April ends, alternating between sun and deluge

All the rain and sunshine has resulted in excellent growth on the riverside and attracted wildlife from far and wide.

Guelder Rose already starting to flower

A male Blackbird watches from a lookout whilst its mate is nesting.

Some trees, such as Ash have been very slow to show signs of leaf

whilst others, such as hawthorn and Oak are a mass of green

The May is out in April

By the middle of April the Hawthorn along the river was in full leaf with plenty of flower buds. Blue skies and warm weather meant that the May was flowering early this year, taking over from the Blackthorn.

May blossom under blue skies

and a damp corner crowded with violets on the river bank, attracting many insects such as small bees

Garlic Mustard in flower in warm shelter on the bank

Garlic Mustard close-up. The leaves have a garlic scent which

attracts the Orange Tip butterfly. Both the wild plant and 

the butterfly have been flourishing extremely well this spring.

Wild Garlic flowering everywhere on shady river banks.

This is an entirely different plant and gives a strong garlic smell to

any area where it grows, looking more exotic than the unobtrusive

Garlic Mustard

In the centre, Wood Buttercup or Goldilocks Buttercup (Ranunculus auricomus)

mingling with Lesser Celandine

Contrasting with the damp areas, not far away - a patch of subsoil

exposed to the sun where an old oak was uprooted in a storm - is now thriving with plantain

and is very popular with all butterflies, including this Peacock.

A plant with hairy leaves and vivid blue flowers also thriving here 

on the river bank -

Green Alkanet

April - and the summer blackcaps are back!

Wild Flowers along the Riverside are an important food source for many species.

We need to encourage and protect the vast diversity of all wild plants growing here

in order to sustain the diversity of wildlife inhabiting the rivers, banks and meadows.

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly on Dandelion

April 9th 2014

Orange Tip butterfly female on a common daisy

April 9th 2014

The female is less gaudy than the male which has orange tips to the wings - hence the name.

April 2014 so far has shown the very best of a typical April in England. Blackcaps had arrived back at the end of March and were in full song early in April along the river amongst the willows and Blackthorn blossom.

The River bank in early April - bursting into leaf

Early wild flowers such as the brilliantly shining Lesser Celandine (above), Lady's Smock (Cuckooflower) and Wood Anemone have been lighting up the river banks - surviving 

the winter floods and growing all the better for the damp conditions.

Lady's Smock or Cuckooflower with fresh nettles on the bank,

both attracting butterflies. The former is an important foodplant for the

Orange Tip butterfly caterpillar and the nettle leaves are an important foodplant 

for Small Tortoiseshell butterfly caterpillars and several other species.

Wood Anemone with Lesser Celandine under a tree

Tuesday April 1st 2014

Out along the river with the intention to have a quick look for butterflies - but it soon became evident that the regeneration of the river banks, with wild flowers and fresh green vegetation springing up had attracted a large diversity of wildlife. New nettle and bramble growth and clumps of Cuckoo flower were doing well on the riverside and in the wild flower meadow (reptile field) with profuse-flowering Lesser Celandine everywhere and the first flowers of Wild Garlic appearing under the river bank trees. A good spring indeed for wild flowers.

It was a misty damp start to the day which became clear, bright and sunny with some wispy high loud. It was quiet with no wind and birdsong could be heard all along the river course. 

Chiffchaffs (18) again dominated the riverside song today but a group of goldfinches (21) produced a background chorus from a dense thicket. Three had been bathing in the river and flew up to dry off on overhanging branches.

The river water was clear now and lower, with water plants beginning to grow. A pair of dunnocks were chasing along the top of the bank, another flew into the hedge right past me whilst another was singing over the river (4). Wrens (20) were numerous and easily seen as almost all were singing today rather than hiding away under the banks. Robins (16) too were singing strongly, but could not compete with the chiffchaffs in loudness. House sparrows (33) were busy in their hedgerows and chattering in the bramble thickets, whilst a few starlings (7) whistled from their thicket. Chaffinches were singing today (8) together with 3 greenfinches nearby, high in the trees. 

