Sparrowhawks don't always succeed

As I walked alongside the field adjacent to the barns at Frog Lane Farm the other day there was quite a commotion as about six swallows were seen chasing a Sparrowhawk! The tiny birds were clearly acting together, diving at the much larger bird to chase it away from their nesting area and it was doing its best to dodge them. They were all  twisiting and turning in the air, just above the ground and eventually the Sparrowhawk landed on the ground in the middle of the field as if exhausted. Instead of giving up though, the Swallows continued to dive bomb it and so it had no choice but to take off again, with the Swallows still in hot pursuit. It finally landed in a small ash sapling in the hedge boundary and after circling the tree, the Swallows finally returned to catching insects in the air.
If only I had my camera with me, it was a really exciting sight and good to know the smaller birds do sometimes have the upper hand!

Bees at Barrington Court

A couple of weekends ago I spent a fascinating afternoon with an expert in bees, learning how to identify different Bumble Bees. First we had to catch some, which we did use sampling bottles and carefully approaching the bees, which were busy gathering pollen from the cat mint in the gardens.

Then we were shown how to decide if they were male or females. The latter having an obvious point at the tail end of the body. Also, only the females collect pollen, so they are the only ones with pollen baskets on their legs! When they have been busy these get very full and are quite obvious.

To decide which group of bees they belonged to you then looked at the tail colour, white, buff or orange.
We also had to decide if they were true Bumble bees or cuckoo bees. The cuckoo bees do not collect pollen and their leg is coverd in thick hair, whereas the true Bumble bee has a shiny pollen sac.
I think I still need more practice, but I was amazed at how easy it was to catch them and then apply some id steps.For more info have a look at http://bumblebeeconservation.org/about-bees/identification/top-tips-for-bee-id/

Gold on Blue

One  morning recently I saw the bright yellow flash of a Goldfinch as it flew into our garden. It alighted on the head of some blue cornflowers and on closer inspection I realised there were a "charm" of at least four all feeding on the seed heads. So much for Niger seed feeders!  The cornflowers appeared in the garden a few years ago having sown themselves, perhaps from the birdseed and gradually spread along the border adjacent to a leylandii hedge. Nothing else has grown there successfully as it is rather dry, so the splash of blue in spring and often a further flowering later in the year has meant, despite their somewhat untidy appearance I have left them to flourish.  I am pleased I did as it is lovely to see these beautiful birds in the garden!

Swan Family

Somerset Levels

On a field trip to the Ham Wall and Shapwick reserves yesterday, the weather was kind and we had great views of Bittern, Great White Egret, Marsh Harrier and this delightful swan family! which was not amused as the local herd of highland cattle approached from one direction and our group came from the other. After trying unsuccessfully to head off the cattle, they walked towards us and then crossed the path and led their cygnets back to the water.

 

Magical evening

I took a walk on the one dry,calm evening this week and at one point I stood listening to three different Song Thrushes singing loudly from their different high spots. They seemed to be competing to see which could make the loudest and most complicated sound and it was lovely to hear.

A few Swallows swooped around me and I saw a shy deer watching me from a gateway. Something spooked it and it ran across the field and back again to disappear into the long grass. As I crossed the field I noticed a number of wild orchids.

Next I was delighted to see a Barn Owl quartering some fields and as the light dimmed I heard the sound of young Tawny Owls calling their parents with their wispy squeak. After patiently waiting I saw movement near the field boundary and as I crossed toward a stile, I saw two fluffy babies and an adult altogether in one tree.

Time to start to head for home and I entered another field and followed the footpath uphill near . Turning to look back I spotted another (or maybe the same one?) Barn Owl in the air. Amazing, I have never seen one in the parish before and now I get two sightings in one evening! Magic!

As I walked back home along the lane in the gloom Bats were swooping between the hedgerows greedily catching insects, which have been in short supply during the cold,damp weather we have been experiencing for what seems like weeks now. This is bad news for much of our wildlife as no insects mean the young birds will suffer and the bees aren't pollinating the flowers. Let's hope summer comes soon!

House martins at last!

The arrival of the House Martins has been late this year in the village and even the Swifts beat them! This week they have been swooping over the newly mown fields, including the school sports field, and have been seen making their mud nests or taking up residence in specially erected nests on local houses. I have still not seen evidence of the Swallows returning to their nests in the church porch, although there were a pair hawking for insects over the graveyard one morning, so perhaps they will still make an attempt. I'll keep watching!

Wildflowers in SSW now include masses of Yellow Rattle, ox-eye daisies and some beautiful Foxgloves along the bank by the steps. The May blossom has been beautiful in frothy white and pink but as we enter June it will begin to fade,so here is a reminder from the edge of the "Humpty Dumpty field"!

 

Buzzard nest update

Those who came on the Combe dawn chorus in April may recall we glimpsed a Buzzard sitting on a nest near Combe Wood Lane. One morning this week I thought I would see how they were faring and at first glance with the trees now fully clothed in leaves I thought they had disappeared. However after patiently waiting for a while I heard the unmistakable "mewing" sound and then an adult flew into the tree close to where the nest was hidden. I guess it was taking in food for the young, so they must have had a successful season. With the controversy earlier in the week of DEFRA first announcing they were going to allow birds at the nest to be shot to protect pheasant poults which had been reared for shoots, then rescinding the order, it is worth noting that Buzzards feed mainly on rabbits and carrion. They will take young birds, but are not usually fast enough to take them from the air and rely instead on the element of surprise, by dropping on them on the ground from a perch or high branch. Compared with the number of Buzzards, the huge number of pheasants reared for sport far outnumber them!