With generally dull and windy weather I have spent the last week tackling other projects for the most part. The gravel was all gone by the middle of the week leaving me with a basically blank canvas into which to landscape the pond but where to put all the soil that it will generate?
Now, Antony has had a ton pile of slate in his garden for at
least 18 months with a view to building a dry stone wall into which he will
cultivate ferns, mosses and the like but it will require back filling once
completed. As such a cunning plan was hatched and on Wednesday we set about
building said wall. Neither of us had
done anything like it before but five hours later we stood back and, to be
honest, marvelled at what we had achieved. Hopefully the pond digging phase for
my front garden will start in the coming days.
Some indoor projects on Thursday including wood cutting out
the front and at the end of the day two superb garden ticks were added with a Little
Egret and then a Great Northern Diver powering its way back towards the sea
from the Oulton direction. With 200
Wigeon and some Teal on the 29th and a Turnstone yesterday (4th)
it has been a good few days for the garden tally! I also managed to plant up some native trees behind the garage which I hope will get going soon.
A doctor taxi run on Friday saw the opportunity for a jaunt
afterwards to Filby Broad but it was absolutely howling and the light was
rubbish but amazingly our diligence paid off and the pair of Ferruginous Ducks
were found tucked in the closest corner.
Antony was very pleased to have at last seen this species.
Marsh Tits called as we walked back and a walk out the other way into Ormseby Little Broad added Red Admiral, Great White Egret and a female Goosander while a circuit from Rugg’s Lane was at the least refreshing in the wind although somewhat lacking in wildlife sightings although there was much evidence of Red Deer tracking through the fields and wet woodland. A male Marsh Harrier was using the wind to its full advantage. With the wind not letting up we abandoned the idea of St Benet’s Abbey and headed back.
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| Great White Egret |
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| Feeding marks from molluscs - I bet if I came back at night there would be Tree Slugs radulating! |
More garden time over the weekend revealed a few plump Steatoda nobilis while sorting out the stack of flower pots and after countless years in a pot the Monkey Puzzle is at long last in the ground. The sunset yesterday was wonderful.
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| Monkey Puzzle between the rotting Leylandii stumps and the first pondlet with some Marsh Sow Thistle already in place |
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| Coming along |
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| Steatoda nobilis - a very plum-black one |
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| Steatoda nobilis |
And so to today. The
two young male White-tailed Eagles lured me to Mickle Mere SWT after an early
breakfast but it was not to be and neither had been seen since early the previous
morning and would seem to have moved on.
Not that I could get into the hide which was packed shoulder to shoulder with lenses so I did not linger long and drove the local lanes checking around some of the
other arable areas in which they had been seen but only found a few Red-legged
Partridges and two probably very relieved Red Kites. Several fields were liberally scattered with
Fieldfares.
I opted for a fluid journey home and randomly turned off and
firstly followed a brown sign to Knettishall
Heath SWT and enjoyed an hour figure of eight circuit that took me through the
heath. Despite the wind I thought that
I could hear Woodlark out on the heath and was delighted to find two quite
obliging pairs politely but very vocally sorting out territorial boundaries
with strident calls and some intermittent singing. They all had particularly perky crests when
on the ground.
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| Woodlark |
Mistle Thrush and Robin song cut through the wind and once back in the Birches I picked up a couple of Marsh Tits, Long-tails and Goldcrests and three single Yellowhammers flew over calling. I cut down to the Little Ouse which looked great for Otters but two Mallard is all that I found. Burdock and Reedmace were ‘ticked off’ with their respective moth early stages and hopefully the bendy Alder ‘flowers’ that I found with an exit hole can be identified to moth host species.
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| Limnaecia phragmitella |
A Grey Wagtail bounded over and a flock of 30 agile Siskin
decked out in green and gold dangled at curious angles from the Alders. It was
good to have some at eye level for a change.
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| Siskin |
The route back through the trees saw the Exmoor Ponies idling
across the path but they seemed very chilled and let me by with nothing but
some expressive yawning.
A flock of Redwings were foraging in the leaf litter with a selection
of Tits and a single Nuthatch while Great Spotted Woodpecker was half-heartedly drumming.
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| Redwings |
On again and at the junction with the A1066 at Riddlesworth I
managed to pull over to take some hasty shots of a wonderful carpet of Winter
Aconites and Snowdrops. They would have glowed if the sun had been out.
A little further down the road an adult female Marsh Harrier
was a surprise roadside bird in arable farmland but as I then pulled off to go
down to Reedham and Lopham Fen SWT perhaps it was not quite to unexpected. I do not remember ever visiting here before
(although my Dad says I have!) and enjoyed a mile circuit of the Red Spider
Trail. It was quiet and blowy but I will
be back to look for the mighty Fen Raft Spiders at some stage. Marsh Tits were vocal here too and a female
Kestrel watched me with interest.
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| And if anyone had any ideas what gall this is please let me know. I am not sure what dead stem it was attached too by possibly a Great Willowherb? |
Lunch beckoned.
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