Settling down

My favourite time of year has begun: Spring! It is time for fantastic courtship displays and bizaare mating rituals to begin all over the country.

There was a somewhat turbulent start to Spring in my part of Cornwall with about three or four days of lovely, warm, clear, sunny weather closely followed by a thick fog that didn't lift for five days. Now though, we finally seem to back on track, and nature has embraced this second chance of new beginnings.The daffodils have long been out, primoses are flowering, and the crops are rising out of the fields around us. 

Outside my bedroom window the birds have (finally) taken to my feeder, and a pair of house sparrows are nesting in the guttering above my room (I daren't tell my father). Each morning, I am now awakened by glorious sunshine, with the view of sparrows, greenfinches, blue tits and great tits feeding about 2m away from me. The nesting sparrow pair are also constantly passing by my window with twigs and nesting material (all the while, driving my cat crazy with the apparent injustice of the window pane!). 

This is not the only sign of nature 'settling down' for the upcoming season to have reached my attention. I was at the rural cottages my parents own today (http://www.tucoyse.co.uk/), and in one of the upstairs windows, the jackdaws have unwittingly set their nest in a location offering a prime view to our visitors (photo). It remains to be seen whether or not they will abandon this nest upon  realisation that their secluded nest site is actually in the bedroom of a busy holiday cottage!

I'm due to put dormouse nest boxes out at Golitha Falls, a National Nature Reserve (NNR) in two weeks, and am spending tomorrow making some to put out on Goss Moor (another NNR). These boxes are also in anticipation of the upcoming breeding season, and are used by the dormice in the summer to sleep and breed.

We had two hen pheasants wander around the garden a few days ago. Their mission was to investigate every nook and cranny of the garden for potential nest sights. They even tested a few potential sites by sitting down in every which-way possible before deciding that no, this garden is not a suitable location. Although camouflaged within the undergrowth, a hen must choose a site that offers sufficient brood rearing habitat nearby for her chicks. Once hatched, they must eat a very high protein diet for the first few days, a diet they obtain from a vast number of invertebrates- this was what I suspect was lacking from our garden. 

So although the season is just getting under-way, I've already witnessed some of the best bits of Spring and I can't help but wonder what else I shall be privy to in the next month or so! Bring it on!

Thanks,

Becky

I spy with my little eye....

I spent an hour on Goss Moor in Cornwall this morning, doing some work towards a project I am completing in a volunteer capacity for Natural England.

Goss Moor is a combination of lowland heath and peatland. In layman's terms that means it is covered in big grassy tussocks, with pits of bog/ wet mud in between. All of this is interspersed with gorse bushes and wooded areas. 

I was, for want of a better word, 'tromping' across the moor, following a GPS to a particular grid reference. Atleast, I thought I was being rather noisy and heavy-footed (it is hard not to be when in wellies, puddles and mud). It would appear though, that I was quieter than I thought, because I got within about a metre of a water-rail before spooking it. 

According to the RSPB description of a water-rail (http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/waterrail/index.aspx), it is smaller than a moorhen, and has a 'grey face, chestnut brown upper-parts and black and white barred flanks'. This was only the second time I have seen one, but they appear to me to be a very distinctive bird, and not only because of the long red bill. 

They are apparently a very secretive bird despite being widespread and relatively common across most of England. They are birds which prefer well vegetated wetlands (Goss is both well vegetated and wet!), and actually have laterally flattened bodies to allow easier travel within reeds. 

They have a call which is comparable to a squealing pig and is heard much more often than the birds are seen (their call is also available to listen to on the link above).  

Water-rails are not a bird I am familiar with, but I have to say, I am disappointed I missed such a perfect photo opportunity. If only I had had my eyes on where I was going, and not on on my GPS unit! There is always another day, I suppose. 

Thanks, 

Becky 

A night-time wanderer

Staying in a flat in Gipsy Hill (SE London), I didn't expect to see an overly exciting display of wildlife, and for the most-part; I was right. I was limited to grey squirrels rummaging amongst the leaf litter on the lawn, a handful of magpies perched in the bare trees in the back garden, a great tit flitting about and a robin preaching from the holly bush at the front. Pleasant, yes, but nothing we haven't seen before.

On my last night in Gipsy Hill, I got up in the middle of the night to get a drink, and while standing at the kitchen sink, I looked out onto the street below. As most of you will not have been to Gipsy Hill before, in the daytime, the street is a bustle of Londoners, buses and cars. At this time however, it was brightly lit by the street-lamps, but silent and empty.

