Wild Wanderings

Diary Entry

Thursday 01 February 2018

Sparrowhawks and missing Skylarks

The weather has been changeable this week and for me that means intermittent periods of good light for photography. I mostly always carry my camera but sometimes the light is so poor the results are a bit hit and miss. I very rarely use a hide, so I must react to the situation on the move and sometimes it just doesn’t work out. The Sparrowhawk photo is a good example of this. He came along the hedge and up and over to the other side. When he does this, I know he usually flies back low over the hedge and back into the paddock. I must guess where to sight my Camera. He came back over at full speed and I only just caught him before he disappeared. The resulting photo was not as good as I hoped so I will persevere.

Maintenance work to the paddock continues with more hole filling and generally tidying up.

The night camera has not yet picked up where the badgers are coming through into the paddock. They have been back twice so far this week. Although the camera has caught the vixen who seems to like an evening stroll around looking for tasty morsels.

I visited the Treecreeper haunt but did not spot him again. I will return over the next couple of days.

I carried out my usual return for the BTO. I love doing these as they make me sit for an hour or so and just observe what’s going on.

The Blue Tits, Great Tits, Greenfinches and Goldfinches were all there in numbers. But the most prolific this week were the House Sparrows. I counted approximately 28 at one time all sitting in the hedge chattering away and occasionally squabbling with each other. I hope this is a sign of a recovery in their numbers. I know there are largish local communities scattered around but they are still RED listed. Perhaps that will change.

This forced sit down often gets me reminiscing on the past.

I have always been a nature lover. Having been born in the countryside there were working farms all around me. Long afternoon walks with a sandwich and a bottle of Pop (not water) in my rucksack were the norm.

Sometimes we would set off early in the morning and not return until tea time around 4pm in the afternoon. Without a care in the world we would stroll along keeping our eyes peeled for the birds and animals. And in the summer Butterflies and wild flowers and the occasional fox would be spotted. Egg collecting was common then, and although I agree with the ban now, I must admit the activity helped to educate me a great deal on bird’s habits and ID etc.

I never had a great collection and knew nobody really who did have very many. But it did certainly provide a reason to get out there looking and walking.

A bird I miss from those days is the Skylark which for me is the bird of summer. I would watch it suddenly leaping skyward and then I would stand agog as it slowly ascended into the air. Its warbling tumbling notes with the metre of a poem ringing out across the fields of swaying corn or wheat. It would slowly disappear, its song still audible but faint. I would squint my eyes and use my hands as binoculars to see if I could still spot it. I was waiting to see if it would suddenly parachute back to earth, so I could find its nest. But they are very clever, and they never land near their nest. Instead they land a few yards away before scurrying through the long grass to their nesting site. Alas I never found one in this way, but I was always hopeful. It would be nice to see a few Skylarks return. What a delightful bird and beautiful singer it is.

Quite cold now and light fading fast.

Till tomorrow.