April ends with 'Fine Flight Weather'

The last four days of April 2020 saw a change in the weather - a change in the wind direction that is eagerly awaited by our welcome summer migrants:

Swifts.

Swifts spend almost all their lives on the wing and head north from Africa only to breed, with  a choice of suitable countries which fortunately still include England. We still have old buildings such as church towers and water towers to which they return each year. New specially made Swift nest boxes and Swift bricks in newbuildings are checked out but are sometimes left until suitably shabby before being used.

Monday 27th started on a suitably cloudy note but 'deteriorated' later, ending in a fine sunny evening…. 

There were good numbers of singing chiffchaffs and some common whitethroats in the young trees and a grey heron was seen heading for it's lookout oak over a drainage basin. Nuthatches called and robins, wrens and house sparrows sang.

The weather improved the following day April 28th with fine continuous rain overnight, and more during the day, remaining cloudy.

Wednesday 29th was even better, starting cloudy, becoming quite dark with a Southerly wind.

Heavy rain was forecast but initially birds were singing loudly even under such dark conditions.

Blackcaps, robins, dunnock and blackbirds, with soft calls from a bullfinch. Two goldcrests flew into a conifer and a pair of jays flew back and forth building or strengthening a nest, carrying twigs. Looking up at the goldcrests and beyond at the leaden sky I saw a swift quite high, catching insects, then another   

and a third keeping quite close together. They were visible flying directly overhead then drifting off towards an area with buildings where they have traditionally nested in summer.

I guessed that they had been waiting somewhere across the channel and seized the chance of a 'swift' and easy crossing into Sussex as soon as conditions were favourable i.e. a southerly wind!

They had chosen a window of good conditions, as the next day, 30th April turned very windy with hail and heavy rain.

Swifts were reported to have first arrived further north in Norfolk several days after that.

Wild flowers flourished after the rain

This is Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys)

or 'Bird's Eye'

said to be a lucky flower to spot for those on a journey, walking along the track - hence 'speedwell'.

This year they seemed to be quite prevalent for a while.

April Survey in the Silent Sun

At last - the Survey for April. This took place on Sunday 26th 2020., a fine sunny day , clear with no wind, just the sound of the babbling brook and birdsong. How easy it is to get used to absolute quiet with only nature providing the music!

Almost all trees were now in leaf (Ash and some poplars excepted), carpets of Wild Garlic still flowering on step banks.The ponds still contained some water and the ground around them was still damp, now midges were out, eagerly snapped up by birds collecting food for their young. Gritty path surfaces attracted seed-eating birds such as house sparrows, adults as well as fledged young although they still seek out insects whilst seeds are scarce. The 'bog' field seemed to be attracting large numbers of Starlings as well as house sparrows today. Birdsong was continuous along the river bank, wrens dominating with a background of blackbird song and cooing wood pigeons and collared doves.

The air was filled with drifting fluff from Willow catkins.

Full Blossom on one of the young fruit trees

attracting crowds of bees. April 2020.

The numbers of house sparrows (70) had suddenly increased with the fledging of young, with some adults pecking at the blossom - fine nest material for the next brood. 

Blackbirds (25) provided the most persistent song leaving no part of the riverside in silence together with singing wrens (26) in the low willows and on the banks, with no sign of the past winter's floods

left to deter them. Song thrushes have been doing very well in past months with very wet weather providing plentiful supplies of snails and slugs. Eight were seen, some giving short songs. Woodpigeons (c30) were not doing very much, most sitting together in pairs in the old oaks and maples. Some however were busy plucking choice fresh Ash tree leaves, in a leisurely manner. As usual collared doves were present amongst the Ivy but only three given away by their calls.

Robins (21) with several fledged young were mostly singing whilst dunnocks (7) today were active amongst the river Willows. Blue tits (25) called quietly as they moved about under the cover of rapidly growing leaves. Great tits (12) seen were singing or foraging but those nesting would have been unheard and unseen. Long-tailed tits (4) always seem to make themselves heard and then seen as they fast-fly from tree canopy to tree canopy. Many more would fortunately be unseen in their invisible nests. Greenfinches (1) and chaffinches (3) were as usual scarce here whilst goldfinches thrive (24), with most nesting unseen but others singing in groups in thickets.

Wild Garlic flowering under a riverbank tree. It will soon disappear completely and be replaced by summer flowering plants such as Cow Parsley and later Meadowsweet and Buttercups.

