Report from the Arctic Circle!

We have recently returned from spending two weeks wildlife watching in Finland and Norway, including  a few days in Lapland, which is in the Arctic Circle, where, though Santa Claus was not spotted, lots of reindeer were! There was still plenty of ice and snow around and they were very adept at splaying their large feet whilst crossing the frozen lakes.

Reindeer on the ice

It is interesting to note that the reindeer roaming free are actually nearly all domesticated and owned by someone, just like the ponies on Dartmoor. They are an important source of income for local people and twice a year they are rounded up and many are sent to market as a major meat  source. 
It is a harsh landscape and many of the lakes were still frozen when we arrived in mid May.
The resulting scenery was beautiful but temperatures were often around freezing and required a number of layers to combat the chill factor.

Frozen lakes just beginning to thaw

The vegetation was mainly coniferous forests, with birch and aspen to the south and there were only 3  wild flowers species seen in the two weeks we were there,  something that was a great contrast with the colourful verges we welcomed on our return to the UK. 

Coltsfoot

We were however lucky to see some fantastic wildlife sights, including five different species of  Owls, 

Tengmalm's Owl

Pygmy Owl

and an extraordinary sight of a gull catching and flying off with a Razorbill dangling from its beak! (The poor bird actually escaped and lived to tell the tale).

Gull with Razorbill in its grip!

We had very close views of a "crazy" Capercaillie which tried to attack us as we stood by our minibus whilst admiring it. Our guide had to brandish a conifer branch to stop it drawing blood!

Crazy Capercaillie

Probably the most beautiful bird we were lucky to see though was the Bluethroat which entertained us with its song whilst perched out in the open, which it only really does in the breeding season. What a privilege!                                                                                        

Bluethroat

So, all in all, a great holiday with lots of memories and too many photos to share in this blog, but hopefully this provides a taste of the things you might expect on a trip to the Arctic Circle in the spring.                                                                                                                                  

Amazingly when we left Finland it was 21C and when we returned to London it was only 7C so, whilst it was cold at times, it was warmer than any of us expected and the lakes had nearly all melted by the end of the holiday.

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Garden bird feeders are still popular with the birds!

Despite the increase in the amount of natural food for the birds, especially insects, since the weather has warmed up, the garden bird feeders are still attracting plenty of birds.
My feeders have seen Bullfinches, Greenfinches  Blue  Great and Coal tits, as well as the not so welcome Jackdaws and Rooks.

Male Bullfinch

Male Bullfinch

Greenfinches

So, do keep feeding the birds, many of which will now be either feeding partners or young, so they need all the help you can give. Remember though, remove the nets on fat balls as small claws can easily get caught and cause much distress.
Apologies that the pictures are not very good as the closest I could get was a view through the kitchen window as these shy birds, especially Bullfinches, have been persecuted for many years for taking buds from fruit trees and are therefore easily spooked.

Evening strolls are a good time for mammal watching around Combe

Last night, at around 8.30pm, I set off to deliver a Chard Museum  newsletter to someone in Whiteway and  as I passed the footpath entrance on the right, adjacent to Whiteway Cottage I glanced down the path and saw a young badger walking towards me. It made its way behind the cottage and I went up to the gateway to see if I could get  a better view. Whether it heard me or something else spooked it , it suddenly dashed back across the path and through the hedge.
As I returned from my delivery I paused at the gateway to the field into which the badger had disappeared and saw it scuttling along the hedge line right under the noses of the Shetland pony and horse which live there! 

Tonight, on another evening stroll, a friend and I went along Greenway, where we saw a fleeting view of at least one Whitethroat and heard a snatch of its scratchy song.We then went down to Clayhanger and saw a couple of deer in the Woolhayes fields, calmly eating grass, though obviously aware of our presence.

Plenty of rabbits were also out foraging in the grass and if I go out again in the evening I must remember to take my camera!

Swifts arriving for summer

The warmer weather has turned the brown hedgerows to green in the space of a week and the countryside looks really fresh and bright at last.

Cowslips are in full bloom in SSW this week and very lovely they look too!

Even more exciting though was the first Swift of the summer which flew over our house on Tuesday evening as I sat in our conservatory. Let's hope they locate their previous nests under the eaves in some of the village houses and have a successful year.

These birds have been in decline and the RSPB are encouraging people to enter their sightings online as well as recording nest sites to find out about their lives to try and help them survive. So if you think you have them nesting under your eaves or in a box you have erected, please let them know by going here

 

 

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Woodland walk near Chaffcombe

 This morning I was lucky enough to be invited on a walk through a private woodland near Chaffcombe. Although the weather was not sunny it was quite mild and the birds were singing enthusiastically, including Nuthatches, Chiffchaff, Coal Tits, Wrens, Robins and Song thrush as well as drumming Great Spotted Woodpeckers.
The main reason for the walk was to see the beautiful spread of Bluebells, but unfortunately they were barely out and the colour not as dramatic as we had hoped for.
Nevertheless there were a good number of other spring woodland flowers to be seen in this remnant of ancient woodland, as well as unusual lichen and fungi, and I have added a few photos here to demonstrate the variety.

Primroses amongst the wild garlic

Early Purple Orchid

Herb Paris

Toothwort

Wood Sorrel

Wood Anemone

Lungwort (Lichen)

Unusual fungi known as Alfred's cakes, with their "burnt offering" appearance,  which grow on dead trees

Alfred's cakes on an ash branch

Close up of Alfred's cakes

Nearby the wood there was a lovely area with Cowslips in full bloom, the first I have seen this year.

Lastly, whilst there were no butterflies on the wing today there was a very unusual "caterpillar"- what a way to end a truly lovely spring woodland walk!

Green woodpecker in the garden

As work continues at mum's (the bathroom project has proved trickier than expected) I am still relying on spotting birds in her back garden when I can't be spared  to go out for a walk. Still, luckily as mum has always fed "her" birds on a variety of food, from live mealworms to nuts and seed to fat balls, she attracts a good variety of birds too. She has recently had a male Blackcap feeding on the seed feeder and today, though not eating the food provided,  I was pleased to see a beautiful Green woodpecker just over the fence in a tree in her neighbours' garden. I suspect it had been attracted to the newly mown lawns as the ants, its favourite food, would be easier to  find. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me so got no photos on this occasion. Never mind, perhaps next time.
The funny thing is that on Saturday we went on a field trip to Arne RSPB reserve in Dorset and we kept hearing Green woodpeckers yaffling but we never got a sighting. Obviously we should have stayed in Combe!

Bluebells at last?

Bluebell in Scrapton Lane

After the excitement of seeing the first swallows in the parish and noting on the 14 th April both swallows and field fare as I walked across the field at Polerue, (something I do not recall happening before, as the latter should have keft for their breeding ground in Scandinavia before the former arrive for the summer) I was on the look out for my first Bluebell. At last, on the 17 th I spotted a very poor specimen in Scrapton Lane on the verge.

Perhaps the warmer weather that finally arrived this weekend, faltered on Sunday/Monday and reached the dizzy heights of 19C today means it will be joined by more soon.

Farmers have been busy muck spreading and rolling the grass pastures since the weather has been dry and very neat they look too!

 

Rolled fields between Stantway and Combe Wood Lane

 

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