Blossom!

Long-distance Clara

Here's a bird with a little story to tell. This morning I caught a Whitethroat already wearing a ring (a 'control'). The number looked kind of familiar to me so I asked a few other local ringers if it was 'theirs'. It turned out to have been ringed near Tempsford in Bedfordshire, as a chick in the nest, back in June 2010!

When this information is crunched by the BTO, it'll say that the distance travelled between its nest and my place is only about 6km over slightly less than three years.

But in reality, it'll have made the journey from Bedfordshire to sub-Saharan Africa once in autumn 2010, then back the other way in spring 2011 and back again, probably the same in 2012 and has made it back again in 2013. So that's six journeys so far. Each time, it has to fatten up before leaving the UK, make its way through western Europe and through north Africa. For argument's sake, let's say it spends winter in the sahel in Senegal.

If it flew in a straight line directly there (which of course it won't have), that would be a journey of more than 2,700 miles each time. Multiplied by six, that's 16,200 miles! 26,000km!

The oldest known ringed Whitethroat was nearly seven years old, so this one has a way to go to beat that...

Pussy willow

Common Toads

I was driving home from the shops in the dark on a wet Friday night when I first noticed the toads. Fortunately, I managed to avoid running them over and watched as they crawled their way towards my pond. Later, I found this amorous couple, plus hanger-on, scrambling through the grass in the morning.
Not bad photos from the phone, with lighting from my head-torch in this case.

Hazel catkins

photo taken with iPhone 4S

Reeds at Woodwalton Fen

photo taken with iPhone 4S

Snowdrops

photo taken with iPhone 4S

If you go down to the woods today

photo taken with iPhone & Hipstamatic app

Budding, blossoming, bloomin' hot

Buds, budding

Dunnock collecting food for its brood

Blossom, blossoming

The Chaffinch that got away

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

C'mon, spring

photos taken with Canon Powershot A640

Spring at The Lodge

photos taken with iPhone and Hipstamatic app

She's a lady

Female Broad-bodied Chaser, by the wildlife garden pond at lunchtime. What a fantastic insect!

Still loads of Painted Ladies flying about tonight, even through the town beer garden where I found myself after work... Butterfly Conservation is asking people to send in their records over the weekend. Do your bit!

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

Painted Ladies

A massive movement of Painted Ladies has been taking place since Saturday. I've heard a guesstimate of 15 million of 'em! Wherever you were at the weekend, it would have been hard to miss them, flying along without stopping, all the way from north Africa.

Where will they end up? How do they know where to stop? Butterfly Conservation want to know where you've seen them.

Two were at The Lodge today in blustery conditions, feeding on Rosemary along with lots of bees.

photos taken with Canon Powershot A640

Damselday

Azure Damselflies


Large Red Damselflies

Today I had the intention of mowing the lawn, planting some vegetables and doing some weeding. I managed to get the runner beans and courgettes sorted out, but didn't have much success with the rest.

Why not? Well, it's warm (21 degrees!) and humid, which makes gardening hard work. And loads of things kept appearing and making me get my camera.

First, a Common Blue butterfly, but that had disappeared by the time I returned with the camera. Next, an Orange-tip (which didn't stop) and a series of Painted Ladies which kept on migrating north.

On the pond it was damselfly day. The number of Azure Damselflies reached 9, but only a few lucky males seemed to have females attached (literally) to them. A couple of pairs of Large Red Damselflies were egg-laying.

It's been good to see that the male Whitethroat seems to have found a mate, who spends her time creeping about in the cow parsley around the edge of the garden (glad I didn't chop it). And a female Yellow Wagtail came to have a bath in the pond. She liked it so much she came back for another dip.

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

Scarce? Pah

Wow. This was a surprise. I was minding my own business, waddling around the gardens at The Lodge after eating pie for lunch, when a dragonfly flew over. Thought, hmmm, that looked orange... what was that? Fortunately, it landed in the flowerbed a few metres away and stayed there.

I got some photos and then went to get one of The Lodge's resident insect experts, Ian Dawson. He was able to confirm my identification (I was pretty sure but it seemed improbable) and let me know that it was the first-ever record for the reserve! Perhaps this immature male had gone wandering in search of new territory, or maybe he just got blown off-course. But where did he emerge from?

Scarce Chasers only started breeding in Bedfordshire in 2003. I had a fantastic morning watching them along the River Ouse at Roxton last May, but now I don't have to go there this year. Only joking. Think I'll go back.

photos taken with Canon Powershot A640

It's grey in May

Who lived in a skin like this?

'I did, the Large Red Damselfly'I found this poor cold creature at The Lodge today. It couldn't fly off, but tried to hide behind the skinny stem. I think the waving legs were to scare me.

Found some nice raindrops amongst the plants, though the light was terrible

photos taken with Canon Powershot A640

This is the BBC news

'We interrupt this blog to bring you BBC news...'

OK, it's a Broad-bodied Chaser, a maturing male (the blue is coming through). The first dragonfly to visit the pond in 2009 was joined briefly by a Large Red Damselfly and Blue-tailed Damselfly, but they didn't wait for photos.

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

'We've got a suicide bird!'

This is what woke me up this morning.

Tap. Tap tap. Tap. Thud. Tap.

I couldn't work out what it was, so was forced to get up and investigate. And there was the culprit. A male Chaffinch trying to attack his reflection.

The sustained assault on our window continued until we left for work, with only brief pauses to sing.

On our return this evening, our neighbour came out and said 'We've got a suicide bird!' and described perfectly the antisocial activities of the Chaffinch. The evidence of his continued activity was all too clear, along the windowsill, and high up on the panes were dozens of scuffs. As far as I know, Chaffinch beaks do not have the same glass-cutting properties as diamonds, so they should wipe off.

We put a bit of clingfilm on the outside of the window, to break up the reflection.

I expect he'll be back tomorrow morning, bright and early...

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

First damsel of the year!

A Large Red Damselfly basking on some nettles at The Lodge this lunchtime

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D + EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

Waresley Wood

Good job this morning's thick fog cleared up, because I had a day off work. I ended up at Waresley Wood for a wander around. Things got off to a bad start when I realised the memory card from my big camera wasn't where it should have been... it was at home, still in the card reader.

It didn't matter too much, as there was plenty to enjoy: loads of fresh, bright green leaves, Bluebells and Lady's Smock in bloom; bee-flies and bumblebees buzzing; Orange-tip and Peacock butterflies flitting about; Bullfinches peeping, Robins singing and Sparrowhawks causing havoc.

Migrants were conspicuous by their absence. I'd at least expected Blackcaps to be singing, but heard only a couple of Chiffchaffs. Where are they all?

photos taken with Canon Powershot A640