Turtle Dove

Tags

Suffolk, Turtle Dove, wildlife

The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land…

The Song of Solomon; Chapter 2, Verse 12

When I first moved to Suffolk in 1988 I thought I had moved to heaven on earth!  I had been living in a late-Victorian, terraced house in a south-east London suburb.  Not the worst location by any means; there was a park, an excellent library, friendly neighbours and shops just a few minutes walk away.  But…there weren’t many birds in my tiny garden, though I found that the flowers I planted with the help of my (then) mother-in-law attracted a few insects, especially butterflies and moths.  The only wild flowers I saw regularly were straggly dandelions.

My parents had re-located to Suffolk in 1987 and I had visited them two or three times as they settled into their 18th century cottage.  I decided that Suffolk was the place for me too, and the following year moved to Halesworth, a town about ten miles distant from them.  Admittedly, the bird-table in my garden attracted mainly seagulls (I lived fairly near the coast) but I still managed to see a good variety of smaller birds and every now and again I saw something really special.  The bird I remember being most excited about was a Black Redstart.

In the summer, I used to lie awake at night listening to Nightingales singing from the Folly, which is a patch of heathland on the edge of the town.  When I visited my parents I discovered their garden had Turtle Doves that purred from the trees all afternoon on warm days.

When Richard and I got married in 1994 we moved out of Halesworth to the village of Rumburgh where we lived until 2004.  I don’t remember hearing Turtle Doves in Rumburgh but there were plenty of other birds in the garden, notably Spotted Flycatchers which regularly nested in the Winter-flowering Jasmine against the wall next to the living-room casement-doors.  I also saw a female Cuckoo in a tree behind the house and heard its bubbling song.  The garden was an old established one (our cottage was two hundred years old) and was home to many different creatures, especially a large assortment of moths and butterflies.  We regularly saw toads in the back yard and lizards were everywhere.

In 2004 we moved to Bradford-on-Tone in Somerset because of Richard’s work but we didn’t stay there long, just eighteen months.  The birds we saw in our garden in the West Country were very different from the birds we were used to seeing in East Anglia.  Siskins and Bramblings visited in the winter and Ravens and Buzzards flew overhead all year round.  We had Serotine Bats roosting in the cavity wall of the modern extension to our home.

The year 2006 saw us move back to Suffolk to the house we live in still.  We are only a couple of miles from Rumburgh and when we returned to East Anglia we resumed the life we had led before.  Our present home is even more rural than our one in Rumburgh had been but the house itself is only thirty or so years old.  Before we left Rumburgh in 2004, the Spotted Flycatcher hadn’t nested in the garden for a couple of years, but I don’t remember us noticing any other changes in the wildlife population.  On our return to Suffolk we were amazed to see Yellow Wagtails in our new garden and we had Turtle Doves cooing in the trees round the pond.  This was the first and last time we saw the Yellow Wagtails and from then on the Turtle Doves only visited sporadically.

In the following few years we became aware of a great diminution in the amount of insects, especially moths and butterflies, in the area.  This led to fewer birds of all types, though I did my best by feeding them and trying to encourage insects into the garden.  I feel that, as well as climate change, changes in agricultural practices must have caused the losses in our local wildlife populations.

However, in recent years the Government have provided countryside stewardship grants and we are fortunate that many of our local farmers have been trying to change the way they farm to include wildlife havens.  As well as improving the quality of the many ponds and ditches, wide headlands have been left around the fields where grasses and flowers have been allowed to grow undisturbed.  We live in one of a very few areas in Britain where the Barn Owl is seen regularly.  These grassy headlands are ideal hunting grounds for the Barn Owl. In the past couple of years, farmers have been planting pollinator strips alongside their fields to encourage the insects to return to farmland.  Wild flowers and insects are returning slowly to this intensively-farmed area of Britain.  This year for the first time since we moved here, Turtle Doves have nested in the trees round the pond in our garden.

Turtle Dove on the right and Collared Dove on the left. Collared Doves frequently attack Turtle Doves.

 

I have added a recording of a Nightingale, just for Peter – with best wishes.

No Time to Stand and Stare

Tags

busyness, cataract operation, crocus, Diary, driving, gardening, horse brasses, iris reticulata, medical appointments, muddy lanes, Plough Sunday, Plough Sunday service, pulmonaria, rosemary, Rumburgh Church, snowdrop, sparrowhawk, storm damage, Suffolk, the plough, wintertime, witch-hazel

Both our cars are covered in mud all the time; they are in a worse state now than in the photo! Most of our lane is inches deep in sloppy mud and it is hardly worth our while to wash the cars.

