Wild Wanderings
Diary Entry 17th June 2018
I have spent most of the week clearing the hedgerows of the ‘Cleavers’ weed which flowers mainly from June to August and is self-pollinated. We used to call it ‘sticky buds’ when I was a lad as it would cling to your clothes and you’d get home covered in the stuff after a walk across the fields.
It is a rampant weed that tends to swamp everything. The way I control it is to use the strimmer to cut through the base then to let it wither away and finally clear the hedges of the dried remains and onto the Bon-fire with it.
Whilst I am working I always have my camera in the bag somewhere just in case something special turns up.
After one session of clearing I was relaxing on one of the seats and just taking things in when a family of Great Tits turned up. There were two adults and three fledglings. They are quite beautiful when they are young. The colouring is much the same as the adults, but it is far more pastel shades and they are quite fluffy. The parents were working hard picking up seed and scraps and feeding the hungry mouths. The young ones would be helping themselves but suddenly would get a bit lazy and just stand there with their wings quivering and squawking at the top of their voice. This was always followed by attention from one of the parents. The parents looked ragged and worn and they both on occasion disappeared, and left the young ones to it, Next day the young appeared on their own with no parents around. They had taken the first step in their independence.
Young Blue Tits and Yellowhammer have also been present and of course young Robins. I think the young Robins are the most strikingly different to the parent with their speckled yellowish-brown chests and can easily be mistaken for a Dunnock. They do have the demeanour of the adult though always looking around and strutting their stuff, bobbing their head up and down. Super little characters.
I have not seen any young Blackbirds yet, but I have located at least two active nests in the paddock and the hard-working parents are always around. Great Spotted Woodpeckers have been, dare I say it, common around here recently. I have counted five individuals at once and the young ones are thriving.
The Ring Neck Parakeets are also back on the scene, we now have two again. I have seen them both together on one occasion this week. But several have times have just seen the male or female alone. The ID for the Parakeets is the collar around the neck. The male has a very distinctive bluey black collar which is strongly marked whereas the female has almost a shadow of a collar around her neck and very feint. The fact that they are visiting alone leads me to believe they are on nesting duties so maybe some young will appear soon.
Butterflies are still to make a regular appearance. Today I spotted one Red Admiral and one Ringlet but both just passed through and did not settle.
I love taking photos of Butterflies as the colours e always stunning. I hope this lack of individuals is not a bad sign and soon they will be fluttering around again, and I will be scuttling after them with my Camera at the ready.
Till Tomorrow