Numerous caterpillars, mostly amongst the oak branches, attracted the blue tits (24) and great tits(12) and long-tailed tits (4) were collecting insects to feed their young, as they start nesting early in the spring. In the clear sky a group of linnets (7) were seen flying across the river over a conifer. I heard a thin high call from amongst its branches a saw a goldcrest foraging - together with a large bumblebee 

(Bombus terrestris). The tree was full of small cones and large numbers of flying insects danced around it. 

The bat flyway hedgerow is also extremely popular with birds, with its southern side providing a warm area to perch, preen, sing and forage and its shady northern side providing damp leaf-litter foraging at its base. A song thrush flew up from the river into the base of the hedge, into some ivy further down river two more (3) were seen and heard singing loudly, in competition, one on each side of the river whilst close to them a male blackcap was singing a beautiful  and varied song of its own. Others remained hidden.

Blackbirds were numerous today (25), all busy foraging and only one taking time off to perch and sing. A few corvids had joined in foraging on the grass, whilst others flew across - there were 5 carrion crows, 3 magpies, 1 jackdaw, a silent jay and 3 rooks. Woodpigeons (17) were taking advantage of the warming river water to bathe and 6 male mallard were seen in various places on the water - the females were probably hidden away on nests. 

Nuthatches (4) - two pairs - were busy nesting but the foraging birds were calling, more softly than usual, just to make contact with their mates and 4 great spotted woodpeckers were seen in different nest areas, two flying from tree to tree and another two chasing and shouting loudly - one was probably fending off an imposter. Not far away upsteam 2 green woodpeckers were jaffling, much louder than the Great-spotted woodpeckers but just making contact. A loud yaffle from a third green woodpecker rang out from the northern field. 

Finally - raptors!  Looking up from the activity on the river bank, I saw two pairs of common buzzards and a single one (5) gliding in the breeze, forming a group, beautiful to watch and  to listen to their contact calls. Then lower down a kestrel was seen fling over the river into the increasing breeze.

BUTTERFLIES

Last but not least, the excellent conditions this spring for wild flowers has also brought out the butterflies and other insects, some appearing much earlier than usual.

A large number of Small Tortoiseshell butterflies (26) were seen, basking on nettles, ranging over the river bank nettles, warming up on dry fallen oak leaves, debris washed up on the banks, on dry old nettle stalks and some flying high, chasing.

Orange Tip butterflies (11) basking briefly and flying along  and back again amongst the Cuckoo flowers, Wood Anemone and wild violets on the river banks and field.

Comma butterflies (4) perching on the nettle leaves, Brimstones (2) ranging along the banks and Peacock butterflies (8) some settling down on the young nettle leaves to bask whilst others were nectaring on the profuse Blackthorn blossom.

Hoverflies were numerous on and over the Celandine and fast flying Red-tailed and Buff-tailed Bumble bees, several very high-flying ranged over the river course.

A prelude to a fine summer for wildlife here!

Blackthorn Blossom and Bumblebees

On Monday 24th March the Blackthorn blossom had suddenly appeared and so had the Bumblebees - perfect timing.

A fine example of Blackthorn as it should be, wild, unkempt and full of flowers, with spring clouds drifting through a blue sky.

The weather was good, with clear skies at first after a light frost overnight. There was a cold breeze from the east, bringing in clouds later. The river was reasonably low but fast-flowing, carrying less mud now. Lesser Celandine was covering even more of the banks, with Lady's Smock (Cuckoo flower) and violets appearing.
The Blackthorn in blossom was attracting many birds, both amongst the branches and in the long grasses all along the base of the hedgerows. Old trees proved yet again that Storms Provide Homes  in creating new holes and crevices under newly split bark and broken branches. Heaps of fallen twigs, larger fallen branches and uprooted trees, left where they fall, provide ground-nesting birds and small mammals with ideal spring habitat and winter refuges.

  It's nature at its best and nature will win! 

A welcome sight for birds, bees and butterflies

Today, Bumblebees around the blossom were mainly Bombus terrestris (Buff-tailed), with some low-flying Bombus lapidarius (Red-tailed),  Bombus lucorum (White-tailed) and Bombus pratorum (Early Bumblebee) 

There seem to be some giant-sized bumblebees this spring, perhaps due to the mild winter.