This year has been crazily busy so far and there has been no time for even a short walk since the new year.  At last, I have managed to catch-up with all my blog reading, I’ve sorted out all my bank statements and receipts and have got rid of large amounts of paper.  I have even spent a little time in the garden weeding and tidying-up the flowerbeds; there has been very little cold weather and the weeds have grown and grown!

Rosemary ( Rosmarinus ‘Miss Jessup’s Upright’) in flower in January

Witch Hazel; the stems covered in lichen.

Crocus

Crocus

Snowdrops. These and the crocus above grow under the crabapple tree. It has got somewhat weedy there in recent years!

Iris reticulata

Iris reticulata

Pulmonaria

I have taken a Morning Prayer service at church and attended a meeting with others in our Benefice who take church services.

Plough Sunday Service 12th January. Richard took this service very nicely. Much of the congregation is made up of members of ‘Old Glory’ the Molly Men and their friends and supporters

The decorated plough; the star of the Plough Sunday service.

Look at these beautiful horse brasses!

Most of my time has been spent in the car, taking Elinor to the station on her university days, taking Mum to her many hospital appointments, taking myself to hospital and doctor’s appointments, dental appointments, eye clinic appointments and grocery shopping trips.  Mum has had both her cataracts removed and such a load has been lifted from her and my shoulders!  She has so much more sight than we thought and the fear that she may not be able to look after herself and live alone as she wishes has receded for a while.  She is approaching her 90th birthday and though she tires easily and is somewhat twisted and stooping because of arthritis, she is still able to cook and look after herself.  Richard and I had to visit her the week before last to repair her hedge and fence, damaged by the first of our storms.  Mum hadn’t been able to do any gardening for some months because she couldn’t see, and the garden has become overgrown with brambles and nettles, thistles and other unwelcome weeds.  I had done a few jobs for her and so had Richard but the weeds had taken over and the fence that broke in the storm was covered in enormous brambles.

A rather beautiful female Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus ) who observed me taking her photo

This coming week I only have three appointments to keep and none for Mum except for taking her to church on Ash Wednesday.  I’m at the hospital all day on Tuesday having eye pressure tests, I have a hygienist appointment at the dentist on Wednesday and a hair appointment in Norwich on Thursday.  Housework has been a bit hit-and-miss lately and I hope to be able to catch-up with all my chores at home very soon.

This is just a short post to let you know what has been happening.  My next post will probably be about one of our days out last year, or even the year before that!  I have plenty of old photos but hardly any new ones!

Wildlife in the Garden

Tags

azure damselfly, common toad, four-spotted chaser dragonfly, grass snake skin, green-veined white butterfly, holly blue butterfly, ivy, ivy mining bee, jay feather, lunar yellow underwing, Mallard, mint moth, painted lady butterfly, pheasant feathers, red admiral butterfly, rosemary beetle, Small Tortoiseshell butterfly, speckled wood butterfly, starling, Suffolk

I have a small number of wildlife photographs taken during late spring and through the summer.  This post will feature them.

Four-spotted Chaser, a male (I think!)(Libellula quadrimaculata )

These amber and black-coloured dragonflies fly during late spring and early summer and fortunately for me and my camera, they take regular rests on plants round the edge of the pond from where they watch for prey and/or mates.  Males are very territorial and aggressive.

Female Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella )

I spent some time trying to decide whether this was an Azure or a Variable Damselfly.  The photo isn’t clear enough for me to be sure.  I decided to post the photo on the Damsel and Dragonfly Facebook site and see what the experts thought.  The first person thought it was an Azure and the second thought it was a Variable!  Fortunately a third person plumped for the Azure so that is what it will have to be.

Male Azure Damselfly ( Coenagrion puella)

The males are much brighter than the females.

Male Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos )

When I took this photo at the beginning of summer I was upset to see how little water was in the pond.  At that time of year there ought to have been at least two or three more feet of water there.  I was not to know how bad it would get by the end of the summer when most of the pond had become dry.

Rosemary Beetle (Chrysolina americana ) on rosemary

Rosemary beetle on sage

I have been finding these attractive beetles on my rosemary, lavender and sage plants for the past couple of years.  They are a non-native invasive species of beetle related to the Colorado Beetle.  They do a fair amount of damage to plants if left unchecked and can kill young plants.  Because of our recent mild winters they are active throughout the year.  Here is a link to the RHS website which describes the beetle.

Speckled Wood butterfly (Parage aegeria )

I apologize for the poor photo of this pretty butterfly.  This was the closest I got to one all summer!  They are difficult to see in the dappled light of a woodland ride where they like to live.  They feed mainly on honeydew in the treetops.

Green-veined White butterfly (Peiris napi )

I saw a number of these white butterflies this year.  I read that the green-veined white prefers to lay its eggs on wild members of the cabbage family ( watercress, garlic mustard etc.) rather than on plants in our vegetable gardens.  This one appears to be laying eggs on my aubretia, which is also a member of the cabbage family!

