karen's country calendar

Having not had a suitable opportunity earlier I decided I'd better get on with a bird count this morning although being a very dreary misty day I wasn't very hopeful. So 10am I sat down in the Conservatory and waited,   within 30 secs a single long tailed tit appeared followed shortly by a robin and blackbird. Then nothing for about 30 mins. Very frustrating as I could bird song in the trees.  Then a gold finch decided to have a quick feed on the sunflower hearts  and a little while after, a greenfinch followed suit.   At the back of the garden I had put out some apples and sprinkled some seed on the ground and eventually a woodpigeon, collared dove and blackbird found them.  I also spotted a dunnock hopping about in the trees above plus a few more woodpigeons. Just before I finished 3 gold finches appeared on the feeders and a bluetit briefly landed on one of them too..  so totals as follows: wood pigeon 4 collared dove 2 dunnock...

Despite being rather dull and overcast although not particularly unpleasant, we decided to visit Slimbridge Wetland Centre as we were in the area and hadn't been for many many years. I was quite surprised how many people were there including many carrying telescopes and long lens cameras and others set up in the numerous hides who provided valuable information and identification tips. I managed to add quite a number of species to this years bird list including Bewicks swan for which Slimbridge is well known, teal and pintail ducks and various waders comprising curlew, ruff, golden plover and snipe. There were also a few cranes in evidence plus various tits at the feeding stations.  an inquisitive robin same robin looking rather puffed up    Bewick swan teal pintail preening    spot the snipe - two of them   blue tit

A bright crisp morning and an invitation to join the Coopers for a walk at Fen Drayton provided a good start to my bird list for 2017!    The usual ducks and grebes were present together with numerous blue and great tits at a newly installed feeding station.  A track with a regular supply of bird seed scattered on it was busy with greenfinches, yellow hammers and reed buntings. Unfortunately few  photos possible due to distance of birds and accompanying small children!! Two cygnets from last year.    Future bird watchers!   Birds seen this year so far are blackbird, song thrush, robin, chaffinch,  blue tit great tit, dunnock, starling, wood pigeon, collared dove, yellowhammer, greenfinch, reed bunting, magpie, crow, jackdaw, barn owl, buzzard, kestrel, fieldfare, redwing,  mallard, moorhen, coot, shoveler, goldeneye,  pochard, tufted duck, great crested grebe, little grebe, mute swan, cormorant, variou...

A dry December day and a visit  by my sister provided the opportunity to visit Welney.   Although not particularly sunny, there was no wind and it was quite pleasant for a walk. Most of the birds were seen from the hide just across the wooden bridge and included whooper and  mute swans, greylag and canada geese, a variety of ducks including mallard, teal, shovelers wigeon, pochard and shelducks,  large  numbers of black tailed godwits and lapwings.  Other waders included redshanks, a snipe and possibly a little stint though difficult to identify.  We were also treated to a sighting of a whinchat on the reeds and a kingfisher perching in a tree viewed from the restaurant.  Whooper Swan    Whooper swan with greylag goose, lapwing and flock of black tailed godwits.    pair of mallards    lapwing    wigeon    distant view of snipe by fence post and ? li...

Whilst searching on line for butterfly hot spots in Cambridgeshire I stumbled across a Hertfordshire site and suddenly realised that Therfield Heath near Royston was actually only a 25 minutes easy drive from home.  So today being hot and sunny I decided to pop over and see what I could spot.   Therfield Heath is largely used as a golf course so I took a chalky looking path around the edge, I was disappointed when all I saw were a couple of whites but decided I would just enjoy the walk over the heath and the clear views all around. On the way back  I suddenly saw a tiny flutter of blue and watched for a few minutes until it settled but its wings were quickly closed which didn't help much with identification.  As I watched, it spread its rather tatty looking wings and I managed a quick but rather blurry photo before it flew off, However, this was enough to positively identify it as a Chalkhill Blue for which Therfield Heath is ...

A few sunny days and an opportunity to go further afield meant I could go butterfly spotting!  Sites visited included Bedford Purlieus Wood , apparently known to be one of the best butterfly habitats in Cambridgeshire, Brampton Wood and Grafham Water and aslso a day out to Lakenheath Fen. Bedford Purlieus, once we found the way in, provided a wide variety of species including the tropical looking Silver Washed Fritillary which is actually orange, and a rare sighting of the dainty White Letter Hairstreak!  Similar species were seen at Brampton Wood but it was the Purple Hairstreak we saw there, fluttering high up in a oak tree! We saw most of the common butterflies again at Grafham Water including a couple of Painted Ladies, my first sighting of the year!  Finally at Lakenheath Fen, there were  large numbers of Red Admirals and Peacocks and a couple of Small Tortoishells which have been lacking in recent weeks according to the Butterfly Conservation website. ...

The track leading down the Drift is in desperate need of mowing - not good for my hayfever! The wheat is turning from green to gold and the rape pods are filling out, not long till harvest. Very few butterflies at the moment, either too cloudy, windy or too wet to walk along the field edge.  Just a handful of whites, the odd meadow brown and one red admiral noted recently.   Did see a lot of young swallows the other day, swooping over the fields and saw a buzzard mewing overhead.  Drift pathway Wheatfield