Wedge Wood

I was down at my wood today being  a beautiful frosty day. My latrine is a wooden structure but the door is open to the elements, facing down the wood. I sat there and watched three hen peasants pick their way through the brambles, some twenty yards from me. Then something larger appeared and two fallow hinds followed behind the pheasants. Both animals were very dark coloured, almost black, which might be a colour mutation, but also partly due to their having winter coats. My latrine makes for an excellent animal hide.

Jackdaws

When I lived in Mid-Wales the end of each day would be tolled by the passing flock of jackdaws. Calling as they went towards their roost site, they foretold the onset of night. Here, on the edge of the North Downs, I rarely see or hear a daw. But on a recent day of high winds, the stubble field behind the house, where there was shelter from the cold gusts, a flock of sevral hundred birds appeared as if from nowhere. Rising, swirling and constantly calling, they were quite a spectacle. Whether or not they dispersed or moved on as a flock, I cannot tell, but I am left once again, with just the occasional distinctive call of the daw.

The Writer

The Writer

I love to luxuriate in a book.

There is something good

And wholesome to look

Within a soul. I could

Imagine myself in that world

Where reality is formed.

As I sit and read curled

Within a chair turned

To the fire, I know that

I have a friend, a cell

Companion. Not the cat

For he has no story to tell.

Yet this cosy sense of being;

This relationship with fiction

Turns sour whenever

I seek to write a novel

Of my own. Then the book becomes

An enemy to be defeated at all costs,

A time consuming demon,

Taunting me night and day.

Haunting my waking dreams

And forever weakening my resolve

And questioning, always questioning.

Dave Urmston 2016

Singing Skylark

A mild day yesterday and a

walk along the banks of the River Medway. Nothing much to see river-wise, but there was a skylark singing on one of the adjoining fields.
A green woodpecker was foraging on the lawn, a first sighting for the garden, though they are plentiful in the area.

Different Bird Strategies

Most days, there is a covey of french partridge (about nine birds) in one corner of the stubble field in front of the house. Yesterday there were three cock pheasants gleaning amongst them. Upon seeing my dog (Dylan) the pheasants took fright and ran for cover, the partridges froze and squatted hoping their camouflage would be sufficient protection. It is not uncommon for pheasants to adopt the same strategy but there was stark contrast between the behaviour of the different species in this instance.

Black Mountain

The Black Mountain in the Brecon Beacons can be a bleak place at the best of times but with heavy rain and gusting wind, it becomes very inhospitable. That was the case yesterday. Birdlife on the hill was virtually non-existent, so that not a single meadow pipit or skylark was to be seen. However, a kestrel was braving the elements as it flew by at high speed. Then unexpectedly, a red kite appeared. Although these birds are now commonly seen above many of our motorways, it remains a thrill to see one in its natural environment amongst the mountains.

Birds Singing

Over the last weeks, the only vocalist in the birdworld of any musical merit has been the robin. Yesterday, on a bright sunny day, I heard a mistle thrush sing. These birds are noted for their early breeding, so, I expect that this bird was beginning to establish its breeding territory. Rather more surprisingly, I also heard a cock linnet with a very tuneful song.

What with the sun shining and everything, rather than being the start of winter, it felt more like the beginning of spring.

Snipe

In the distance, across the fields of stubble, five crows were making their presence known by raucous calls. My binoculars revealed a group of six magpies grouped amongst them. They took a long time to disperse as I approached, and I guessed that they must be upon some carrion.
I was not wrong in my surmise, but was surprised to see a small snipe on the ground.
This was the first time I had been able to appreciate the true beauty of a snipe. The first thing I saw was a flurry of feathers and assumed this was a dead cock pheasant. There was no evidence of cause of death and the corvids attentions had been only on the gizzard, the mottled browns and reds of the bird's plumage were therefore in perfect order. With open eyes, the snipe looked for all the world as if it could fly up and spiral away from me, but sadly, that would not happen.
I was left bewildered by the fact that people could shoot for sport such a magnificent bird that offered nothing in the way of food.

Pied Wagtails

Spent the late afternoon on the golf course. A flock of about twenty pied wagtails were feeding on some flying insects invisible to my eye. These birds are known to roost together for warmth and sometimes to occupy buildings or trees with electric lights which give off some extra heat. These particular birds would be unlikely, given their location, to be able to benefit from such a luxury. With a sharp frost forecast for tonight the late feed would hopefully have given them sufficient resistance.
Other birds feeding late were fieldfares and mistle thrushes which appeared to be making the most of the ample rowan berry crop.

Roosting Skylarks

As the cold weather begins to bite, I cannot help wondering how ground roosting birds cope with the cold. There are still plenty of skylarks feeding on the stubble and as they are here late into the day, it seems clear that they roost in situ. I have seen flocks of twenty or more. I presume that they group together to benefit from the body heat generated by each individual bird. But, do they then, as some other roosting birds have been seen to do, move around so that the birds on the outside of the group get a turn within the heated space?
In the distant past, this roosting behaviour was what led to their downfall. For, when the birds were commonly kept as cage birds, the trappers would drag a net across an open field during the hours of darkness. No doubt they first observed the birds to see where they roosted. On hearing the weighted back of the net scrape along the ground, the birds would rise into the air and get caught. As they roosted in groups, quite a number of birds could be caught in a single drag.
It is interesting to note how disputational the skylarks can be. Fiercely territorial during the breeding season, you might anticipate that they would become placid in the winter, but in their loose flocks , they seem to be forever involved in minor skirmishes with other birds.

First frost

Woke to the first frost of the winter. It was only a light touch on the grass and soon disappeared with the rising sun. I have still dahlias in flower and tomatoes in the polytunnel.
I sat and watched the gulls heading presumably to the Thames estuary for the night. There are hundreds pass each way on a daily basis. The mystery is where they spend the day. Their's is usually a silent and ghostly passage, especially when the gloom of evening sets in.