Painted Lady

Painted Lady

The Painted Lady butterfly( Vanessa cardui) has had a very good year here and almost the whole country has seen numbers of them. They cannot survive our winters so new butterflies arrive each spring by immigration from southern Europe.  The caterpillars feed mainly on thistles and sometimes mallows.

Red Admiral

Red Admiral

Red Admirals (Vanessa atalanta ) are increasingly able to survive our winters by hibernation.  The majority arrive here in the spring from Europe and then subsequent generations fly and breed until the first frosts.  The caterpillars feed on stinging nettles.

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly (Aglais urticae )

The one and only small tortoiseshell I was able to photograph.  I haven’t seen many this year.  The butterflies hibernate as adults in hollow trees and buildings and the caterpillars feed on stinging nettles.  As good a reason as any to keep a few nettles in the corner of the garden.

A rather battered Holly Blue butterfly (Celastrina argiolus ) on Escallonia

I saw quite a few holly blues this year which probably means they will be scarce again next year.  The caterpillars are often attacked by two species of parasitic wasp that sometimes wipe out whole colonies of holly blue.  The male and female butterflies’ underside of their wings looks alike so I can’t say which this is.  It refused to open its wings all the time I was watching it and then flew off at speed the moment my attention wavered!

I would recommend Escallonia as a favourite with bees and butterflies.  I also saw a Green Hairstreak butterfly on it this summer but I didn’t have my camera to hand.

Mint Moth ( Pyrausta aurata) on lavender

At least, I believe this might be a Mint Moth.  It appears to have two golden spots on its forewings which is what one looks for.

Lunar Yellow Underwing (Noctua orbona )

You may think it strange that I have chosen to include a photo of a dead moth.  I expect it is.  This poor thing managed to get itself trapped in the house while we were away on holiday and I found it in the garden room.  These moths are quite uncommon and I am pleased that they are present in our garden.

Ivy (Hedera helix ) hedge

I parked my car up against this hedge in Bungay a couple of weeks ago and stopped to admire all the wonderful flowers all over it.  I then realized it was covered in bees.

Ivy flowers

Ivy Mining Bee ( Colletes hederae)

Ivy Mining Bee

These bees dash about all over the place and never stay for more than a few seconds on any one flower.  I was very fortunate to get the photos I did.  I couldn’t stay long as I had shopping to do and the owner of the red car (see the first photo) returned to her vehicle and was eyeing me suspiciously.

Common Toad (Bufo bufo)

I looked up from my lunch one day in June and saw this young toad marching across the grass in front of the kitchen window.  My phone doesn’t take good photos and I couldn’t crop the shot without it becoming pixelated.  You can see the toad has long legs with which it covers quite a lot of ground at some speed.  Toads don’t jump and hop very often.

See how parched the grass was at the beginning of the summer!  Things didn’t improve much until quite recently.  We have had large quantities of rain in the last few weeks and the grass is growing again!

Grass Snake (Natrix natrix ) skin on the grass round our large pond

We often see grass snakes in our garden but this year this is the closest I got to one.  They are Britain’s longest snake at one metre in length, occasionally longer. They are variable in colour and pattern being either green, olive-green, brown or grey.  They have a yellow to orange-red collar just behind their head and have regular black markings along their sides (or not, as the case may be!) They are very good swimmers.

Starling

Starling

Both these photographs of starlings (Sturnus vulgaris ) were taken by Elinor when she was on a trip to the North Norfolk coast this autumn.  I love these garrulous birds and enjoy listening to their twittering and whistling.  These birds in the photos are resplendent in their speckled winter plumage and have black bills.  The feathers become less speckled and  more iridescent green and purple through the winter and the bills turn a beautiful lemon-yellow in spring. They are excellent mimics and will copy other bird’s songs and calls and any other noises they find interesting.  In the early seventies we had one in the road where I grew up that did a good impersonation of a Trimphone.  Is impersonation the right word?  Again, there was a starling that lived next to the primary school that Elinor attended when we lived in Somerset that had a call that sounded just like little girls screaming in the playground.

A Jay (Garrulus glandarius ) feather

I think this feather is so beautiful!  Richard found it in the garden.

Pheasant feathers

Pheasant feathers

From these slightly blurred photos it is difficult to see the iridescence of the feathers, the maroon, amber and dark brown shades that make these pheasant ( Phasianus colchicus) feathers so lovely.  I found them all together in a heap in the garden.  I assume that this pheasant had been fighting and had had these scraped from his breast.  Pheasants don’t like fighting at all and will get out of it if they can.  If disturbed in the middle of their posturing both combatants will sidle away hoping, I’m sure, they won’t be followed.