Starlings (c100) were today a constant sight flying over the river course, fly-catching. When it comes to feeding young, nothing can be better than fresh flies. At other times of the year starlings are not as numerous here, but spread out across the countryside. Three herring gulls were seen in the air, one magpie flew across and ten carrion crows were sighted here and there, some calling, then a single rook and two jackdaws, always on their way to some distant location.

Nuthatches (6) were very vocal today, seeing off unwanted intruders on their territories spread out along the river. Two pairs of jays were nesting in large trees, the nests hidden well but with a good view of the surrounding landscape.

A green woodpecker called and flew from an old tree not far from where two common whitethroats were seen amongst young trees, singing. A garden warbler was also heard singing in some willows.

Warblers are doing well -with twelve blackcaps which all seemed to arrive at once and settle down to sing and nest in their usual habitat. Chiffchaffs (11) were well established, all singing and moving very fast from branch to branch collecting food for young. 

Butterflies seen were 2 Brimstone, 3 Large Whites, 5 Orange-tips and 2 Peacocks.

but no Dragonflies.

The best is yet to come!

Signs of the Summer to come

After a welcome deluge on Friday 17th April - yes it's still April! - signs of summer followed with each new day, although the days remained cool with the prevailing wind from the east. Most of the river course was sheltered with the presence of moorhens noted on 18th together with several Red Admiral butterflies over the nettles and Orange-tips still numerous. On 20th there were more Red Admirals and Orange-tips, many very vocal chiffchaffs, a greenfinch, chaffinch and nuthatch amongst the greening trees.

An oak just in full leaf 19th April 2020

On 21st April, the first sighting for quite a while of two treecreepers, probably a pair, foraging carefully on the bark of a very old oak (not the one pictured) on the river bank - keeping to the sheltered south-facing surface where insects were most likely to emerge in the warmth. They made their way up very high then went on to other branches. Many other birds were in the same tree, including a loudly calling great tit.  Looking up, a common buzzard was seen being chased by a herring gull and a carrion crow.

On a sunny nettled bank, all within about three cubic meters of each other were two Red Admirals, settled on nettles and Dandelion, a Peacock butterfly also on dandelion, three Holly Blues, two chasing each other, high and low, an Orange-tip male and a Large White butterfly.

Another fine day followed on 22nd:

An afternoon check - still many Orange-tips, Large Whites , Speckled Woods and Holly Blues together with Peacock and Red Admiral and many bumblebees. Most birds were still singing including robin, goldfinches, common whitethroat, good views of several dunnock, blackbird, song thrush, blackcaps, chiffchaffs, a pair of collared doves, jay, carrion crow, a colony of house sparrows, nuthatch, two mallard males and two goldcrests.

The Peacock butterfly was easy overlooked as appeared from a distance to be a small stone on the path:

The Peacock butterfly has good camouflage - with closed wings it appears black, as a deep shadow in the sun. Here it was probably warming up using radiated heat from the path and the warmth of the sun on its almost black outer wing. 22nd April 2020.

Mid April with advanced fruit blossom and bullfinches

 Mid April 2020 - and on 16th  blossom was seen on all the fruit trees  but as usual the north facing trees were slightly less advanced. Hawthorn blossom was magnificent on sheltered banks, the rest waiting for May.

Hawthorn blossom on 16th April 2020, attracting insects.

The flowers appear after the plant comes into leaf.

Bees were so numerous and moving so fast from flower to flower that it was difficult to track them on the fruit blossom:

The noise of their humming was incredibly loud, there being no other source of sound apart from singing birds and buzzing from other insects on the riverside. There was still plenty of sunlight filtering through the still small leaves on most of the other trees along the banks with more Cuckooflower and Garlic Mustard plants flowering, attracting yet more Orange-tip and Brimstone butterflies.

The chiffchaffs were easily the loudest and most persistent birds present, but one pair was seen building a nest in a bush, each bringing in choice grasses whilst making small 'hweet' calls to keep in continuous contact with each other They cease to call loudly when nesting.

A male bullfinch was heard calling in a Willow for quite a while, it's bright plumage very obvious agains a background of Hawthorn blossom. The female was far less visible. 

Blackbirds, song thrushes, great spotted woodpecker, robins, dunnocks and wrens were all singing and a  kingfisher flew low along the steep banks around the meander.

In shadier parts the first Greater Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea) was flowering:

Fragile flowers with fine leaves and stems attract small insects, important but often overlooked

in woodland.