Keeping Busy

 Sunday, March 21

The first day of spring.

The early potatoes, Lady Christl, (not a spelling mistake), are planted, the tomatoes have been potted on, cucumber and pepper seeds planted, and the back garden is full of yellow and white. Miniature daffodils and crocus.The front border shows Winter Aconites and Anemone Blanda, the newly planted roses look thriving too. 

Pam is in the greenhouse potting on the myriad flowers she planted, temporarily filling my propagator. Once the tomato plants have grown, the flower plants will all be ready to harden off, I hope. The leek seedlings are already out on the work surface, healthy green shoots.

The garden is also alive with Siskin chatter. They rival the Goldfinches as chatterboxes. I tried some photos yesterday. 

We got the idea for adding the plastic ties to both perch fitted feeders and those without, from a webcam. The birds seem to prefer the longer perch.

 

 

The Camellias have fat buds, the large camellia hedge near the greenhouse has a Blackbird nest again. Although we have seen birds prospecting the nestboxes, none seem to be occupied yet. The nesting material holder has been well used, the contents have been spread around the nearby tree and bushes.

 

The moth catch is slowly increasing. We had 24 moths of 8 species yeaterday, 19 of 8 to-day.  Twin-spotted Quaker and Clouded Drab were new for the year.

We also had a micro this morning,

	Acleris ferrugana
	Rusty Oak Button

 

And, a moth trap intruder. A small, dimpled, beetle, Chrysolina oricalcia, a member of the leaf beetle family. New for us.

 

Description

Size: 6.5-9.1mm
Basic colour: Dark blue, sometimes dark violet, very dark green, deep bronze or black with a bronze reflection.
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Other colour forms: Sometimes
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: As basic colour
Confusion species: Chrysolina haemoptera

Biology

Status: Widespread but Scarce (Notable B) and may be declining in some parts of England.
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Various Apiaceae such as cow parsley
Overwintering: Unknown location, but adults do overwinter.
Food: Adults feed on leaves and possibly pollen; larvae feed on leaves at night and in the evening.
Other notes: Similar to C. haemoptera. Pronotum trapezoidal with longitudinal furrows towards the sides. Elytral striae formed of sparse punctures.

(Müller, O.F., 1776)

 

 

Walcott

 

St Patrick's Day.

Wednesday. March 17

An essential outing to Walcott Post Office saw more cars than before - but fewer than usual - parked along the front. We pulled in to a space to avoid an oncoming car, and noticed that the mob of Turnstones  usually present were on top of the sea wall. Amongst them were five lovely Sanderling.

We always have a small bag of bird food in the boot, including one of bird table mix. Pam sprinkled some along the wall, much of it then blown onto the pavement. The blizzard of gulls which immediately rose, eyed the banquet and decided that there was nothing there for them. Excellent, that was the idea. As soon as Pam returned, the flock was back, squabbling, jousting for position, constantly on the move. At least I could photograph through the gap between the side mirror and the car. Pam had to make do with the tinted distortion of the front screen.

 

 

One of the birds had a foot which pointed backwards. It didn't appear to hamper it, apart from a slight limp.

 

Then we posted the letter.

Not many moths being trapped at the moment. We have added a new species for the year this week. A Grey Shoulder-knot 

 

A moth frequently seen in Sep - Nov which re-appears in March/April.

 

 

Woollies

 

Mother's Day present from Sara. It's lovely.

 Monday, March 15 

Spring = lambs. To the BBC it certainly does. Last night's Countryfile was devoted to all things sheep, lambing at Adam's Cotswold farm, the wool trade, sheep that do not require shearing, and the plight of sheep farmers now that it costs more to shear a sheep than the fleece fetches. Farmers are bound by law to shear their sheep once a year, for the health of the sheep.

Zwartbles sheep and twin lambs - Stalham 2021

 

When I was growing up, shearing in May was a time for excitement and celebration.. My father was one of the local men asked to help shear the sheep. By hand clippers, I still have dad's, wrapped in an oily rag. 

We kids were also welcomed. The boys would chase around the straw floored pen wrestling the sheep to the waiting shearer. Girls were in charge of the tar pot and brush, ready to dab any cuts on the sheep.Only once did I volunteer to do the catching and wrestling. It was hot, messy, hard work - and I got covered in sheep muck. After a year or two I was promoted to fleece rolling with the farmer's wife. Tail, leg and neck parts neatly folded in and then the fleece rolled into a small bale, added to a well packed sack. The lanolin in the wool was very kind to the hands.

Best of all was the farmhouse tea afterwards. Ham sandwiches, the meat and bread home produced, cakes and biscuits. All workers welcome.

Dad also helped with rounding up the sheep from the mountains beforehand, riding either Bolas the pony or Dick the carthorse. In retrospect I don't know how he fitted everything in. Night shift at the mine, council meetings and brass band practice with the odd bit of trout fishing and rabbit hunting thrown in. He would have been happier farming, but as the oldest of nine children, the better paid job was more important. Another reward was a few rows of potatoes and swede planted for him, and then delivered by the farmer in the Autumn. The sacks saw us through the winter. I was privileged to ride in the trailer, and help deliver the veg.