 

Dunwich Beach and Dingle Marshes

Tags

beach, birds, buck's-horn plantain, common scurvygrass, Dingle Marshes, Dunwich beach, gorse, little egret, plants, reeds, sea campion, seashore, sheep's sorrel, shingle, Suffolk, wader

On May Bank Holiday, the first Monday after May Day, Rumburgh village always holds a fair and Rumburgh church always has the cake stall – a money-earner, though not as good as the tea tent.  This year, I had made a honey and ginger cake which Richard and I delivered to the stall along with a quantity of our rhubarb, which usually sells well.  We didn’t stay long as we had a few chores to do at home and we had planned to go to the seaside in the afternoon.

The day was cool and breezy and rain was forecast for late in the afternoon so Elinor, Richard and I set off as soon as we had had our lunch.

We found ‘Thelma’ hauled far up on the shingle.

We looked inside her and what did we find?

A dried-up dogfish tail.

The wind was cold and strong on the beach and the spray from the waves was being blown about.

Looking north up the beach….

…and southwards.

Inland, behind the shingle bank, is Dingle Marshes Nature Reserve, looked after by the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) and The Suffolk Wildlife Trust.

Richard contemplating the view. It was good to be out of the wind!

Plenty of Sea Campion (Silene uniflora) were in flower.

A Little Egret ( Egretta garzetta) was wading through the marsh

Here it is again, marching purposefully on!

Another view of the marshes with a bright yellow ribbon of Gorse (Ulex europaeus)

Common Scurvygrass (Cochlearia officinalis)

A plant of saltmarshes and increasingly, along the sides of roads that have been salted during the winter.  (Danish Scurvygrass (Cochlearia danica) however, is seen more regularly than Common Scurvygrass on roadsides).  Common Scurveygrass has almost circular fleshy leaves with a few blunt teeth along the edges.  The seedpods are spherical and a few can be seen on a flower-cluster close to the centre-right edge of this photo.  In that same cluster of flowers and seedpods is a tiny yellow-beige 16 spot ladybird which fees on pollen, fungi and nectar.

In the past, scurvy was a very common disease, often fatal, in those who spent much of their time at sea.  Their diet was restricted to salt pork and dried biscuit and they had no fresh fruit or vegetables.  Many on land also had restricted diets so it was a happy day when herbalists discovered that scurvygrass, with its high vitamin C content, was one of the foods that prevented the disease. It became the fashion in 17th century England to take a glass of scurvygrass water every morning. The leaves were made into a beer called scurvygrass ale.

The gorse was so bright and cheerful.

Gorse is also known as furze or whin and grows on the acidic soil of heathland and close to the sea.  It is an excellent fuel and burns quickly and fiercely in dry weather causing heath fires to spread.  It was grown near houses so that washing could be lain out to dry on it and the prickles would prevent the clothes from blowing away.

There was plenty of Sheep’s Sorrel (Rumex acetosella ) with its red flower-spikes.

Sheep’s Sorrel is more sprawling than Common Sorrel and is usually found on very poor sandy soil.  The leaves contain the chemical calcium oxalate which tastes acid; the name ‘sorrel’ comes from the old French word for ‘sour’ (‘surele’).

Lovely rosettes of the leaves of Buck’s-horn Plantain ( Plantago coronopus)

The seeds of this plantain exude a large amount of mucilage when they get wet.  This gummy stuff was used in France to stiffen muslins and other woven fabrics.

There were paths through the reeds.

And an approaching rain shower.

A small wader

Here it is again. Apologies for the poor quality of my picture.

This is the same bird in both photos but I am unable, through ignorance, to identify it.  It may be a sandpiper of some sort.  I am sure someone will be able to suggest a name.  It moved about very quickly.

An information board.

Please click on any of my photos to enlarge them.

Another information board.

We soon left for home before the rain arrived and had a warming cup of tea.

 

Avian Visitors

Tags

Barnacle geese, birdsong, Blue Tit, Fieldfares, Firecrest, Garden birds, goslings, greylags, mallards, moorhens, nesting, Redwings, song thrush, Springtime, starlings, Suffolk, Swallows, Tufted Ducks

We have had some warm periods of weather at last, after a long, cold spring.  Spring flowers have rushed to bloom and set seed before summer arrives and the trees have clothed themselves in delicate green leaves.

Any warm days we had in early spring were quickly followed by much cooler and wetter weather and the returning birds were confused, I am sure.  I saw a couple of vanguard male Swallows (Hirundo rustica) at the beginning of April but the ensuing wet and windy weather must have sent them back south because I didn’t see them again until mid May!

