Nature Notes

[ErrolTheDragon]

There's a gardening thread which may overlap with this one but I thought people might like to share nature sightings as the season changes. What we see if we can get out for a walk, plants coming into leaf and bloom, creatures in the garden, birds flying overhead - whatever.

Yesterday along the canal: busy wrens, 3 butterflies (tortoiseshell I think). Lots of Lords and Ladies arrow-shaped leaves. A little bank of primroses, lots of celandines and some wood anemones. Yellow iris leaves starting to shoot up in the edge of the canal.

Watching the birds while making my coffee and there is a sparrow helping itself to the sheep's wool I've put in the bushes. The great tits are showing a real interest in the bird box they keep going in and leaving again not seen them taking anything in or out. Wish they would make up their minds if they are going to stay I'm impatient

I know what you mean @Thirstquenching. I have three nest boxes and keep my fingers crossed every year. I don’t think it’s made a difference this year 😔

I saw my first fledgling of the season. It was a blackbird, who made his presence known by flying straight into the patio doors. By the looks of it, he made a full recovery as he got himself back on to his feet and clumsily flew off 😅

Inspired by this thread, I’ve been keeping an eye out for wildflowers and trying to identify them. It’s not exactly my forte! I found what looks like a really common wildflower, but haven’t been able to find it in my plant book. Does anyone know what it is?

I think that is Alexanders @Crazzzycat. Have you got Google photos on your phone? You can use Google lens to search a photo on the internet, it's surprisingly good for plant id.

Or if you would prefer a field guide, the field studies cou col fold out guides are good. They are 4 for £10 at the moment. I have the grass and mammal tracks one for work. www.field-studies-council.org/product-category/publications/

Cou col = council blummin autocorrect

Yes, I'd agree with Alexanders. 'The pot herb of Alexandria' may be the origin of its distinctive name.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smyrnium_olusatrum

Thanks for the help with the ID Errol and blacktea. Those field guides look interesting. I like that they’re done by habitat which should make it a bit easier to find the right plant.

I’m currently using a pocket guide from the Wildlife Trust, but Alexanders aren’t even mentioned in there, so it’s clearly not the most comprehensive. DH has a huge 600 page book on wildflower ID, but that’s a little overwhelming for beginners.

Here’s something I did manage to ID - swathes of wild garlic in a woodland I visited over the weekend. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a huge amount of wild garlic, but it’s perfectly possible I just wasn’t paying enough attention before. I’m more used to looking up at the birds than down at the ground. It’s like I discovered a whole new dimension 😂

The hawthorn blossom really is starting to come out now, and marsh marigolds. The slopes of the river valley are starting to be flushed with blue; the cold spell has put the bluebells back a bit but they should be fully out soon.

DH and I spotted a blue tit popping in and out of our best box yesterday. I also spent a happy ten minutes watching a wren on the bird feeder outside the window. I've got a great view from my desk.

That’s lovely blacktea. I could spend all day watching the birds! Ever since we moved our nest box to a “better” position a few years ago, birds have lost interest in our nest box 🤦‍♀️ After yet another unsuccessful year, DH and I have had to concede that the birds know best. It’s time to put the nestbox back in its original location.

I’m currently getting a very steady stream of siskins at my feeders. I guess that, as they’re still here in mid April, these siskins have no intention of migrating. I’d be so happy if they continue to visit over the next few months.

And finally...my crab apple tree is flowering! Much excitement here 😄

No signs of flowers yet on my crab apple, but lots of fresh red leaves.
On today's walk, quite a lot of trees showing leaf, including horse chestnut emerging from their sticky toffee buds. Butterflies included a couple of orange tips today.

I was watching the blue tits going in and out of the box today but they never spend any amount of time in there and seen one leaving with something in it's beak. Anyone idea what they are doing?

Housekeeping, I suppose... I think they do some of that.

Saw a fox on our walk this morning - just for a short while before it darted into a field. The joys of getting out early!

I've been to Braunton burrows today. The dune slacks were covered in tiny purple dog violet, yellow hawkbit and creeping willow. There were also hoards of little red insects that were either very small beetles or ladybirds with no spots, so red that we mistook them for berries at first. The sun was shining and it was glorious.

I spent a long time at a coastal nature reserve today, inspecting the cliff faces for signs of interesting birds. At first, all I saw were guillemots, razorbills and hundreds of gulls, which was exciting enough. But then I caught a glimpse of some extremely red bird feet. I had to wait a little bit longer, and then a puffin emerged from under the rock that was obscuring the view. It made my day!

I also saw lots of wildflowers that I will be googling later today! The only ones I definitely recognised were the sea pinks which were about to flower, and lots of little purple flowers which I assume were wild violets.

Jealous of the puffin spot @Crazzzycat. I spent a week surveying on the coast of Guernsey a few years ago and was so gutted that I didn't see one.

Wow, that's lovely.
I've been spring cleaning, but I did at least see an orange tip flying over the patio.

Oh wow @Crazzzycat that’s so exciting. I have booked a weekend on Lundy Island next Easter when I hope to see some puffins.

I feel very lucky to have seen that little puffin! Fingers crossed you see some at Lundy next year @Wildernesstips!. I would have thought that Guernsey is an ideal place to spot some @blackteaplease. Such a shame you didn’t get to see some during your survey work.

Went for a lovely walk in the woods yesterday and we found a pond/marsh area that was full of newts! My son 9 was fascinated. Nothing new to report from my garden sparrows still making good use of the sheeps wool I put out, blue tits still showing an interest in the bird box but don't seem to have fully committed to it yet and caught a quick glimpse of Stuart our field mouse that lives in the shed

On my walk today, I saw a huge wall covered in ivy-leaved toadflax, which was a very pretty sight indeed.

I do the same 30-minute walk every working day, and compared to last week there are so many more wildflowers out now. I’ve been busy snapping pictures and using Google lens to identify them (thanks for the tip @blackteaplease!).

Today, a lot of the garlic mustard, which was only showing a few buds last week, was flowering. There were yellow archangels (love that name!), common stitchwort and keeled-fruited corn salad all in flower. The blackthorn is also looking pretty impressive at the moment. There are flowers everywhere I look! ☺️

Even the dandelions on the verges are looking decidedly cheerful.

I had my tea break in the garden yesterday and saw several orange-tips fluttering around in the sunshine. We have lots of dandelions that they seem to like

Sounds like my kind of tea break @blackteaplease. I’ve not seen any orange-tips yet, but did see a lot of spotted woods on my walk today.

On a trip to a nature reserve yesterday, I saw my first ever lapwing chick. My goodness, absolute cuteness overload!

A very kind birdwatcher let me use his scope so that I could have a better look at the Golden Plover that were also in the area. They’ve long been on my list of “birds I’d like to see”, but they’re not very common in my area. Really happy I managed to have such a good look at them, thanks to the kindness of a fellow enthusiast ☺️