'Our' Blackcap is singing, and feeding again. He's been missing for a week or so. Up to four Siskins and a pair of Brambling are also making regulat feeding visirts. More amorous toads have added to the pond wildlife, still no sign of any frog spawn. We've always had frog spawn.

Tomato and leek seeds have sprouted, the onion sets have been planted, the first potatoes will be planted on Friday. Spring is well on its way, as is the next easing stage of lockdown. After March 29. we can drive further afield legitimately, looking for those much anticipated first migrants. Wheatears are the first joy.

Many Black-headed Gulls now have their full dark brown hood.

 

We have also booked a Scottish holiday, in September, another enjoyable target. Four nights at the Grant Arms followed by five on Ardnamurchan at Heatherbank guesthouse. All the hotels on the peninsula involve climbing stairs to the bedrooms We've stayed at the one level B and B before, finding it very comfortable and scenically situated. We shall make at least one day visit to Mull, easy from Strontian.

Wrong Conditions

 Wednesday, March 10

It was definitely the wrong conditions. Overcast, cold, without sun. We arrived at about 11.20, on the late side for mid morning thermals. Another minus point. Despite having good directions, we did not find the site easily. Five minutes after arrival, a female Goshawk rose out of the far woods and made her way west. Always distant, always an awesone sight. One of my favourite raptors. I managed two snatched photos before the bird planed out of view.

 

 

Shortly afterwards, two more Goshawks appeared high over the conifers, spiralling lazily on unseen currents, ever higher, and higher, until they disappeared. Within a few minutes, two more birds appeared  The same ones or different? We shall never know - they appeared from the same direction as the previous duo had disappeared. We watched these for a quarter of an hour, until they were specks in the sky, until our arms were too tired to hold the bins up any longer. Not our best ever views, but certainly the most extensive. Excellent.

The show was over. We - and the occupants of the other three cars present - packed up and left. 

We returned via the coast, the longing for the sea and the coast is ever present. 

 

The two Greenshanks were still present, still separate. My photographs were bigger but not much sharper in the murky light. 

 

Garden Nature

 Monday, March 8

Time for the annual celebration of our wonderful Acacia/Mimosa/Wattle tree. Acacia for us, Wattle for Australians and the flower is Mimosa - and a rather nice cocktail. It started life in a pot, for many years spending the summer outdoors and the winter in the greenhouse. It was planted outside when it grew too tall for the greenhouse roof. It had two chances and has flourished, I don't know how much longer it will survive. Last Autumn, a gale caused the trunk to split downwards from the first major trunk division. It has a tourniquet around it which seems to have sufficed this year. The right hand side of the tree now leans down rather more than before, its weight pulling the split in that direction. I  have to duck to get through underneath.

A joy for several weeks in early spring.

 

Nearby is a Hazel tree I planted for nostalgic reasons. During my youth, I spent my free days roaming the hillsides of my welsh valley home. My friend Olwen and I knew where all the Hazel trees were and which ripened  first  I am still very fond of fresh hazelnuts - which is why Sara sent me a kilo of Kent cobs last year. In photographing the Acacia, I thought to look at the Hazel for signs of a possible fruiting this year, It had a total of a dozen last year when it fruited for the first time.

Yes, there were a few catkins. 

 

And many more of the much more insignificant, female flowers There should be a few nuts.

 

 

Although Pam has seen two frogs in the pond, there is no spawn as yet. Toads have been active though, laying their strings of spawn, attached to whatever is handy in the pond. 

 

No Scotland - Again

Primroses on a local roadside

Friday, March 5

I was so disappointed last week. On first hearing of Boris's road to the end of lockdown, euphoria. Self Catering was legal from April 14. We could look forward to another week in the Highlands, cottage booked for 2020 and deferred until this year. 

Then, Nicola moved the goalposts for Scotland, making Boat of Garten an impossiblity. An email from Sykes Cottages endorsed this, giving us the choice of choosing another date or having our payment refunded. Fair. I looked at the dates, it would have to be 2022 as our cottage is fully booked until November this year. We were not that happy with the place anyway so we decided to cancel and look for somewhere else for 2022.

Having now engaged brain and read some more, I realised that all, Mull and North Uist included, would be impossible as hotels would not be open until May 17 - a week after we should have arrived on the Uists. No longer should we drive that far in a day anyway. Our days of driving to Sunderland for a Sora and home by lunchtime are long past. Pam loves driving, but the physical stress of it has caught up with her. I can't drive more than short distances so we can't share.

We then started looking in the Highlands area and ended up booking an extremely expensive house outside Grantown on Spey. We fell for it, and threw usual caution to the winds. A culmination of two years disappointment and the need to have an enjoyable target. We have remained positive throughout all the Covid 19 lockdowns, staying at home etc. That was a low point. Going out on Monday helped enormously.

