Spindles, Bats and Admirals

October 31st 2014  20degs C, 65% humidity, southerly breeze, hazy sun all day.

The Spindle fruits are the most prolific they have ever been,

as yet untouched by birds which have been choosing Hawthorn

berries and sloes first. 

Today's report follows - first - good news about bats!

After  a long spring and summer monitoring the new bat boxes installed early in the year, there is now strong evidence that bats are roosting in the boxes. There was no sign of use during the previous check early in October but the cooler and longer nights have caused bats to seek out warmer roosts.

The boxes are checked using binoculars during good daylight and this time evidence was clear - marks on the vertical surface of the wood underneath the entrance slot indicate bat droppings, produced by bats roosting inside the boxes. See entry for 29th September 2014 for more about bats here - and go to  Hills Farm Conservation Group News entry for February 2014 - bat box installation.   

Red Admiral butterfly feasting on the nectar of Ivy flowers

having to fend off many other insects - bees, wasps and hoverflies

all concentrating on this rich autumn food supply.

Friday 31st October 2014

Still very warm with a southerly breeze, thin clouds and continuous sunshine. Ash leaves falling now in abundance leaving ash keys on some trees but Oaks still retaining their light green and yellowing leaves. No acorns have been seen for some time, either in the trees or on the ground. Field Maples are also losing their bright yellow leaves whilst under the trees bright green Cow parsley is already pushing up through the carpet of fallen leaves. The air very damp and humid, with the river flowing quiet fast after rain earlier in the week.

Robins are mostly in full song or uttering alarm 'tics', now easily seen but their plumage harmonising with autumn colours (16). As usual dunnocks are still keeping a low profile with just one singing. Hawthorn leaves suddenly start shaking, revealing a grey squirrel reaching out to the last remaining berries hanging over the river. Another squirrel was 'barking' in an oak - there will be a lot of competition for food this winter which promises to be a lean one for wildlife dependent on nuts and acorns. Versatile woodpigeons usually do well in any conditions although a close flock of at least 50 were seen flying high over the river, possibly to join large flocks seen leaving the coast in recent days. Perhaps they know more then we do! Several were staying put in the oaks here however (14).

Goldfinches are at present cheerfully singing in the ivy whilst others are busy in small groups flying across to forage on the seed heads of thistle seeds on the 'reptile' field. (28). Magpies, always giving the impression of a sense of purpose, flew across from a roof (3) into trees and a carrion crow called loudly.

Three jackdaws and four rooks were seen investigating the terrain from the air but departed on finding no freshly cut crops to feed on.  A noisy bunch of 8 herring gulls drifted over and later 18 black-headed gulls followed them.  About 15 Starlings were seen, seeking some choice mud to land on and those other mud-lovers, the pied wagtails, were gathering on a roof, calling (8).  A small flock of linnets (10) flew over, finding foraging good amongst the seed heads. House sparrows are now more vocal after the long summer, chattering in thickets, hedgerows and brambles (60) - no shortage of food for them at present with dried up blackberries and other seeds, in addition plentiful small insects savoured especially by this year's juveniles. Chaffinches, although seldom numerous here, are now calling (4). Blue tits (28) are active, investigating every hiding place for insects, with great tits (15) now in fine plumage  and a silent wren which flew whirring across the river to call from the opposite bank, the only wren seen today.

Blackbirds were seen moving along behind a thicket, feeding on hawthorn berries, with a few more out on the damp grass (14). Some were probably new arrivals and three certain newcomers arrived suddenly, flying across and landing on a fence, looking around at the new landscape. These were  the first redwings seen this autumn; they may just be passing through on their way west. A single chiffchaff, a summer visitor late to leave, or maybe deciding to overwinter here, was catching insects in a typically agile manner around some brambles.

A nuthatch, first heard calling in the distance, flew into an old oak, continuing to call loudly and persistently. Looking up into the oak, it was obvious why - a blue tit was disappearing into a hole which was probably a potential nest site for the nuthatch. The blue tit however was only interested in catching insects and flew off as the nuthatch approached.  Three more nuthatches were seen and heard along the riverside trees (4). Another welcome sound was the loud call of a green woodpecker on its grassy field and a call from a second bird in an oak further south (2). Their call is meant to carry far and wide in woods and fields as they can range over a large area. Not so the tiny treecreeper, which has a quiet thin high call unlikely to be heard far from its local patch of trees. Today there was a fine view of one foraging, creeping along the underside of a horizontal branch stretching from an old oak high over the river , its subtle plumage catching the sun.

Further south along the river bank, characteristic small calls came from a willow still holding most of its leaves. At first there was no sign of the birds, then tails appeared, jumping amongst the dry leaves - a family long-tailed tits (8) were foraging for insects, following each other into a field maple and working their way high up into the canopy.

It still had the feeling of a hot midsummer day, with a Comma butterfly seen on the bank, five Red Admiral butterflies, some chasing - and a lone Migrant Hawker dragonfly.

The weather has to change soon, with bats and butterflies moving to hibernate then hopefully we'll see the arrival of more winter migrants.

Meanwhile the rivers flows clear, reflecting leaves still green.

Oaks in October

We started to get an idea of the age of the riverside oaks on our latest meet on 26th October 2014.