Two Swallows on the electric cable above our garden in April

Swallow number 1

Swallow number 2

We are pleased to say that the Greylags (Anser anser) did arrive in our garden, a little later than usual and spent a couple of hours a day inspecting the place…..

Greylag male and female

…..until they were ready to set up home here for the duration.  A nest was built on the island and the female began to sit on her eggs at the end of March.

The geese taking up residence.

The island

The goose on her nest. She lowers her head to become less noticeable.

The gander patrols the water…..

….but often went off elsewhere to eat and meet his friends, though was within calling range.

The goose sat and sat and sat, only leaving the nest for a couple of minutes in the morning and evening to snatch a quick bite to eat.

Eventually, right at the end of April the goslings hatched.  There are four of them but I have had great difficulty photographing them.

Retreating Greylag family

As the goslings have grown the parents have become a little more relaxed but still beat a hasty retreat if anyone gets too close.

Gander on the lookout

Four fat babies eating our grass

These photos were taken at dusk and with my zoom at full stretch!  The goslings are on the move all the time and it is very difficult to get them in focus.

This photo was taken a few days later from Elinor’s bedroom window

I managed to get the whole family in this one!

While the goose was still sitting on her nest we had some surprise and unexpected visitors in the garden.

Barnacle Geese! (Branta leucopsis)   They had the cheek to land on the Greylags’ island while the goose was on her nest!

They appeared to want to set up home there too.

Richard saw them visit a few days later when the Greylag goose decided she didn’t want them there any longer.  She called her mate who arrived very quickly and saw them off.  These photos were taken from Elinor’s bedroom window again.

The pond has also had many visits from Tufted Ducks (Aythya fuligula).  There have often been two pairs of them swimming together.

Male and female Tufted Ducks

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) male and female

Mallard drake

A pair of Moorhens (Gallinula chloropus)

The Moorhens again; one displaying its white feathers under its tail.

Before the leaves appeared on the Ash tree we had frequent flocks of Starlings visit in the evening

Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris)

We also had Fieldfares (Turdus pilaris) and Redwings (Turdus iliacus) congregate in that same tree before they flew north and east to their breeding grounds.

Once the winter birds had left, Spring decided it ought to do some catching up.  Flowers appeared, summer birds arrived despite the cool temperatures and I took this rather shaky video of our pond, mainly to record the birdsong (and the lambs!)

I managed to photograph a Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus) in our Rowan tree.

Blue Tit. There is also a crescent moon behind the tree

The next photo is a bit sad.  Sad in one sense that it shows a dead bird and sad in another that I am strange enough to want to photograph a dead bird!  I apologise to anyone who is upset at seeing these photos which were taken to record the presence of the bird in the area.  I buried the bird as soon as I had finished looking at it.

A Firecrest (Regulus ignicapillus).

I found this poor bird in the flowerbed under one of our windows and I assume it had flown into the glass and killed itself.

It is a tiny bird as you can see when compared with my hand.

Here is a link with information about Firecrests

We get Goldcrests in our garden but this is the first time I have seen a Firecrest here and am sorry that it had died.  It proves though, that there are probably other Firecrests about so I must be more observant.

A Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) singing at dusk

I also made another poor video of this lovely bird singing.  I had to balance on one leg while peering round the corner of our house to make the video which is my excuse for the poor quality.  The video is dedicated to Richard Sutton of A Listening Heart blog who lamented in a recent post that he hadn’t heard a Song Thrush for a while.  Please do visit Richard’s blog.  He writes beautifully about the countryside where he lives and about poets and writers too.

 

A Quiet Spring – March and April Part 1

Tags

birds, churches, flowers, garden, insects, spring, Suffolk, sunset

We weren’t very adventurous this spring, staying close to home and taking things easy, so there wasn’t too much to blog about.

A visit to St Michael’s church on the first mild spring day in March

We admired the ‘Narnia’ lamp post by the gate.

We were unable to tell the time as the sun failed to shine.

The peaceful churchyard.

Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris ) The flowers are in the centre of the bloom and have no petals. The 5 – 8 petal-like sepals are bright shiny yellow.

Peacock butterfly (Inachis io)  It was very sluggish and was still in the grass outside the church when we came out again.

A pair of Greylags (Anser anser) took up residence in our garden as they usually do each spring

We enjoy their company.

They constructed a nest on the island in the middle of the big pond but after ten days it was abandoned.  Feathers were spread everywhere. We don’t know what happened but we suspect an otter or an American mink was to blame.

The abandoned nest.

After we lost our summerhouse in the storm earlier this year we spent some time clearing the area behind it and discovered this tree with the deformed trunk. What could have caused this?

We enjoy seeing all the birds that visit our garden including the Pied Wagtails (Motacilla alba). Not a good shot as the bird hurried into the dappled shade just as I took its picture.

