Tit on the garden feeeder

December 1st revealed a gloomy, grey day, though the sun broke through the cloud for a while in the afternoon. The feeders in the garden attracted blackbirds, house sparrows, starlings and wood pigeons. The following day a magpie came down to eat from a feeding dish, tempted by the cheese that we had put out. Magpies regularly nest in the oak tree across the road from the garden, and no doubt it was one of those. There were also starlings, dunnock, house sparrows and great tits in the garden. December 4th – it was interesting to see that a robin and a blue tit seemed to be going round together; firstly they shared the feeder and then they sat close together in the apple tree. On December 4th yet another storm swept through the country; again many trees were blown down. It looks as though the country is going through a series of storms – there was a major one at the end of October which brought down thousands of trees, and this one seems bad, too. Many parts of Britain were flooded. The day dawned with a vivid pink sky and ended with a very low, large crescent moon. December 6th – there were three blue tits in the apple tree, coming down to the feeders, as well as a dunnock and blackbird.

Blue Tit

Collared Doves

 
The 7th of the month brought collared doves, wood pigeon, a pair of blackbirds, three great tits, three blue tits, sparrows, starling, dunnock and a grey squirrel. A flock of approximately 100 rooks flew overhead to a roost at dusk. On the 9th a really thick mist enveloped everything, making the trees appear as shadows through the gloom. The wood pigeons were gorging the seed on the feeder; on the 11th there were three of them gulping it down.

Wood Pigeon

Starling



Grey Squirrel

December 12th brought a grey squirrel into the garden but for once it ignored the feeders. Instead it crammed a large apple into its mouth and carried it off. Later tough, a squirrel came down to the nuts. It was slightly colder than of late, and there were sparrows and wood pigeons in the garden. On the 13th a wood pigeon noticed me as it was on the feeder, and ‘froze’, sitting immobile for several minutes in the hope that I wouldn’t spot it. All the wood pigeons are extremely nervous, the slightest noise or movement causes them to clumsily fly off with loudly clapping wings. It’s getting colder again, and the starling, tits and other birds are coming back.

 

Fallow deer race across a meadow

Greylag geese in flight

Canada Geese

This gull appeared to be wearing a Walkman!



Mute Swan

 December 14th was a beautiful, sunny day with plenty of blue sky, and we went to Hatfield Forest near Bishop’s Stortford.  On the journey, a few miles away from the entrance, we saw four fallow deer running across a field, silhouetted against the sky – a beautiful sight. We also saw a couple of grey squirrels along the roadside verges. On the lake in the forest were over a hundred Canada geese – I have never seen so many there before. There were also many greylags. Other birds around included mallards, black headed gulls and coots. One of the black headed gulls appeared to be wearing a Walkman - the black head had mouted into a line and spot, rather than just the usual splodge! Fallen trees and branches from the storm were still in evidence; the rangers had of course cleared anything likely to be hazardous, but it was still evident that damage had been done. There is an excellent mistletoe crop this year, and I saw that several of the trees bore enormous clumps. We also noticed a tree with a mixed flock of rooks and jackdaws.

A Good Year for Mistletoe

 

Rooks and Jackdaws Roosting in a Tree Together



Starling



The 18th, yet again, was very windy, with storms forecast, although the wind died out in the late evening in our area. In a small nearby shopping precinct, there was a wood pigeon and a magpie together in a tree. The following day brought thunder, lightning and a hailstorm, and on the 20th the temperature had dropped enough to ice over car windscreens. The sun soon broke through to give a bright day, however, and the golden yellow winter jasmine looked beautiful with the sunlight reflecting on its petals. Collared doves, wood pigeons, house sparrows, tits, dunnock and all the usual birds came down to feed. In the evening the wind increased a lot. On the following day once more there were many birds at the feeders. It was the shortest day, so now we can begin to look forward to lighter evenings.



House Sparrows on the Pyracantha

 Yet again the winds and storm came back with a vengeance - the 23rd of December brought flooding in many areas of the country and high winds were forecast for the next fortnight. On the 24th, a magpie was down on the feeder after the cheese, it’s probably the same one who braves the garden. At lunchtime there was sudden hailstorm which didn’t last very long but briefly made the bushes and the roof of the conservatory white, and in the evening there was a beautiful sunset. A robin was in full song on the 26th, warbling from the apple tree and the following day the birds in the garden included starlings, house sparrows, blackbird, blue tit, wood pigeons and robin. It was still fairly mild and a rose was in bloom.

 

Magpie on the feeder

December Sunset

House Sparrow Line Up



Male Blackbird

There was a frosty start on the 29th, but it wasn’t heavy. There were magpies and wood pigeons in the oak tree across the road, and a squirrel paid our garden a visit. There were also several sparrows and a dunnock. The next day saw blue sky – we are certainly having plenty of sunny days this month, alongside the storms and heavy rain – and the sparrows were dominating the feeders. The final day of December was threatened with a storm, but it didn’t materialise in our area. A robin and a blackbird were both singing lustily, and the squirrel was around the garden. The year ended with a lovely sunset which suffused the sky with pink.

 This has been a rather topsy-turvy year – a cold, very wet spring which appeared after a mild false start that had lulled the birds into nesting. Consequently, many early broods failed, which may well have especially affected such species as blue and great tits who tend to have one brood a year. The cold, gloomy weather limped on – and then July changed into a glorious month of sunshine and warmth, continuing right through till September and giving us a magnificent butterfly summer. It was excellent for dragonflies too. Peacock butterflies seemed to be everywhere, and later they were joined by small tortoiseshells and commas. However, red admirals were conspicuous by their absence – or, at lease, very low numbers.  Ladybird numbers seemed to be down too, certainly in my part of Essex. Towards the end of October came the storms and the flooding, and even in areas that weren’t near rivers or the sea, water poured off the land leaving roads flooded, and many grassy areas turned into mud.

Winter Jasmine in the Sunshine

 I’m pleased that I managed to keep a nature blog for the whole of 2013. Hopefully I will be able keep it up for 2014 too!