Measuring the girth of the main trunks of each oak was not as easy as it may seem as most of the trees grow out of the river banks. Five of the oaks were successfully measured without anyone falling into the river however. It was a very dark morning so these photos were taken today, Tuesday 28th when the light was far better. Using the Woodland Trust table as a guide, the age of each tree was estimated.

This oak was probably just a sapling in 1783,
during the reign of George III

(The date of the first manned hot-air balloon flight in Paris)

This oak started growing around the year 1724,
during the reign of George 1st
(Invention of the chronometer by John Harrison 1726)

A fine oak, this was a sapling around 1839,
during the early years of  Queen Victoria's reign 

(The year when John Herschel took the first glass plate photograph)

This oak started growing not long after the one above, around 1869,
during the reign of Queen Victoria

(The year ballbearings were invented and the Suez canal opened)

The oldest oak measured so far was a sapling in around 1698,

during the reign of William and Mary 

(The year the Eddystone Lighthouse was first lit)

More to measure, so this may not be the oldest!

October Contrasts

So far, October has been a month of contrasts with mists and warmth, gales and cold fronts moving through. It has also shown a glut of berries and a dearth of acorns, heavy rains and dry earth.

Hazel leaves brighten the riverside still but Hazel nuts

are long gone.

A Hover fly (Eristalis pertinax) feeds on abundant ivy flowers, together with

many other insects. Ivy is a very valuable plant, the flowers providing 'out of season' 

food for wildlife, the evergreen leaves providing cover all the year round, for

nesting birds in the spring and shelter for roosting birds and bats. This Hover fly 

imitates a drone Honey bee, pretending to be a stinging insect to avoid predators.

Like a true bee, it is a useful pollinator.

Here is the record for early October:

Sunday 5th October 2014 

The morning was sunny after rain the day before but a lot colder - seeing the first frost of the coming winter, with no wind. The early sun was just reaching the maples and ivy, warming up the leaves and attracting hover flies but no butterflies at first. Rose hips and hawthorn berries shone in the sun, more evident now that leaves were thinning. Some rose hips could be seen as high as the top of the Hawthorn thickets after a summer of rapid growth.

It was good to hear robins singing now, challenging each other, sorting out their winter territories along the river banks (21) whilst blue tits (39) and great tits (22) were also more in evidence than last month, a few of the latter calling.

Numerous blackbirds were active, not singing but most making their way south amongst the river bank thickets, savouring the sloes on the blackthorn on the way, obviously new arrivals, whilst our resident blackbirds looked on, having fed well in late summer on plentiful fruits (25). House sparrows, which stay put all year, were noisier now, bickering and calling from the hedges (36) and one chaffinch was heard calling whilst others were seen flying across (6).

Starling numbers had also increased, winter visitors probably joining the existing small colony. An old Maple was whistling loudly, the starlings hidden from view whilst more birds wheeled around above, coming to land in a day-roost thicket nearby (60).    

Goldfinches (13) flew into an ivy-covered area and more into a blackthorn thicket from the field margin where they had been foraging and 2 long-tailed tits were seen high in the top of an oak.
A great spotted woodpecker flew across and dived into the tree, still in full leaf, whilst 2 juveniles sat in a nearby thicket, the female clearly visible, preening for a while. A squirrel gave a loud scream but the woodpeckers sat silently, unconcerned. Two more, adults, were seen flying south, calling (6).
Nuthatches are always early establishing their nesting accommodation which they will guard and prepare over the winter. Today two were seen flying, perching and calling around the old trees.
Wrens were still mostly hiding out of sight but one was seen flying low down over the river, another two gave alarm calls and one tried out a very short song (7). Down under Hazel tree roots along the bank two dunnocks were seen foraging together with great tits and two more were seen in undergrowth further along (4). Quiet calls behind a blackthorn thicket came from two bullfinches which declined to show themselves today but one goldcrest was briefly heard and seen in a conifer.
Most of our summer warblers had left but two blackcaps (males) were seen foraging quickly in the blackthorn, maybe new arrivals or maybe summer birds staying on, briefly appearing in the sunlight.
After an unusually cold night, remaining chiffchaffs were very active catching insects, making their rapid 'U turns', contact calling, never still.
In the blue sky herring gulls were circling, with no wind to battle against (41), a few carrion crows were seen (7) with two rooks and 8 jackdaws.  A lone pheasant was heard in the undergrowth and two wary collared doves looked down from a branch whilst small groups of woodpigeons sat in trees or flew across the river (27). 5 Magpies foraged on the damp field. Shots rang out from the fields beyond, indicating that woodpigeons were being targeted - but no large numbers were seen to fly up and the shots didn't last long.
The day was warming up and eventually 4 buzzards glided into view, two circling around each other, gliding, over the river and two, also keeping each other company, were seen further away. Below them, closer to the ground, about 15 house martins were flying together, feeding on insects. They will be off this month on their long journey south.
In the warmth, the butterflies began to appear, a male Brimstone, two small copper butterflies, 3 Red Admiral butterflies and 8 Speckled Woods, the autumn butterflies.
A rather scarce small bird, a marsh tit, was seen preening in a sunlit thicket before disappearing.
 and a Roe deer moved into the undergrowth nearby, silently.

The stars of today were clearly a fine kingfisher - a bright blue flash flying in a gap where the sun shone just above the surface of the clear water, heading upstream - and a grey wagtail, almost as quick flying along the river, showing off its very long tail and flash of yellow.