A sunset seen from the back of the house.

On a visit to our church at Rumburgh we saw this Mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) resting in the shade of a gravestone.

Primroses (Primula vulgaris) in the churchyard

I love the informality of our country churchyards and I like to see the wild flowers there. The wild flowers are just as much God’s work as any garden flower or exotic bloom.  They have a haven in our churchyards and should be safe from herbicides.

Barren Strawberry (Potentilla sterilis)

Richard on his way to church

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Meanwhile, back in my garden…..

My Pieris with its new leaves of red and its little white bell flowers

I have been growing these hyacinth bulblets on in shallow tubs and they are now ready for planting out in the garden to flower next spring.

 

Scented narcissi and pink aubretia

Elinor gave me some more aubretia, a mauve variety, as a gift on Mothering Sunday

Lathyrus and scilla

Pasque flowers. These began flowering just a couple of days after Easter Sunday.

I had a large patch of these red saxifrage but the deer scraped most of them up. I’m hoping they will spread again.

My music choice is ‘Glorious’ sung by The Pierces

Thanks for visiting!

Highlights Part 2

Tags

'Something in the Way She Moves', alderfly, azure damselfly, cactus flowers, communal mining bee, Early Purple Orchid, echinopsis oxygona, Four-spotted Chaser, greenfinch, highlights, Jacob sheep, lambs, oedemera nobilis, pond water-crowfoot, red campion, Robin, Southwold, Suffolk, The Beatles, the moon, The Saints Benefice in north Suffolk, the sea, thrift

The weather in May was changeable; cold, wet and windy for a few days then a couple of days of warmth and sunshine then back to cool and damp.  The beginning of June wasn’t much different.

These first photos were taken towards the end of May in our garden or within a short walk of home.

Pond Water-crowfoot (Ranunculus peltatus) has two sorts of leaves; the submerged leaves are thread-like but the floating leaves have rounded lobes. I found this plant in the pond at the front of the house. It is a relative of the buttercup and appeared here for the first time this year.

Alderfly (Sialis lutaria) In this country we have just three species of alderfly and they are virtually indistinguishable from each other. One (this one I believe) favours still or slow-moving water and the other two prefer running water.

Adult alderflies are weak-flying insects and never move far away from water.  The two or three weeks they spend as an adult are almost entirely taken up with looking for a mate.  Most don’t bother feeding but some may nibble a little pollen or algae if they are in need of sustenance.

Mining bee

Mining bee

I think this Mining bee is a Communal mining bee (Andrena scotica).  The females share a tunnel entrance but have separate nests underground.  They prefer slightly open ground and so are often found near paths.  I discovered this one while I was weeding and I think I had probably disturbed her nest.  She was making a lot of noise; I am sure she was very cross!

I was being helped in my task by a friendly Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

ooOOoo

Richard had noticed some orchids on the grass verge of a lane near us so we set off to walk to where they were growing.  I took a couple of photos on the way.

Lots of Red Campion (Silene dioica)

A Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris). I had to zoom as far as my camera was capable to enable me to get this rather grainy shot.

Early Purple Orchid (Orchis mascula)

Early Purple Orchid

Early Purple Orchid

We walked past a field full of Jacob sheep on the way back home

They are more like goats than sheep and the lambs are very endearing and inquisitive.

ooOOoo

At the very end of May we visited one of our local seaside resorts, Southwold, on a very cool and windy day.

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside!

The sea was rough…

…but this couple were happy to be there watching the waves together. Note how well wrapped up they were!

I like this weather vane on top of the Southwold Sailor’s Reading Room

These flowers caught my eye

Thrift (Armeria maritima)

ooOOoo

Within a day or so of our trip to Southwold the sun came out again and I was able to find insects to photograph.

Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)

Male and female Azure damselflies

Male Four-spotted Chaser dragonfly (Libellula quadrimaculata)

My field guide says these dragonflies are rather dull but I don’t find them so.

Male Oedemera nobilis.  A beetle that feeds on pollen; only the males have the swollen hind-legs.

ooOOoo

Just a few photos I took towards the middle of June.

Beautifully scented cactus flowers – Echinopsis oxygona

The moon

And finally a slideshow of a field of Common Poppies (Papaver rhoeas) I saw from the road at Ilketshall St. John this summer.  I wished I could get closer to it!  I think you may also appreciate this link.  It is a wonderful description of where I live and also has praise in it for our Rector who will be retiring next August.

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My music today is from the Beatles.  Many of you will know why I have chosen this today (though I am a couple of days late as usual!).  I was a student living in Liverpool at the time and heard the news of John’s death as I made my toast for breakfast on the 9th of December.  Thirty-six years ago!  I was surprised later to hear he had been shot on the 8th of December but I had forgotten the time difference.  Listen to the superbly melodic bass playing!

