Nature Notes: the 2022 edition

[ErrolTheDragon]

Happy New Year to all nature lovers!
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Please join us to add your observations throughout the year. Urban or rural, there's always something going on throughout the year, even if it's a bit quiet right now.

Where are you holidaying Errol? It sounds idyllic!

I saw three tiny lapwing chicks today. Unfortunately the parents had built their nest really close to a busy footpath. Having people come so close to chicks clearly freaked out the other lapwings, who went all out in trying to move people away by making lots of noise and flying close over people’s heads.

I tried to point out to a few people that the birds were clearly distressed by our presence, only to be told that lapwings are never afraid of people and that it was probably the marsh harrier that was spotted that morning that was causing the distress. Sure…that must be why they are aiming for our heads! 😒

(Fortunately the chicks were behind an electric fence, so relatively safe from these “nature lovers”. It’s just the adults that were all freaked out)

the next clue is that todays walk featured a broch and a Great Northern diver! And a walk over a causeway to a small island alive with larks

Currently sipping damson gin, with a view over a loch in perfect evening sun. A moment ago a hooded crow was performing aerobatic manoeuvres for dome reason.

I've just been for a walk on dartmoor with the family. Lots of skylarks singing and we found a main badger set quite high on the Moor, with lots of bedding and digging signs. My 6yo was fascinated.

Todays Times Nature Notebook may be of interest then, blackteaplease

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/approach-a-beasts-lair-like-a-thief-in-the-night-pq2dvsxfm?shareToken=c18cc97570cc375ba759d6d21c3ccaaf

Lots more skylarks on our walk today. Also a pair of ravens - I wouldn't normally be so sure but it's a bit easier when the local crows are hooded, and they were huge.

We walked along a bay which had many grassy conical humps which apparently indicate that the area is frequented by otters, though we didn't spot any. Probably wrong time of day or tide. Also spotted another diver, though too far off to tell which type.

On todays walk, we heard our first cuckoos of the year, and also saw a female hen harrier, which is another first for me!

Today, pretty sure the birds swooping near the cliff we were atop of were fulmars. And I think I spotted an eagle from the car - it was in a location known for them and at a distance at which I don't think it could have been anything smaller. Not 100% positive and couldn't tell which type.

It was a week of many “firsts of the year” for me too. The warblers are definitely starting to come back now and last week I heard my first sedge warbler and saw the first willow warbler, lesser white throat and common white throat.I also saw a blackcap building a nest, but as I have those visiting my garden in winter I can’t claim that one as the first of the year.

I also saw the first sandmartins and common sandpiper. Still no swallows, or swift’s here though which seems unusually late, but clearly things are on the move!

When it comes to ravens, I thought I’d share my top tip for identifying them in flight. Some people (i.e. my DH) will go on about the long “fingers” on the wings, but crows also have that to some extent and around here we also have to deal with choughs, which also have long “fingers”. By far the easiest way to identify a raven, in my opinion, is to look at the tail: a crow’s tail is practically flat, a raven’s tail is diamond shaped.

It was a week of many “firsts of the year” for me too. The warblers are definitely starting to come back now and last week I heard my first sedge warbler and saw the first willow warbler, lesser white throat and common white throat.I also saw a blackcap building a nest, but as I have those visiting my garden in winter I can’t claim that one as the first of the year.

I also saw the first sandmartins and common sandpiper. Still no swallows, or swift’s here though which seems unusually late, but clearly things are on the move!

When it comes to ravens, I thought I’d share my top tip for identifying them in flight. Some people (i.e. my DH) will go on about the long “fingers” on the wings, but crows also have that to some extent and around here we also have to deal with choughs, which also have long “fingers”. By far the easiest way to identify a raven, in my opinion, is to look at the tail: a crow’s tail is practically flat, a raven’s tail is diamond shaped.

Not sure why that posted twice and both times without the attachment I was trying to include.. I’ll try again!

That didn’t work either 😡 I give up (and apologies for spamming the thread! 😂)

It's not you, it's happening a lot since the 'upgrade' of the app. I've not been able to post any photos and had a few repeat posts.

