30 Days Wild:Day 4 - A Walk Down My Lane

Day 4 of #30DaysWild

   A bit late posting my Day 4 blog as worked all day and only had chance to get out this evening.Instead of spending the evening stuck in watching TV (sorry Springwatch ;), will watch you later) I decided to have a walk up our lane out of the village.
   The fields have grown a bit over the last few weeks so harder to find wildlife in them.

I noticed movement in the adjacent field and hoped it was a Hare, but it turned out to be this couple of Rabbits.

   A bit further up the lane and I found a distressing sight.Three Corvids strung up in a farmer's garden.Unfortunately this is actually legal under the General License if the farmer is protecting his crops or livestock.If anyone finds things like this and are unsure if it is legal or not please call 101 and contact your local Wildlife Crime Officer or WildlifeCrimeAware for advice:)

   Not long after and my heart was racing for a better reason.I had seen a Brown Hare moving slowly towards me in the field.I knew he hadn't seen me yet so I knelt down in the long grass and waited for him.He came within 10 feet of me:) I was sure that he could hear my heart beating so fast and trying to escape from my chest.I held my breath as he had a wash then turned and went on his way.I waited for him to move on then got to my feet with a feeling of elation of a fantastic experience with a wild Hare.

 Seconds later I heard a call and looked skywards to see a Buzzard circling the field.

   I was still dancing through the field with joy when my fiancee arrived to give me a lift back.First though we headed a bit further down the lane to the bridge for a last look for a Barn Owl.
  Me searching for Barn Owls on the River Ancholme.(photo by Majella Fox)

   No Barn Owls tonight but I did see this Pied Wagtail on the bridge.

  I then spotted a small bird moving in the nettles on the far bank of the river.As I moved closer I realised it was a Whitethroat, and it was bringing in caterpillars for young that must be in the nest safely among the nettles.

  I even got to watch the sun starting to set as I headed back home.

All this wildlife for just taking a 90 minute walk from my door.Instead of watching repeats on TV go outside and find our wonderful wildlife for yourself.

Roll on Day 5 :)

30 Days Wild:Day 3 - Getting down to the Nightingale's Serenade

On to Day 3 of #30DaysWild :)

   Today was supposed to be an easy day to get out and enjoy Nature as it was my one day off this week but things never quite work out how you plan.I ended up having to be in Scunthorpe Medical centre for my treatment at 9am followed by a couple of hours work:(

   This prevented me getting out early as planned but with the sun starting to get through the clouds I decided it might be a good day to have a Bug Hunt with maybe a few birds thrown into the mix.

   I chose Whisby Nature Park near Lincoln as my hunting ground for the 2-3 hours I had.

http://www.lincstrust.org.uk/whisby-nature-park

  I sat down with a bowl of chips and a coffee on the cafe decking and watched the antics of the Black Headed Gull colony before heading down to the first hide.

   The colony was overrun with little legged balls of fluff.:)

   A Great Crested Grebe braved the barrage of abuse from the Gulls with her own 2 chicks.

  Arctic Terns had taken up residence on a raft in Teal Lake.During a change between the adults for incubation duties I was able to spot 3 eggs:)

  As I walked to a trail to begin my bug hunt I heard the melodius song of the Nightingale.I stood and listened for a few minutes before the bird flew from its hidden stage and away from us.

  This was shortly followed by more bird song.I caught a tantalising glimpse of the warbler but wasn't certain of its identification.On getting home I played the bird song I thought it was and got a match, my first Cettis Warbler:)

   After all the ornithological distractions I finally began my bug hunt.The problem with doing this is my arthritis.If I stay down too long I won't be getting back up again in a hurry lol.Thankfully I had my trusty assistant (fiancee) with me to help me back up when needed.

  Not long into my search and I was excited to spot my first Chimney Sweeper Moth of 2015 and suddenly realised there were around 40 of them lol

   The warmth of the sun also brought out the Butterflies with Peacocks, Brimstones and Common Blues on the wing.

   A slightly battered Peacock Butterfly

Common Blue Butterfly

Other findings on my bug hunt included...

Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa Serraticornis)

Green Tortoise beetle (Cassida Rubiginosa)

2 Spot Ladybird

and a Yellow-Tail Moth Caterpillar.

  I was even graced with Royalty as this Queen Wasp landed nearby to give herself a clean.

