SKYLARK SUE’S REFLECTIONS OF NATURE

SEPTEMBER 2014

 

An exciting garden visitor this month!
 

This turned out to be a very dry month – in fact, it has been the driest September in the UK since records began in 1910, with exceptionally low rainfall for many parts of the country.

House sparrows gathering on the pyracantha as usual

Hoverfly

The 1st of the month, however, was damp and chilly, though the following day changed to being both warm and sunny. There were dozens of sparrows in the garden and a jay in the oak tree across the road. Back to dampness and gloomy weather for the 4th; it was a really depressing day, but over the next few days the weather improved. On the 5th the garden played hosts to long tailed tits, blue tits, great tits, sparrows, collared doves and a robin, as well as a small white butterfly.

Robin contemplating whether to bathe

Small tortoiseshell butterfly

6th September was another day of sightings, including five long tailed tits, a magpie in our apple tree, and red admiral, small tortoiseshell and white butterflies. There were also three frogs around the garden and a baby newt in the pond. The following day there were still plenty of birds and red admiral and white butterflies. On a trip to the garden centre I noticed an enormous hornet but it didn’t settle long enough for a photo. We realised that we hadn’t seen any starlings in the garden lately, but hopefully they will soon be back. They are so full of character that they seem to liven up the garden.

 

Reflections in the lake at Hatfield Forest

 

Mallards

 

Coot

 

House Martins swoop above the trees

 

Large toadstools

 



Red Darter



 

Red Darter

 





 

 

 

 

 

The next day we went to Hatfield Forest, near Bishop’s Stortford. There were plenty of mallards on the lake, so it seems that many of the ducklings we saw earlier in the year had survived. There were a few dragonflies around, red common darters. One was floating on a leaf in the river. There was a flock of house martens over the lake, swooping for insects, but I would imagine they will be leaving for warmer climes soon. The trees are only just beginning to turn to their autumn colours here, but they looked beautiful reflected in the calm water. A few coots were around, but no geese. Many bushes were laden with berries, there will be a good crop this year – the rose hips were beautiful. On the grassland we noticed some very large toadstools, and we also have some, slightly smaller, fungi in the garden.

 

Red darter resting on a leaf in the water

This toadstool was growing at the end of the garden beneat some shrubs



Red Admiral

Blue Tit

 

White butterfly and bees

 

September 8th was very hot and sunny, more like a mid-summer day. All the usual birds, including long tailed tits, blue tits and, of course, wood pigeons were around as well as the red admirals and white butterflies.

Reed Bed at Wicken Fen

 



Squirrel attempting to get into the feeder

Greenfinches and sparrows

 

 

Muntjac

Muntjac

 

 

Collared Dove

 

 

Red Darter

 

Common Lizard

 

 

 

 

 

Moorhen

A visit to Wicken Fen, Cambridge, on the 12th was enjoyable, with plenty of sightings, amongst them several common lizards sunning themselves along the boardwalk. We also saw a muntjac deer from one of the hides, maybe hoping for scraps from the feeders as it was gazing hopefully upwardsThis was another hot and sunny day, and other birds included moorhen, collared doves, chaffinches, greenfinches and great tits.  There was a grey squirrel on one of the feeders, frustratedly trying to reach the nuts through the clear plastic. Dragonflies, small tortoiseshells and white butterflies were along the trails, while on the way home we noticed both buzzards and kestrels along the motorway (M11). In the garden were long tailed tits, and also a rather large spider!

 

 

 

 



Garden Spider



Small Tortoiseshell

 

 

 

Long-tailed Tits and Great Tit

 



Bee on the Sedum



 

Sparrow on the ball fountain

 

 



Long-tailed Tits

The following day about a dozen long tailed tits invaded the garden, settling on the feeders. It was a lovely sight – these dainty birds with their delicate grey/pink colouring and overlong tails definitely flit rather than fly! There were blue and great tits, woodpigeons, sparrows and a robin, too. We even had a female chaffinch which is quite a rarity for us, as there don’t seem to be many chaffinches – or indeed, other kinds of finches – in our area. We rarely get a goldfinch, and though sometimes we hear greenfinches we don’t see them. In the 1970s we used to have many finches, even on occasion, bullfinches, but sadly that is a thing of the past.

