Autumn - and robins take over

Friday 15th September 2017 was sunny with an unusually clear sky, the day unusually still and at last cooler. Although it was only two weeks since the last record on 29th August (see previous post), the character of the riverside had changed completely. The grass was wet with dew with the taller grasses now dying down leaving flowering Purple Loosestrife to colour the low vegetation and plentiful Rose hips showing well amongst the hedges and thickets up to the topmost branches. On the ground under the oaks, carpets of acorns were growing even thicker without being collected by jays and squirrels which are not numerous this autumn. New buds could be seen between the old leaves and acorns on the oaks with no obvious leaf fall yet.

Fallen acorns - an acorn falling from the top branch of an oak directly

onto your head makes quite a thud. Jays and squirrels prefer to collect them 

directly from the branches, undamaged.

The fresh new songs of robins (36) filled the air all along the river, but listening carefully, some were definitely communicating with another (probably rival) robin rather than singing at random.

Wrens (15) could be heard singing on the banks but were no competition for the robins today.

The popular Blackthorn thicket held 3 restless dunnocks, with perfect and subtly coloured plumage when glimpsed in the sun. On the grass under the brambles a blackbird was busy,  persistently digging with its beak. At last it stood, head held  high with a worm in its beak, looking very strange as its head and shoulders were soaked from the wet grass. Others were seen (total 11) preening after bathing or foraging in the depths of the Blackthorn. One male was moving from branch to branch in a large Elder without success, the bush had been completely stripped of berries form top to bottom.

Only one jay was seen, crossing an embankment over carpets of acorns.

A young seedling oak tree probably about a year old where an acorn

has fallen from a very old oak onto soft ground on the embankment.

There were at least ten such seedlings in the area, as yet unnoticed

by passing herbivores.

Self seeded oak trees will usually have a more diverse shape compared with nursery-grown oaks.

As the sun rose gradually, warming up the hedgerows, house sparrows  (about 52) began to stir, the last bird to awaken, as usual. At this time of the year there is no need for them to forage from sunrise to sunset, with plenty of seeds and insects to choose from. The same applies to goldfinches (32) but these birds are usually more active, feeding on their favourites, Dock and Teasel seeds then flying together to the next patch or into a tree or thicket to sit and sing amongst dense branches. No greenfinches were seen or heard today and only one chaffinch. This doesn't mean that they are not present - but they are only present in small numbers. Only two starlings were seen today, the usual roosting flock was certainly out on a sortie - finding rich pickings in the ploughed fields. Woodpigeons on the other hand were present in reasonable numbers (34), some amongst flowering ivy, others in the trees or watching from fences, joined by noisy magpies (6) still in bickering family groups.

Bluetits were back on the scene in good numbers (about 50), investigating new habitats. Several were hunting for spiders around the outside surfaces and entry slots of bat boxes high in the trees. They appear to prefer spiders to insects - a spider forms a concentrated protein snack. Great tits are even quicker to investigate new habitats and take over new territories with nesting potential  (total about 20).

  Goldcrests (5) too were quick to move into an unfamiliar scene where a fallen tree presented fresh insect foraging.    Some Long-tailed tits could be heard calling but remained invisible amongst the leaves, high in the trees.

Only one carrion crow, two herring gulls and two rooks were seen in the clear sky, perhaps the lack of wind did not attract many gulls, corvids and raptors today but the fine close sighting of a sparrowhawk gliding, circling directly above me over the river made up for it. Amongst the trees, a pair of nuthatches called in an acorn-laden oak and a third silently flew across the river. Further downstream a fourth was calling from an ash tree. On the river itself a pair of mallard paddled quietly under the steep banks and a third (m) was seen nearby. Finally, the last of the summer migrants, the chiffchaffs  (9) were very fresh and active, with several close together collecting spiders in the sun amongst the Blackthorn and Hawthorn.

The star of the day however was a butterfly - a strongly flying but rather worn female Brown Hairstreak was ranging along the brambles and low Blackthorn branches at the base of the 'master' Ash tree. It was clearly looking for places to lay eggs on new Blackthorn growth and had probably already visited several choice twigs. Usually only one egg is left in one place, the butterfly moving on to select many different twigs.
As I was watching it, a calling grey wagtail flew across the river and into the shady banks.

Speckled Wood butterflies (27) were again the most numerous, preferring dappled shade on bright days. A few Large White butterflies were seen but numbers were much reduced. Three very bright Red Admiral butterflies were busy amongst the ivy.
Dragonflies were as numerous as butterflies on the riverside, with nine Southern Hawkers, most ranging across the river banks, a low-flying Brown Hawker in the shade, good numbers of Common Darters, males and females in various stages, indicated by variations in colouring and several Migrant Hawkers, with others flying too high to identify.
Bumblebees and honeybees thronged the over-ripe berries on the brambles, flowering Ivy and late honeysuckle.