Red Kites over Combe!

As my sister sat on our patio on Saturday morning waiting for me to bring out tea she heard a louder than usual noise being made by some rooks overhead. I stepped out as she shouted "Red kite" and we realised the noise was due to a Red Kite being mobbed by Rooks who were not amused as it glided through their territory. Whilst I have seen Red Kite many times before, I have only seen one in Somerset once, over Neroche, some years ago and this was the first one for my parish list! It drifted by, hardly flapping its wings and treating the rooks with some disdain before heading off westwards. Unfortunately I didn't get my camera out fast enough to get a picture but this is one that shows the view we had very well.

Baby birds everywhere!

Walking past the school sports field one morning I noticed a large number of brown birds feeding in the long grass. Whilst there were some Blackbirds also gathering worms, these were behaving differently and on closer inspection I realised that they were all young Starlings. Instead of the usual black with purple sheen of the adult birds the hound are brown and quite spotty and if you are not familiar with them you could be forgiven for wondering what they are. See a picture here: Adults of many birds such as Blue Tits, Greenfinches and Nuthatches, are busy gathering food and when the young are hungry and see their parents nearby they flutter their wings and squeak as they beg for food. Blue Tits are nesting in nest-box 4 in SSW and both parents are dashing back and forth with caterpillars and grubs for their young in an exhausting way and are beginning to look quite feather worn. As they lay 10-12 eggs, it is a lot of mouths to feed if they are all to survive to fledgling stage!

Fox on the prowl

Getting up earlier than usual on Monday, I had the time for a longer walk before work and I headed off to try and find my first Whitethroat of the year. In previous years I have usually had sightings along Greenway, but despite standing and listening for their scratchy song I was not lucky. Having failed along the lane I headed across the fields between Greenway and Whiteway, colourfully covered in buttercups and clover and humming with insects. On reaching the road I headed back towards the village and glancing through a field gate I stopped to watch the sheep and lambs happily feeding in the early morning sun. It was then I noticed a dark shape crossing the field and through my binoculars, realised it was a vixen fox. It completely ignored the sheep and they barely glanced at it as it calmly walked through the middle of the flock, only pausing to sniff the ground and leave a scent mark. Perhaps it had already fed and was on the way home to its den?

Tawny Owl encounter

After a week away in Portugal and then various other family and work commitments I returned on the 14th May to find the Swifts had returned to the village, albeit in small numbers as yet. A welcome sight even so as these harbingers of summer are wonderful to watch as they "scream" through the air so effortlessly.
The RSPB are asking for any sightings to be sent to them so they can build up a picture of their range and whether they are declining or not. http://www.rspb.org.uk/thingstodo/surveys/swifts/
The verges in the lanes around have grown very lush in all the rain we have been having and are now swathed in cow parlsey which looks just like lace and very pretty, if  a slight problem for driver,s as the view of the road is often obscured.
After being alerted by a friend to the possibility of a Tawny Owl fledgling being in the SSW I had a walk on Tuesday evening to see if I could find it. It had been on the ground and whilst it is tempting to pick them up and take them to a safe place, they should never be moved unless in obvious danger from traffic or predators. Thisn is because the young Tawny Owls will often leave the nest before they can fly and will engae in what is known as "branching" this is where they may fall to the ground unharmed, but then climb back up to the nest under the watchful eye of a parent. It is a way of exercising their wings before they take flight. The parents will watch their progeress and this will attracgt the interst of other birds who view it is a threat to their young. This is because Tawny Owls will takeother  young birds as food.
I followed my usual walk, up Stantway and into the fileds via the footpath behind CME. As I approached there were loud chinking calls which signify the alarm calls of a number of Blackbirds and sure enough, when I peered through the hedge I could see an adult Tawny Owl sitting in a low bush. It flew off as I walked on and then when as I entered SSW from the track off of Combe Wood Lane, the Blackbirds were calling again. After watching and listening I finally located  both a young fledgling and the parent bird sitting in two adjacent trees in the old rectory garden.
My photos are not very good as I could not, and indeed would not, approach too close, as I did not want to disturb them but it is great to know though that they are about!

Watchful parent Tawny Owl

Fluffy Fledgling Tawny Owl

Sunshine and birdsong

After a wet few days it was a delight to go out for my usual morning walk in the sunshine. Many birds were singing from high spots on the trees and hedges, or we're busy collecting food for young and at least one Great tit in SSW was gathering feathers for nesting material. The grass in the fields alongside Park Lane,(which is the footpath that runs between Stantway and Combe Wood Lane, and so named because it used to be a deer park) have grown since the sheep were removed recently and the daisies and grasses have appeared. Today this attracted some beautiful Linnets, which flew down from the overgrown hedge (great for cover) and were taking full advantage of the grass seeds. The males with their pink ,streaky breasts and chestnut backs looked very handsome. Whilst I stood still, in the shadow of the hedge watching them, I also noted Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Great Spotted woodpecker, House Sparrows, Blue tit, Great Tit and Blackbirds. SSW was also alive with the sound of birds, a scolding Wren, Nuthatches, Jackdaws and Chiffchaff all very busy. Such a pity I have got to spend most of the rest of the day in front of a computer screen working!

April showers and more signs of spring

This week we have had true April seasonal weather of wind and heavy showers with hail and thunder and lightening thrown in for good measure! The spring migrants have continued to arrive in small numbers, including swallows appearing in ones and two, such as the one on the wires at the top of Stantway, chattering to itself on Monday morning. As yet I have not seen any House Martins in the village, but on a trip to the Levels on the 14th I saw plenty, together with swallows and sand martins and the first, early swift, hawking low over the flooded areas on Sahpwick and Ham Wall reserves. Numerous Blackcaps are now singing every morning when I walk across the fields between Stantway and Combe Wood Lane.Such a lovely fluty sound and the males look so smart with their trim black caps which give them their name,even though the females have brown caps! Goldfinches are appearing on garden feeders as well as still trying to feed on the last of the remaining ash keys in the trees in SSW. Blue tits are busy taking food into nesting boxes to feed their young and I just hope the cold weather doesn't kill off the babies. pairs of linnets are sitting atop the hedge lines , the males showing off their pink chests to the females before launching into the air with their bouncy flight. The bluebells in the SSW are now being joined by the first of the campions as they unfurl into their vivid pink blooms and in the verges, the stitch wort looks like there has been a sprinkling of snow. Buzzards are taking advantage of the thermals at every opportunity but the rooks are quick to mob them if they drift near their rookeries. I counted around 40 nests in the Combe Wood rookery and what a racket the young make as the adults return to feed them! let's hope the weather improves in the next few days for us and the wildlife.

Bluebells, Cowslips and Jack by the Hedge

Despite the weather forecast for rain, the sun shone for most of the day and I had a very pleasant walk along Holland's Wash Drove, Gypsy Drove, through Combe Wood and across the fields back through SSW and home to Stantway. Bluebells are unfurling alongside Jack by the Hedge in the verges and the birds are singing loudly. The rookery in Combe Wood was very active with constant comings and goings and constant squabbles making a very noisy background soundtrack. Buzzards were soaring in the thermals and I also counted three sparrow hawks circling overhead. The first Cowslips were out in the SSW.