Thanks for visiting!

This and That – Part 1

Tags

amelanchier, blackbird, blackthorn, bluebell, countryside, cowslip, daffodils, English Elm, English Oak, garden, Goat Willow, green woodpecker, greengage, horse chestnut, Lords and Ladies, Marxh-marigold, pheasant, photography, rainbow, Red Deer, shrubs, Snowy Mespil, Suffolk, trees, white dead-nettle, wild cherry, wild flowers

I have taken a number of photographs over the last few weeks but haven’t had the time to write any posts.   Here are a few of the better pictures from April and earlier.

Red Deer (Cervus elaphus)

Back in January I was driving home from shopping when I saw this small group of five Red Deer making their way across a field towards the road.  I had to slow down and then stop because I could see that they were not only made nervous by my car but their usual path was blocked by a fire someone had lit to get rid of brushwood.  They eventually managed to cross the lane a little further along and then carried on their way.  I took a photo of them through the car window and this is the result – heavily cropped.  I had thought that I had missed them and it was only when I eventually looked carefully at the shot on my computer a few weeks ago I realised that they were there!

The Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) family wandering through the garden at the beginning of April.

This is such an untidy photo with the recycling bin out by the roadside and my former car in the way too.  This is another photo taken through glass (the kitchen window this time – you can see a reflection in the bottom left corner of the picture).  We haven’t seen the pheasants for a while now so I presume the females are busy on their nests.

We had a storm with heavy rain and then the sun came out.  It all looked so bright and fresh, so I stood at the front door and took three photos, to the left, straight ahead and to the right.

A few days later I stood at the end of the drive and took this photo of the ditch that runs along the edge of the garden. We have daffodils growing all along its length. The lane runs parallel with the front of our property. You can also see my new car in this picture.

Pussy Willow / Goat Willow (Salix caprea)

Goat Willow in flower

Cowslips (Primula veris)

A stormy sky. A photo of our house (and the house next door) taken standing next to our big pond and looking across the corner of the field.

The summerhouse

A Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis) looking for ants in the lawn

I was quite pleased with this photo as it showed all the different colours of its feathers, even the black and white spotted feathers under the wings.  This is a female adult as the moustachial feathers are all black.  The male has a crimson centre to the stripe.

A male Blackbird (Turdus merula) was also on the lawn looking for food.

White Dead-nettle (Lamium album)

Wild Cherry blossom (Prunus avium)

The first Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) flower in our garden this spring

There is nothing quite like the scent of Bluebells.  They are wild hyacinths but don’t have the cloying scent of the garden variety.  There is a sweet freshness that lifts the spirits and is irrevocably linked, to my mind, with birdsong, sunshine after rain and hope.

Greengage blossom (Prunus domestica ssp. italica). I hope we have some fruit this year.

Some of the Cowslips in our garden are orange and red.

Pendunculate / English Oak (Quercus robur). New leaves and flowers (catkins) appear at the same time.

Marsh-marigold (Caltha palustris). I found it impossible to photograph this bright yellow flower well.

More Marsh-marigold

New Horse-chestnut leaves and flower buds (Aesculus hippocastanum)

Beautiful new English Elm leaves (Ulmus procera). We have a number of small Elm trees in our garden. Sadly they will only live for a few years before they succumb to Dutch Elm disease.

Lords and Ladies / Jack-in-the-pulpit / Cuckoo pint (Arum maculatum).  This plant has many names.   Its arrowhead-shaped leaves are often dark spotted.

Snowy Mespil (Amelanchier canadensis) blossom

Blackthorn blossom (Prunus spinosa). This poor photo is the only image of this year’s blossom I managed to get.

A rainbow behind the trees

All these photos were taken in April and in my garden, except the first one.

I find I haven’t made a music selection for a while so this post’s choice is ‘Let’s Work Together’ by Canned Heat.  Excellent lyrics, great tune and the best tempo ever!

Thanks for visiting!

Greylags

Tags

gander, geese, goslings, greylags, nesting

Geese on the field behind our house in 2014

Geese in 2015

Geese in 2015

Those of you who have followed my blog for a year or more will know that we are visited in the springtime by Greylags (Anser anser).  These are wild (though the books say ‘feral’) geese who arrive in February and spend the first month or so wandering about the garden and the adjoining fields eating the grass (and the farmer’s barley and wheat) and generally making themselves at home.  Large family groups often stay a few hours with us before flying off somewhere else.  By the end of March nesting is their priority and fewer Greylags visit and when they do they stay for longer, looking for likely nesting sites or trying to take over the prime site on the island.

