It was a grim, grey morning and very chilly too but a hearty
breakfast got the crew ready for FoD action. By 9am we were down at the Yew
circle in Parkend and within about two minutes a male Hawfinch called and flew
in to the top of the tallest Limes. Thankfully he stayed long enough to get everyone
onto it. It always amazes me how loud
the call is. We stood and watched the
Yews but only noticed that two more were down with Greenfinches and Chaffinches a second before
they flew up. The Chaffs reappeared by
the Haws did not.
Mistle Thrushes sang and rattled and Nuthatches were especially
noisy with both songs and calls heard.
We walked down the road to the sound of fizzing Siskin song and followed
the stream behind the Fountain Inn in search of Dippers. Grey Wagtails followed
us down the stream and there were rocks clearly used by our bobbing friends but
there was no sign.
Mistle Thrushes were here too and defending the Ivy berries
from the Wood Pigeons while at our feet the first Celandines and Wood Anemones
were starting to show.
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| Treecreeper |
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| Wood Anemones |
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| Lesser Celandine |
A random wander an extra fifty yards down stream
suddenly saw us with a Dipper whizzing back the way we had come low to the water
and ‘chinking’ madly. Retracing our steps I was pleased to discover it up by the
pub in almost the same spot as last year and even more pleased to discover that
it was the same colour ringed bird although no one knew who had rung it when I
asked last time round.
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| Dipper |
We watched it for ages before moving back towards the van but
no before some walls attracted out attention with spreads of impressive
Peltigara Iichens in between the mosses, Maidenhair Spleenwort and Wall-Rue
along with a Psycoides moth larva in the sporangium under the leaf of a Hard Fern.
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| Peltigara |
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| Peltigara - the all important underside |
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| Wall-Rue |
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| Maidenhair Spleenwort |
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| Psycoides sp larval case |
It felt like Goshawk time so we headed back up to New Fancy View
and were treated to a party of at least five quietly calling Bullfinches feeding
on Hawthorn buds as we walked up. Two
Crossbills flew over as we reached the top and a single female later posed
briefly for us before seven more on the way back down.
It was quite calm and had warmed up a bit and by 11am the
first Buzzards were up and engaging in some soaring and a little display. Suddenly Wood Pigeons erupted from the trees
below and as I had hoped a male Goshawk powered up above us before plunging
back out of view. Close but still not a
prolonged view. A while later a big
female Goshawk appeared in the distance and although she did not come any closer she
was on view for some time and the scopes were deployed to good effect as she
cruised the tree line. A male briefly
popped up to say hello and two Sparrowhawks were also seen along with the expected
Ravens while a pair of Peregrines was a bonus.
The male was quite close and shone silver.
Steve Young had met us at the top and offered to give us a
shot at seeing Wild Boar so we followed him not too far down the road and
quietly climbed into the woods to where he had been seeing them. Amazingly they were still there and with a
bit of patience we good very good views of two sows and some scurrying stripy
ginger piglets although the mums were keeping them in amongst the Bracken and
Blackthorn for the most part.
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| Wild Boar |
They knew we were there but we content that we were far
enough away and posed no threat. The
fact that nine of us managed to sneak up on them in the first place was amazing
and I commended every one for their stealth. A third sow appeared behind us and then melted away and
Bullfinches called and even plaintively sung from the scrub.
On to lunch at the Dean Heritage Centre where
a Dipper zipped through and Mandarins frolicked while Moorhen was a trip list
addition before looping back to Nags Head for a peaceful walk in the
woods.
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| Evidence of the moth larva Limnaecia phragmitella |
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| Ivy-leaved Toadflax |
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| The Gruffalo... |
They were quieter than hoped and
I could not find Firecrest but Redwings and Song Thrushes showed well and there
were a lot of Blackbirds on the Ivy too while we added more Treecreepers to the
heaps were had seen during the day along with Nuthatch and quite probably the
same pair of Peregrines that we saw from NFV.
A vigorously calling Goshawk was in exactly the same spot as the one
this time last year.
The Lichens were as wondrous as ever and I must endeavour to
learn more but it was too cool for most insects bar a few midges and a single Orange
Underwing moth that came out of the Birches.
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| Cladonia sp I think |
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| I think both these are Ramalina sp? Bob and Enid please help me out! |
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| Phytomyza ilicis |
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| Wood Sorrel pushing through a Male Fern |
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Honey Fungus I think
|
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| Dog's Mercury |
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| Hard Fern - Blechnum spicant |
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| Tutsan |
With a few spots in the air we opted for a final look at the top end of
Cannop Ponds where there were heaps more Mandarins, a psychotic pair of Mutes
Swans, two Tufted Duck, two fluffy bummed Little Grebes and fine male Gadwall. The clouds were rolling in and getting lower
so we called it a day and headed back for some down time before another sumptuous
dinner at Speech House.
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| Tufted Duck |
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| Enraged |
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| I love the water too |
Back at the hotel the Pied Wagtails were scurrying around on clockwork legs and there were nine torpid Buff-tailed Bumblebees stuck on and in the Daffodils in one of the flower beds exactly where we had seen them after breakfast. The prospect does not look good for them over the next few days.  |
| Bumblebees |
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| Mrs Pied Wagtail |
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