   It's amazing what you can find if you look down instead of up :) If you cannot get to a reserve just spend 10 minutes in your garden or a nearby meadow or field and do your own Bug Hunt.It's great fun and you may encounter something you have never seen before:)

Apologies for the long blog but many thanks for reading.

30 Days Wild: Day 2 - Happy Ducks

Here is Day 2 of my 30 Days Wild Challenge:)

   I had less time today due to having a full days work but luckily this was in Barton-Upon-Humber on the shore of the River Humber.This gave me the chance to have my lunch break at Water's Edge Visitor Centre.
   After stepping over the moving feathered obstacles trying to get in the automatic doors of the centre, I had a relaxing coffee.I then decided to pay the 50p for a bag of seed at reception seeing as there were Mallard faces pressed against the glass in hope.;)
   Feeding Ducks is probably the first interaction with wildlife most of us had as children and something we can share and enjoy forever.
   It turned out to be worth far more than 50p to have 40+ quacking, happy wildfowl pushing to take food from my hand.
(Photos by Majella Fox)

 Mallard Photobomb :)

   Another couple(people not Ducks) turned up with a bread loaf but noticed the sign asking not to feed bread to the Ducks, only seed.We have all done it but bread in excessive amounts can cause health problems for wildfowl.Wet bread can contain moulds like Aspergillus which can affect their lungs and kill them.They walked inside and returned with a bag of seed, much to the delight of the feathered hordes:)
  A quick 10 minute walk along the pond gave me an opportunity to photograph more birds.
Male Tufted Duck

 Greylag Geese

Mute Swan

   I would've loved to have stayed longer but had to get back to work:( Not everyone has the luxury of being able to have a lunch break at a lake but why not take a bag of seed wherever you work and pop outside to feed the Robins, Blackbirds or Sparrows that might reside nearby.
   I was thinking that feeding Ducks wasn't going to make a great blog so when I got home I spent a few minutes in the garden trying to find something else.In my broken Lilac Tree I found a yellow and black ball......Spiderlings :) so took a few quick photos to end the blog with so don't look if you're Arachnophobic;).

   I have no idea what Day 3 will bring, but it should be fun finding out.

30 Days Wild:Day 1 - Going Cuckoo For Nature

Hi to everyone new to my blog :)

So here it is, Day 1 of 30 Days Wild with The Wildlife Trusts.

    I signed up to 30 Days Wild as in incentive to myself to get out and do something "wild" every day.I've always loved Nature but due to work and my continuous treatments for my illnesses I am lucky to get one day a week to enjoy our Natural World.Doing 30 Days Wild will hopefully help me find ways I can bring Nature into my life every day.

   Today I managed to finish work at 2pm so had some time for a walk around our local reserve, Messingham Sand Quarry in North Lincolnshire.A fantastic reserve just 10 minutes from Scunthorpe.

   Over the first reed bed I was greeted with the glorious sight of 50-60 Swifts and Sand Martins zooming around the reeds like miniature Exocet missiles catching insects.I spent 20 minutes engrossed in their lives feeding on the wing.I also failed miserably in catching any of them in focus on my lens.lol

So I put down my DLSR and took out my camcorder to try and catch them on screen.

Around the lake, the grasses and reeds were teeming with Damselflies.

Further surveying of the vegetation produced this stunning Dragonfly, a 4-Spotted Chaser.

Being able to look at the detail close up of such an extraordinary creature can make you appreciate the beauty of our Natural World even more.

    The main lake on the reserve is a haven for Black Headed Gulls, Tufted Ducks, Greylag Geese, Mute Swans and the odd Kingfisher.The highlight from today though was a pair of Shelducks with their family of 6 Ducklings.There is something about seeing Ducklings that always raises a smile on your face..try it ;)

    On the walk back to the car I heard the unmistakeable call of the Male Cuckoo.I have only ever seen them in Scotland so to hear one just 15 minutes from my house was very exciting.I followed the sound of the call for about 10-15 minutes before I located him in a tree on the edge of the marsh.He was well concealed by other branches so only got this one dodgy photo.

    It was a wonderful end to what started as an hours walk but turned into a 3 hour one.It is so easy to lose track of time when enjoying our wildlife.You just need to have a bit of time to get outdoors and find our amazing wildlife for yourself whether it be at a reserve or 10 minutes in your own garden.
   As Ralph Waldo Emerson said  "Lose yourself in Nature and find peace" :)

 Thanks for reading and hopefully you will follow me for the next 29 days to see what "wild" I can share with you.

Stuart Pike
The Arthritic Naturalist