Empty that was, except for one night-time wanderer; an urban fox.

My experience of foxes is limited to the countryside. I have helped lamp foxes on a shooting estate in Norfolk, protecting ground-nesting birds in the area. I have never seen them in an urban environment, and the truth be told, I have never understood the fuss people make about their presence in towns and cities. I  am therefore of the view, that yes, in some parts of the countryside, foxes are vermin, and correspondingly, should be controlled.

I read an article in the London Evening Standard last week written by Simon Jenkins (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/comment/tally-ho-hunt-down-the-capitals-vulpine-menace-7497989.html). He was bemoaning the presence of a vixen and cubs at the bottom of his garden, and ridiculing the suggestions made by the appropriate authority. As far as I could tell his complaints totalled the vixen begging for food at the window (in the bleakest of seasons), an unpleasant odour by the shed, and a small amount of disturbance to the flowerbed. All this at a time when he admitted, he was not present in the garden much at all. Is this really enough to warrant the destruction of a vixen and her cubs? Apparently so, according to Simon Jenkins.

The destruction of foxes in the countryside is for the benefit of ground nesting birds...lapwings, grey partridge, pheasants and grouse. In my view, this is completely justified and understandable. But in the cities? No, I can't comprehend that.

So when I saw the elegant animal trotting up the middle of the road, I cried out (in delight not horror). I clearly startled it as in response, it hunkered down and stared, scouring the house and garden for any signs of life, or danger. Finding none, it turned and slinked off down the gap between two houses, squeezing between the railings as it went. It was clearly in good health, with a deep coat and wonderfully bushy but lightly coloured tail. It may have been a dog fox assessing it's territory under the cover of darkness. I was disappointed to watch him go, remaining at the window for a long while afterwards, hoping he would return. Not this time though.

I was forced to reinforce my earlier views on the matter. These magnificent creatures are living among us, and for the most-part, we are all thriving. I doubt many of the residents of Gipsy Hill know of their night-time wanderer, but given the general prejudice against them, I suspect many would be unhappy to hear of it.

How much harm are they actually doing? Credible reports of attacks are few and far between, and are mainly on other nocturnal species. We are, after all, the ones who have invited the foxes to join us in our urban sprawls. As a nation we throw away tonnes of food waste and leave it on our streets for days on end. If you were a fox, would you bother to catch your own food if an urban street offered you hundreds of bags of rubbish with edible treats inside?

People are moaning about the problems they are causing in cities...well it's a bit late now! They have established here, and all because of us. Why not try to minimise the disturbance they cause, reduce the carrying capacity of the city, and maybe, the problem will begin to resolve itself. If Londoners really want the foxes gone, the destruction of individuals is certainly not the answer, as Simon Jenkins pointed out, another will just move into it's territory.

Is there not a role for someone to try and harmonise the coexistence of two of the UK's top predators? We, are ourselves, not unlike the foxes, who are only responding, like us, to the pressures of natural selection and survival. Find food to survive, find mates to propagate our own genes and maintain a territory in order to secure both of these things; our food/livelihood and our loved ones/ families.

Thanks,

Becky

Six and Two Spare

Last week I saw an unoccupied raven's nest.
This week I saw ravens. It just keeps getting better and better! Although I was cheating (sort of).

I was at the Tower of London on Tuesday and I have to say, I was more excited by the raven's in the courtyard than by some of the exhibition itself.

Wherever you look, the raven has always been depicted as powerful or intelligent, and is a popular subject in mythology. They are often thought to be a symbol of bad luck or an omen, probably owing to their all black colouring and scavenging of carrion. These ravens, or more specifically, the residence of ravens at the Tower of London is essential or the Tower and Kingdom shall fall to foreign invaders.

Quite a big ask for six birds really.


The common raven or Corvus corax is one of the largest corvids. It is a relatively long-lived bird and can live for up to 10-15 years in the wild, or longer in captivity. They are larger and heavier than carrion crows, and have a bigger, darker beak with a wedge-shaped tail. They maintain the typical but beautiful glossy coat of other corvids.

They are opportunistic feeders with few predators, and range over a wide variety of habitats. They are of least concern to the IUCN but are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) making it illegal to intentionally kill or injure ravens, or to damage or remove their nests or eggs.

There were six ravens in the tower on Tuesday, plus two more 'backup' birds in captivity by the White Tower, or, as it was put to me; 'Six and Two Spare'.

Oh, and the other exciting thing at the tower, apart from obviously the centuries of history and stunning location?

Starlings! Flitting about all over the place making a lot of noise! 

Thanks,

Becky