Two Small Tortoiseshell butterflies were visible, warming up on the dry stalks of last-year's nettles, with fresh green nettles springing up amongst them, on the river bank.

Blue tits were the most numerous birds (43), busy nesting and collecting insects amongst the ivy whilst great tits (24) were easy to see, foraging in the oaks and calling, in very good condition with bright smart plumage. The usual group of starlings were gathered, whistling in their thicket with other small groups seen flying (25). Grassy areas were wet with melted frost on very muddy ground, ideal for blackbirds (20) which found it easy to find food whilst others were busy nesting, silent apart from alarm calls warning off intruders. One song thrush saw seen at the base of a thicket with two silent dunnocks nearby.

The loudest and most persistent singers today were the wrens (17) which were all guarding their territories along the banks, investigating the heaps of small twigs, flood debris, for insects. One wren was seen visiting a hole in an oak, looking in then flying around then returning to the same place several times. Potential nest site or source of food? Whatever it was, it was suddenly chased away by the arrival of a nuthatch, calling loudly. The nuthatch then moved up the trunk and away, still calling, a warning to the wren not to approach its territory. Three other nuthatches were seen and heard in trees along the river (4).

Our new arrivals, the chiffchaffs (11) were making themselves at home, all calling and moving restlessly through the branches - a very good view of one making a fantastic zig-zag descent from one twig to another, collecting insects, making the blue tits look quite cumbersome in comparison.

Other birds singing were chaffinches (10), greenfinches (2) and a group of goldfinches (11), the latter were amongst catkins, never loud but hardly ever silent!  House sparrows (41) in separate colonies, some together in dense brambles, others in hedgerows were heard, some males calling. 

Violets on the grass just as the early frost was melting

Robins (17) were very active, chasing each other amongst the brambles and blossom, singing and foraging - but could not compete in volume with the song of the chiffchaffs. Just one last winter migrant was glimpsed in the Blackthorn, a redwing, ready to join the return flight north.

Woodpigeons (21) were evenly distributed  in ones and twos, dozing in trees or foraging and 3 collared doves were calling from the ivy. One calling pheasant was heard close by- but even closer a very loud yaffle from a green woodpecker rang out - it was answered by another green woodpecker in the distance (2). 10 carrion crows were seen, most single, flying across and 3 magpies on their way to high nests. Four jackdaws and 3 rooks were also seen, silently foraging. 

Down low on the river two male mallard were chasing and further along a mallard pair were seen preening in the sunshine. Elsewhere along the river the quiet calls of more mallard could be heard, hidden by the steep banks (more than 4 in total). A sparrowhawk flew low across from bank to bank in a split second, causing no disturbance.

High thin calls gave away the presence of a goldcrest foraging in a conifer, just tiny movements amongst the evergreen then a fine view for a second. Calls from the sky - a buzzard approaching fast in the wind, suddenly banking and turning to circle, dropping lower with each circle until it was out of sight behind the trees.

March - a Spring interlude

Sun - since early March the earth has gradually been drying out, with dry winds predominating.

The 16th March has been the best spring day so far - a very fine day from the start.

A brilliant day for the first sightings of butterflies. A Comma was seen on 24th February but on this warm March day butterflies were flying in numbers, adding colour to the riverside.

 5 Brimstones were seen flying strongly along the river course, surveying the vegetation.

Looking at the Brimstones I saw a grey wagtail low down on the bank 'beach', intent on collecting a 

beak full of twigs - carefully selected nesting material. It was a very smart male in breeding plumage with brilliant yellow markings and a black bib. There must be a female nearby.

Sure enough a while later I saw the pair flying from the river in a circle and back down, following each other.

Lesser Celandine covering the river banks - more this year, despite the floods

A fine kestrel hovered for a while over the river, quite close and there was loud song from robins and wrens but the loudest and most persistent song - a real sign of spring came from new arrivals, the chiffchaffs, the first of the summer migrants. At least 7 were visible foraging in the trees along the river.