Greylags on the pond in March this year

Until four years ago the same pair of geese nested on the little island on our big pond and the last time they nested they produced seven goslings.  They stayed with us until the young geese had learnt to fly which was great fun to watch.  We were sorry to see them go but we got our garden back which was a relief.  And what a mess they left behind!

Greylags and Mallards under the bird-table.  Photo taken in 2014

The following year there was a week of fighting between ganders and at the end of it I believe the parents were eventually ousted from the nesting site on the island.  Other geese nested there, and on the edge of the pond, but no goslings hatched, or if they did they didn’t survive for long.  We had a couple of years of no goslings and then last year, the pair who have taken over the island had six goslings and I was able to photograph them.  The parents decided to take them off elsewhere after a few days so we didn’t see how they faired.

Greylags and their goslings last year

This year the goose began sitting a little later than usual, probably because of our cold spring and I am pleased to say that two weeks ago she successfully hatched ten goslings and they have all survived so far.

I took this photo when the goslings were just a few hours old

Greylags appear to pair for life and the gander is very protective of his goose and stays near her all the time she is incubating her eggs.  She leaves her nest twice a day to feed and the gander stands next to her while she eats very quickly.  He is also an extremely protective parent and guards his offspring and protects them from predators – and gardeners with wheelbarrows and anyone wanting to walk round the garden!

Goslings

The goslings after a week

The family group

Photo taken from the kitchen window a few days ago. The goslings have more than doubled in size and their wings are growing

The goose in front followed by ten goslings (the tenth is obscured by a leaf) and the gander is bringing up the rear.

I have filmed them (very badly!) and I finish this post with a video of them.  I used my new camera and I haven’t quite mastered filming yet!  For the second and third clips I should have zoomed in much closer and the first clip of them swimming has a lot of background noise for which I apologise.  As soon as I began filming some farm machinery started up.  I continued filming as I might not have had another chance and I have reduced the volume considerably on the video.  Living in the country is not as peaceful as you might imagine!  I will try to make another and better video of them soon.

Thanks for visiting!

A Walk

Tags

blackbird, dandelion, English Oak, hedging and ditching, Italian Alder, Lesser Celandines, ponds, primrose, Roe deer, rookery, Springtime, Suffolk folk dance music, walking, windy weather

On Sunday 13th March Richard and I were able to go for a walk along the lanes together for the first time in months.  The fields were still much too wet for us to walk across them easily so we stuck to the roads and got along very well.  The weather was bright and sunny but the wind was strong and from the north-east so we didn’t linger.

Primroses (Primula vulgaris) had begun to adorn the edges of the roadside.

We surprised a Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) who didn’t stay around for a photograph.

This pond was dug a few weeks ago and it is now full of water. It is about five or six feet deep. There is a cottage on the opposite side of the lane which is being renovated and we think this pond was dug to improve the drainage round the building.

Italian Alder catkins

Halfway down our lane a row of Italian Alders (Alnus cordata) grow between the lane and a wide arable field.  The trees are large and I assume were planted as a windbreak.

The Beck wasn’t as deep as it had been a couple of weeks earlier but was still flowing quite quickly.

Looking back the way we had come you can see the ditch at the side of the road is still very full. This ditch, along with most of the others near our house, has been cleared and dug out this winter.

The sides of the ditches are scraped to clear away the thick vegetation which if left, can stop the water from flowing away and will cause the roads and fields to flood.  The mud is then heaped up on the top of the bank and tamped down.  This is necessary work but means that we won’t see many wild flowers here for a while.

This photo shows more of the hedging and ditching work going on.

The ditch in the middle distance has been dug out and the hedge on the far side of it which had been left for too long without maintenance and had grown into a row of spindly trees, was being cut right back.

A view across the field looking in the direction of our house.

A grand Pedunculate or English Oak (Quercus robur) at the side of the lane. It has lost a large branch recently in a storm. You can just see the orange scar where the branch was ripped away.

Another view from the lane.

Another of the muddy lanes we walked along. The sunshine and the strong wind were doing a good job of drying the road.

The Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale agg.) are beginning to flower…..

…and so are the Lesser Celandines (Ranunculus ficaria).

The Primroses are doing well this year.

The Rookery at St Margaret’s village was busy.

More primroses under the hedge.

A male Blackbird (Turdus merula) sitting in a tree above my head was being blown about in the breeze.

These ponds appear on St Margaret’s common when we have had a lot of rain

This is our house as seen from the field at the back. We turned off the lane and walked back home down the edge of the field which had dried out quite nicely.

Our big pond as seen from the field. The white cord is all the boundary marker we have at present.

A view of the rest of the pond showing where the new summerhouse is.

My choice of music today is a video of a folk music session at a Suffolk pub.

Thanks for visiting!