Today we want on another cliff walk to a lighthouse. Lots of vehicles had made their way along the single track road to the parking place, but relatively few people seem to have made it down/ up/ more down to it (inc one idiotic person nearly chasing a sheep and lamb off a cliff to try and get a photo I suppose...).But going just a little way further over the grass and rocks just one other person with binoculars. We sat and watched lots of seabirds - shags, gannets, kittiwakes, I think a common gull as well as the more ubiquitous black backs and herring. And a lot which we couldn't tell if they were guillemots or razorbills. We also saw a couple of seals bob up - I thing these were greys. Back higher up, a gentleman with a big camera lens was pleased to share with us the spot from which to see a bit of cliff closeup which had dozens of guillemots and shag nesting on it. Another cliff had fulmars nesting.

Later we had coffee outside a cafe under a rookery - I'd thought rooks were absent from this part of the U.K. but I was wrong!

Your holiday sounds lovely @ErrolTheDragon . I'd love a wildlife watching break right now.

Meanwhile in my little nook of Devon the verges are frothy with cow parsley and I spotted an early purple orchid on my walk yesterday.

Apparently there are a pair of red kites local to me. I haven't spotted them yet but am keeping my eyes peeled.

Your flowers are ahead of where I am (Skye) - here, the primroses are glorious, clustering along burnsides and clinging in nooks on vertical cliffs. There's a lot of gorse brilliant in the sunshine too. The sea thrift on our walk yesterday was just about starting to come out.

Can I ask a bit of stupid question? Are sea thrifts also known as pinks, or is that something totally different? This thread is forever reminding me that I know very little about plants & wildflowers 🙈

I went to a little coastal cove yesterday, where I’d seen fulmars take shelter during a particularly nasty storm in December. It made me wonder if they’d use the area for nesting and indeed they do! Lots of jackdaws were nesting in the cliffs too, which surprised me a little. I guess it makes sense as they are a coastal bird. It’s just that I’m more used to seeing them in trees.

I think sea thrift/sea pink is the same thing.

I've not seen jackdaws on coastal cliffs, but there's an old quarry not far from where we live, the 'cliffs' of which are very popular with nesting jackdaws.

I've just heard, and then spotted some eiders (a couple each of ducks and drakes) in the sea loch on which our hotel is sited.
Saw my first orchids of the year today too - I don't know the varieties but they were quite deep pinkish purple.

Today was the first (and hopefully only) bad weather day of our holiday, rain and strong wind. So the only nature observations were being woken by a roosting Chinese pheasant's regular squawking, and the unexpected sight of a hooded crow being blown backwards but then successfully alighting on a fence post.

After complaining about the lack of swallows last weekend, I’m pleased to report that they have now well and truly arrived here 🥳

I was reading a book about swallows yesterday, which mentioned their “wonderful song”. I thought that was odd, as I didn’t recall ever hearing them sing. But yesterday, while walking along the beach, one passed just over my head, making a sound that did indeed sound like a song. It was very short, and I’m not sure I’d call it “wonderful”, but it was definitely more than a squeak.

I also saw some moorhen chicks yesterday - so cute! And I watched a swan attack a man who got too close to his nest. The swan gave him plenty of warning, but the guy was completely fixated on getting a picture of the nest. Good on the swan for not putting up with any of that nonsense I say 😄

He must have been bonkers to not heed a warning from a swan.

I think I've been seeing house martins rather than swallows in the last few days here, but so fast it can be hard to be sure!

The house martins have arrived here as well. No sign of any swallows yet though.

There were a few people around who were also trying to warn the guy, just in case a swan inflating to twice its normal size was not enough of a warning...This guy clearly thought he knew better, but the swan firmly put him in his place. He actually yelped in pain, while onlookers shouted “well what did you expect?!”

Us locals are very fond of these swans, who like to build their nest on the edge of the boating lake, where they have no natural protection from all the dogs that are running around (or idiots with cameras). Every year the council fence off an area for them...and every year they decide that’s not quite the area they prefer for their nest and find somewhere less protected 😂 They’re really successful though and have not lost a brood in all the years I’ve lived here.

(I’ve name changed by the way, in case that wasn’t obvious)

Todays spot was a whimbrel on a beach, close enough to be pretty sure that's what it was rather than a curlew

We went for a walk along a salt marsh nature reserve today and we seen a family or roe deer and loads of butterflies

I spent some time in Liverpool yesterday, where I noticed lots of lesser black backed gulls sitting on the buildings. I’m more used to seeing herring gulls in the towns & villages around where I live. I wonder what brought the lesser blacks to the city 🤔