karen's country calendar

The day dawned quite foggy but with the promise of brighter weather to come, we set off for  Strumpshaw Fen in the hope of seeing  the rare Swallowtail butterfly.  Although the main month for sightings is June we had heard that there were already some about. On arrival we were told there had been some sightings the previous day so we were hopeful despite the slight breeze.  We wandered round the reserve, seeing plenty of ducks and a few other butterflies but no swallowtails in sight.  At lunchtime we took a break on  a seat on a boardwalk and then suddenly spotted a butterfly fly past and disappear over our heads. Was it or wasn't it?   We carried on round the reserve keeping our eyes peeled but no swallowtails.  Then just ahead of us by a garden of a house on the edge of a reserve we noticed a group of photographers, surely this must mean they had been spotted...  but as we got closer we saw one fly off into the dista...

Just an update to say that after the initial excitement, no further activity has been seen in either nest box so I assume they have been abandoned for this year.

A beautiful calm misty morning greeted us as we made our way to St Ives for our early morning wildlife watching boat trip on the River Great Ouse.  We met up with the remainder of the 12 passengers and boarded the electric powered boat with the aim of spotting as many different birds by sight or sound as we could.  I was given the job of official sightings recorder!  As we silently pulled away from the pontoon I soon had 20 birds on my list, with everyone calling out what they could see.  The weather was perfect with the mist rising from the river.  Passing by the reed beds we clearly picked out both the reed and sedge warbler, the latter easily identified with its eye stripe.   Someone spotted oyster catchers and a sparrow hawk flying over head and a kingfisher flew past though the traditional blue colours were not visible.  Some people did spot one later on.   The tally soon approached 40. Three types of gees...

Since yesterday I haven't noticed any activity in the front nest box but discovered it was another bluetit in the one on the garage.  This one has been extremely busy this morning. About 9am     12 noon

I happened to look out of my window this morning and spotted some birds on the feeders which I didn't immediately recognise.  Similar size to the goldfinch but colouring resembling a greenfinch but with black head,  I soon identified them as a pair of siskins - another tick for  my list!  Photos taken through window, hence not that clear.  Male siskin Female siskin   Also today I noticed a bluetit around the bird box to the front and then saw it pop in with a beakful of moss.  I quickly set up the camera monitor and saw there was already a layer covering the bottom of the box. Two weeks later than last year so hopefully may be more successful!    I also checked the  camera  in  the nest box on the garage and to my surprise noticed a couple of pieces of nesting  material on the floor of that so maybe we will have two nestcams to watch although I am not yet sure what bird is nesting in the garage...

The day promised to be one of blue skies and sunshine so at 9am we set off for the Suffolk Wildlife Trust nature reserve of Lackford Lakes hoping for a good day of birdwatching and photographs.  An hour later we parked and entered the visitor centre where we bought coffee and cake and sitting by the window we were immediately rewarded by sightings of Redpolls at the feeders - First tick off the list!  The warden told use where we might see various birds and what the routes were like- we were glad we bought our wellies! We decided to make a quick stop off to some feeders down the lane where it was reported tree sparrows had been seen but sadly not today although we were delighted to see a pair of Bullfinches in the hedge beside which was another new one for the year. Walking along the path we soon came across a photographer baiting a fallen tree stump with seed - he assured us that within minutes the log would be alive with little birds.  However two fairly tame mallar...

I don't often see woodpeckers in the garden so decided to record this great spotted woodpecker on video, strangely although taken through a window , the video came out clearer than the photos!