It's planting time again. On Wednesday, I planted three varieties of tomato seed, peppers and leeks. If seed is successful in that it tastes good, I continue to use it when possible. This year I have planted old favourite Ferline which is the standard round red tomato, Rosella, a cherry type and Country Taste, a beefsteak. I was happy with the Big Daddy I grew last year, but the seed was not available. The leeks are Musselburgh, an old variety which stand well over winter. I wanted to try some new ones, recommended by Gardening Which, but couldn't get the seed.

I've done my rotational veggie crop plan for this year and the potato patch has been covered with fleece, warming up the ground ready for the second earlies, Nicola, which are chitting very nicely. 

We are still enjoying our favourite webcams. Being able to rewind the film means that we can see animals which visit in the night. The moderator gives a time frame and names the animal.The Flying Squirrel which visited the Ontario feeding station was far too rapid to photograph. The Genet visited the Pretoria platform, the Opossum was at Canopy Lodge, Panama.

A Genet 

and an Opossum. This had an extremely long tail which disappeared off the edge of the table. 

Last night, we had the pleasure of watching David Bryant's Zoom presentation entitled 'Birds of the Yare Valley'. Despite my learner's ineptitude in using a new programme, missing the introduction and the first few minutes of sound, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and smooth running session.

Obfuscation

 

 

Is there a more splendid flag?

Monday March 1

Dydd Gwyl Dewi. David's Celebration Day is the literal translation.

Before starting this entry, .I spent some time pondering how to obfuscate what we really did. It was illegal, morally reprehensible, guilt inspiring - and just as enjoyable as that sounds. Obfuscating does not sit easily, I rejected it. We went birding. For the whole day. We drove to the west of the county and back, seeing very few people and cars, and 75 species of bird. It was wonderful. Very tiring, exhilarating and soul satisfying, all at the same time.

As we approached Holt, I reached for my camera, always beside my right foot. It wasn't.  I'd left my bag at home. Famously unobservant when it comes to anything without feathers, my family would not be surprised by this. I still was. I sat back to enjoy the day. 

At our usual feeding station stop, a Muntjac appeared, actually moving to within a metre of where I was sat. Pam passed me her Canon Bridge to take some photos through the window. How frustrating. I then remembered that I should have an Olympus TG-5 compact, waterproof, point and shoot in the car locker. There it was - and the battery was still functioning after months out of use. This is the result. I continued to use it.

 

Despite setting off in thick mist hampering visibility, espeially of anything flying, we were steadily adding species. Turning into our favourite old road track, a white blob caught the eye. It was a white Pheasant. Not an albino as it had colour on the head. It was in a recently furrowed field, looking very comical as it appeared to hop and skip as it hurdled one, partly disappeared down another and then rose again, as it fled.

 

Coincidentally, we had another in the garden a couple of months ago. Surely too many miles apart to be the same one.

 

Fortunately, the mist lifted, whilst omnipresent, as we drove west. I've never seen as much water everywhere. Many fields had sky mirroring standing pools, roads were partially flooded, streams overflowing, ditches the same.

Snettisham was full of birds, most of them too distant to identify with certainty.. It was great to see waders again. Avocets are returning in numbers, there were over a hundred scattered widely, all avidly sweeping for food from the rich Wash supermarket mud. They always remind me of a Hoover vacuum cleaner advert from much younger days.  ' It beats as it sweeps as it cleans' (1956 !)  No Goldeneye to-day, they've returned north. The usual Snettisham biking watcher was there at the eastern end. It could be Les Bunyan(?) who regularly posts Snettisham sightings on Twitter.

Always reluctant to drag ourselves away, we drove to an almost deserted Hunstanton cliff top for cruising Fulmar.One flying, several others sitting, preening, on the sea far below. 

Gun Hill layby was also empty. Our first flock of Pinkfeet of the day, small numbers of Brent, at least three perched Buzzards, and a Great Egret feeding in a dyke.

The gates to the track down to Meals House at Holkham were open, giving uninterrupted views across the western end of the marsh. A Grey Heron, several Marsh Harriers, including a sky dancing mating pair, and our first Spoonbill of the year, flying into view from a hidden place.

The dreaded diversion sign took us away from Wells quay and the less direct route around town. North Point pools would be very full of water with no mud for waders, was it worth a visit. Might as well try was the answer. As I was scoping the western water from the car park, adding a male Shoveller to the day list, a Barn Owl swept by. It was on a mission and far too fast to even think of raising a camera. Our much anticipated first of the year - despite them nesting in the village and frequently seen by others, missed by us.

To-day was notable for the amount of planting being done, with clouds of gulls following tractors or, replete, resting nearby. We also saw large numbers of Curlew most places we visited. A favourite wader. Pam was delighted to see a number of Brown Hares too, eight in the corner of a field at Holkham. Adding Tree Sparrow to the year list is always an anticipated pleasure. 

Surviving the pretty vicious road humps down to Morston Quay at the end of a long day, was worthwhile. One distant Geeenshank fed in the channel at the western end, another at the eastern end of the parking area. My Olympus managed this.

Pam prefers the first photo, I favour the second.

 

A Great Spotted Woodpecker on the garden feeders brought a lovely day's total to 75, six of them new for the year.

No-one was harmed in the making of this Blog.