 

Chiff-chaff



Chiff-chaff

Chiff-chaffs

The sightings for the next few days were all of our usual garden birds, but on the 17th we had something of a red letter day when we were visited by three chiffchaffs, flitting amongst the crab apples. Also that day I spotted at least six long tailed tits, as well as blue and great tits, on the fat blocks and the nuts.



Corncockle

 

Great Tit



Jay

There was also a handsome visitor the following day, in the shape of a jay who was helping itself to some peanuts in their shells that we had put out. It managed to force two or three into its crop before flying off – no doubt there will be a peanut plantation next year if it forgets where it has hidden them!  The colouring of the great tits is particularly bold at the moment, with thick black bibs. A few months ago I sent off for a free packet of wild flower seeds from Country File - it mostly contained corncockles, which I think are beautiful. However the seeds have caused rather a furore, with the press fanning a 'these plants are highly poisonous' campaign. Yet they have ben part of Britain's flora for thousands of years. That night there was a thunderstorm.

Collared Dove



Blue Tits

 




Bathing Sparrows

The jay was back again the following morning, and from then on appeared most mornings, obviously watching, presumably from the oak tree across the road, and swooping down as soon as the monkey nuts were placed in the dish. A magpie came down too, as well as blackbirds, wood pigeons and blue tits, while plenty of sparrows were bathing in the fountain, queuing up for a place. The warm weather was encouraging the insects, too – white butterflies, some large bees and plenty of spiders. We noticed on the 20th September that a magpie was following the jay’s example and taking the monkey nuts too. Interestingly, the jay is wary of magpies and wood pigeons, but ignores the collared doves. On the 21st, there were two jays in the garden, as well as the magpies, wood pigeons and tits.

The jay seemes to be becoming a regular visitor



Feral Pigeons on a roof at Christchurch Marina



Cobwebs on the grass
 

Red Deer on the heath



Fungi growing on a rotten fallen tree

Fungi on the woodland floor



New Forest Ponies at Bolderwood




New Forest Ponies near Millyford Bridge

Donkey



New Forest near Millyford

Also on the 21st I went to Christchurch, Dorset, for a couple of days and noticed that there were hundreds of feral pigeons around the harbour there. They were roosting on one of the roofs tight near the water. I also saw common gulls, swans, coot and mallards. The following day, spent in the New Forest, revealed several red deer on the heathland, as well as ponies, donkeys and cattle all grazing alongside the roads and in the woodlands.  Some of the grass was dusted with cobwebs sparkling from the morning mist, so beautiful. There were various fungi around the woodland near Millyford Bridge, but not as much as I’ve seen in previous years.



Mudeford

Magnificent Starling on Mudeford Quay

Later, a visit to Mudeford harbour showed numerous gulls in the shallows on the sandbanks, as well as a particularly handsome starling who perched on a rail near me for some time. Its winter coat was sparkling in the sun – when you study a starling closely, you realise that it is one of our most beautiful birds.  This one was a symphony of green, purple and bronze, arrow-tipped with white.

 

Michaelmas Daisy - the flower of autumn

Plenty of insects still around



Long-Tailed Tits

By the 26th the garden was beginning to look more like autumn, with a display of purple and mauve Michaelmas daisies. They were attracting plenty of insects including bees and white butterflies. Wood pigeons, sparrows and blue tits were around too. On the 28th, the garden seemed very busy, with jays, a small flock of long tailed tits, blue tits, great tits, blackbird, dunnock, sparrows, collared dove, wood pigeons, and a bathing robin. Goldfinches could be heard in the oak tree, though sadly didn’t venture across to the garden despite the niger and teasels. And a buzzard soared overhead, another good sighting this month.  On the last day of September a female blackbird with a moulting head visited. She looked very scruffy; actually, she has been around the past week or so. I assume the scruffiness is due to moult, and hope it isn’t because she has mites or has been plucked. The long-tailed tits were around, too.

 



Moulting Blackbird



 



Buzzard high overhead!



 

Most of the garden birds enjoy bathing in the ball fountain

The Met Office has revealed that from the 1st to 28th September, the UK has only received 19.4mm of rainfall - 20% of the normal amount expected for the month. Before this, the driest September on record was in 1959 with 23.8 mm. It has also been the fourth warmest September for over 100 years, with the mean temperature settling around 13.9C - 1.2C higher than normal. So, what will October bring?

Our colourful garden visitor