It was good to see numbers of redwing still present in the same location as before, busy foraging with some singing out of sight in a thicket.
Starlings were whistling from their usual day-roost thicket and goldfinches singing in the ivy. A green woodpecker was heard calling (Yaffling) loudly and a nuthatch was calling in an oak. Blackbirds were foraging on the ground and under the hedgerows sparrows, dunnocks and a few chaffinches were busy feeding.

Amongst the Willow catkins were two Peacock butterflies -

here is one of them in the tangle of branches.

Two Comma butterflies were nearby amongst the brambles and no less than 5 Small Tortoiseshell butterflies ranging along the sunny and sheltered riverbank. After a good summer last year, many have been successful in overwintering here.
It was good to see many large Bumblebees and a few Honeybees too, amongst the Blackthorn just blossoming and the Willow catkins too.

Vertical river banks where the earth has been scoured by floodwater 

but with vegetation already forming green cover.

This weather is too good to last!

Scandinavian Redwings feasting on the riverside

The last day of February and our Scandinavian visitors gathered in large numbers to feast on the riverside before setting off on the long flight back to the north. Their numbers were remarkable for this location.

Heavy rainfall overnight again had left the already saturated ground boggy - but the sky was clear, the sun warm and no need for birds to search for shelter from gales.

Willow catkins after the rain, on a willow leaning over the river.

The river had risen again and was flowing fast and muddy but had not burst its banks. Out on the riverside I immediately became aware of a massive chorus of birds - large numbers in thickets, hedgerows and trees along the river course.
The first bird I saw was a redwing and most of the singing came from a large flock ranging along the Blackthorn thickets, still carrying plenty of sloes on the outer branches; these fruits were small and dried out as all the most luscious ones had been eaten long ago. The voices of numerous goldfinches gathered in some ivy-covered branches added to the chorus. A transient addition to the chorus came from a group of linnets flying over and a tightly knit flock of starlings dispersed onto thickets and started individual songs.  Robins were singing - still very visible - whilst house sparrows could be heard in the hedges.
Two nuthatches were seen but remained silent - a pair not wanting to attract attention whilst working on the entrance to their nest.
 Quiet blackbirds mingled with the redwing in numbers that indicated that these were migrants too, also feeding up ready for departure north, together with a few visiting song thrushes. Our own local song thrushes have been singing for a long time now, since November.
Dunnocks, which don't usually move very far from their local patch, were singing from high perches and numerous wrens could be heard along the banks and seen flying very low across the water. Blue  and great tits were active and a few chaffinches and greenfinches moved amongst the branches. A couple of magpies were seen carrying long sticks with which to refurbish their storm-damaged nests - there's certainly no shortage of nest materials this year. A few carrion crows and jackdaws were also seen in the air and on the ground feeding.
Sentinel woodpigeons perched on high branches guarded the feeding redwing and every few seconds loud yaffles could be heard - possibly a dispute between two green woodpeckers, one in the field and another in an old oak, probably defending its nest site - they were very persistent, calling without a break but its very good to hear them doing well despite the upheaval of earth-moving nearby. 

Clouds forming fast as the sun warmed up the saturated earth

Large tall cumulus clouds had started to form, the warming air producing thermals - ideal soaring conditions for buzzards. Three buzzards appeared together, two obviously a pair displaying - and the third gliding in circles, concentrating on the ground below. Their calls could be heard clearly over the soaked earth. Today the crows had left them alone in their own airspace.

The End of the Storms on the Riverside?

Sunday 16th February 2014 deep in mud but blue skies and just a breeze.

The day began with an early frost which soon disappeared. Birdsong certainly indicated that this was the beginning of Spring.

This riverside oak held a large diversity of birds today

Signs of damage by the last storm on Friday were few - more twigs and small branches from the trees but just 'self - pruning'. The river had burst its banks again on Friday night but had receded by the morning, leaving the usual 'tidemarks' - contour lines of the high water marked by piles of small twigs and grasses on the riverside.

Only one tree had fallen, completely uprooted. Birds were already taking advantage, as they usually do, of good foraging in the upturned earth and holes left by the roots.