Spring 2009 aprilOver to Stodmarsh on the 15th. Weather was good, sunny but chilly. I always check the weather before I go anywhere, it's no good travelling any distance to a site if you don't see if the weather is going to be good.
As I was following the main track I caught sight of what at first I thought was an otter but soon realized it was a mink swimming along one of the waterways by the track. I lost sight of it as it climbed into the reeds and undergrowth before I could get any clear photos of it.
The treat of the afternoon was a good view of a pair of marsh harriers. It looked like they were going to start a courtship display, this involves the male passing over something it has caught over to the female while both in flight, a treat to see if you are lucky.
Here's a question for you, see if you can identify which is the male marsh harrier in the photos? Try before you look.
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On the 19th I was over at Kelsey Park in Beckenham, I was shown this place by a friend who had found a heronry on the island in the middle of the lake. I couldn't believe it when I saw it, there in this busy park in the middle of a suburban area on the edge of London was this great heronry full of nests and herons who just ignored all the people walking past. There were young herons ranging from very young to fully grown, these were to be seen out of the nest standing on branches hanging around like teenagers!
Parent birds were seen to be flying to and from the island as well as standing at or near nests and all the time there was the clacking noise of the young.
Also at the park were greylag and canada geese, tufted ducks, moorehens, nesting coots and a very colourful duck called a mandarin duck the female is much duller but still pretty. At one point they were mating, this started with the female swimming near the male but very low in the water until the male mounted her pushing her down into the water but he kept hold of some feathers at the back of her head to keep it out of the water, I have seen mallard do the same. After they both did a lot of splashing, flapping and preening.
Another interesting sight but I did know they were in the London area were green parakeets! Strange to see a tropical bird here in a London park and funny to see, a male budgie accompanying them!
Also what is this bird? [ Bottom left ]
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21st and over at West Hythe on a lovely sunny afternoon. Beautiful apple and cherry blossom out and a lot more green to be seen everywhere, spring is truly happening.
Lovely sight of a longtailed tit flitting about in the branches and a good view of a moorehen walking about showing its long toes which help it to walk over the weeds when looking for food.
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24th the ferns are coming up in the Deer Park their long thin stems with there curled heads nearly ten inches or more out of the ground. Over at West Hythe I managed to get a photo of a holly blue butterfly which I have been trying to get a photo of for a couple of years, its main food plant is holly, gorse and other shrubs in spring. Also came across the attractive red campion flower and got a good view of a wren singing from a branch. It's normally difficult to catch sight of wrens as they useually forage about in the undergrowth looking for food but this time of the year the males look for a good exposed perch to sing there song from. Their nest is a round ball made from leaves and moss tucked within foliage or in a suitable hole.
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25th back over at West Hythe on a lovely sunny day and spent some time watching honey bees on apple blossom. The bees collect the pollen and store it in the pollen baskets on her back legs as seen here and nectar is stored in its honey stomach and regurgitated later when back at the hive. When a bee finds a new food supply it will do a dance on the face of the honeycomb, this is in a figure of eight with the centre line pointing in the direction in degrees away from the sun that the food is.
The banks of the canal are looking even greener now with most trees coming into leaf, the wych elm is full of winged seed which will ripen and fall in July.
On walking back along the canal path I got quite close to a male chaffinch singing on a tree stump by the path, the male has such lovely coloured plumage.
Also came across a pretty little flower called a cuckoo flower, this is an old name given to it because it flowers at the same time as the cuckoo arrives, also called lady's smock because of the white flower.
Another flower I found was a pink bluebell this is something you will occasionally find.
Here's a wild flower I would like you to try and identify, what do you think it is? [ Bottom right ]
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On the 26th I visited Leeds Castle, a beautiful castle and grounds with a lot of waterfowl but not a naturally wild place.
There was a whooper swan on it's nest which was a first for me and a charming coot family, the parents would dive for food very close to the chicks nearly splashing them.
Had a close view of a carrion crow, you can see the difference here from a rook which has a white featherless base to the beak which is also slightly longer.
There were also some coots busily nest building and at one point the female was sitting on the nest and the male brought her an insect to eat.
A very fetching sight was a female mallard with her chicks which were keeping close to her on the bank of the lake.
A couple of other birds there were a shelduck and a magnificent black swan, these were originally imported from Australia.
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The 28th a late afternoon trip to Russel Gardens at Dover sunny with a bit of cloud around. Came across a yellow wagtail on the bank of the lake which obligingly stayed around long enough for me to get a few photos of it.
Spotted a moorhen walking across the path which provided a good view of how long its feet are!
The coots were putting in a good show of chasing each other around the lake and a pair of males fighting.
Plus a little grebe, which when I was just going to take a picture of it would dive and not appear for some time and then some way off from where it had been!
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End of the month the 29th I went over to the Deer Park as it was a lovely day.
First sighting was of a cock pheasant which didn't seem to bothered by my presence, even though I have taken photos many times before of one I just cant resist taking some more, they have such gorgeous plumage!
When I got to the large lake one of the first things I could see was a coots nest looking very obvious so different to the one I found on the other side under some bushes.
A very charming sight was a family of greylag geese on the lake, there were about ten goslings swimming between the parents.
And a pair of great crested grebes swimming and diving but keeping there distance from me.
On the way back to the car park I came across a pair of these birds feeding which finished the day off nicely.
Can you tell me what it is? [ Bottom right ]
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