Tuesday 26 March 2013

I'd like to thank all those who commented on yesterdays post, all of which empathized with my sadness at having to watch more wildlife habitat disappear. Thank you all for the ideas and suggestions some of which I can put into action  :-)

As for today, well, the wintery weather just will not relinquish its grip, the icy wind was still blowing this afternoon for my afternoon visit, while the temperature stayed at no more then 3C.

I headed off over to the lakes, passing through the doomed Tree Nursery, where work was going at full pace to remove the remaining trees and shrubs, a JCB was uprooting everything, ready for the shredding machine to mulch them all into the ground, consequently no birdlife was seen here, well, that is apart from a GREEN WOODPECKER.
The lines of fir trees here were all lying prone within the hour  :-(
I paid a quick visit to the Pub Field too, as I could here more machinery there, I found that the field was being ''muck spread'' normally an exciting thing to watch ( yea, i'm a wierdo!)  but it brings in the birds  :-)  At least it woould have brought in the birds had the temperature been high enough to bring in the flies and insects that in turn bring in the birds! There were only a few BLACK HEADED GULLS hawking behind the tractor, but they didn't stay long. Maybe if the field is not ploughed too soon a passage Wheatear, or Black redstart will drop in - if the weather warms up a bit!
''Muck spreading at the 'Pub Field' - exciting, normally   :-)
Walking over towards the Wet Woods to get to the lakes, a COMMON BUZZARD was seen low over the tree tops, the walk through the woods and footpath though was very quiet, just the calling of GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER and GRAEAT TIT were heard, not very springlike at all.

On the lakes I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a pair of GOOSANDER once again, these usurp the pair seen on the 23rd as the latest winter sighting for this species. The CANADA GOOSE pair were also seen, the female sitting tight on her nest, the only other lake dwellers today were a few MOORHEN and a COOT, I really hope the other Coot is somewhere on here nest at the moment  :-)

Female Goosander - 50 meters plus away, and in dark conditions, but its the best I could get!
Male Goosander
Very little else was noted at all for the rest of my walk, despite me searching through the Scrubby Woods and then walking back over to the Greenhouse Grounds, the most noteworthy birds were a flock of around 40 FIELDFARE that flew over the Greenhouses. Still no Chiffchaffs! but in this weather I wouldn't want to visit these shores either!

Here's a couple of images from my garden that I took later in the afternoon, again taken through the double glazing and in poor light - but they still brighten the page  :-)
JAY on the 'blog log'
Doesn't take them long to find the hidden peanuts  :-)

12 comments:

Rohrerbot said...

Warren,

Love your birds, but it's such grim news over there. I just read Ragged Robins reports about disappearing moths and losing precious habitat.

And now all of this at your patch. It makes me sad to know that this is going on....does anyone care over there? Last year it was the Badger Cullings....then they gave it one year to not do this.....but will they again? When it's all gone, will anyone care? I'm as frustrated as you are by these things. And I hope that something can be done to make it all a win-win for people and the wildlife.

Warren Baker said...

Rohrerbot,
There are many people who care, but unfortunately they are not generally in the positions that matter!

All we can do is keep giving our donations to the likes of the RSPB, who do fight on our behalf, but it is still an uphill struggle even for them :-(


Pete Woodruff said...

Interesting post as always Warren, but this time for much of it for all the wrong reasons.

All we can do is keep on making our protests and objections known, and hope those with a little 'power' behind them will listen and act upon what we say/ask.

ShySongbird said...

I have always found the sight of trees being felled very sad. They have stood for so long and yet arrogant humans bring them down with barely a thought about that or about the creatures which rely on them :-(

Lovely Jay photos Warren, it's ages since I saw one.

Joe said...

So sad to see the work getting underway. Not just from a wildlife habitat perspective, but the last thing people need to be doing now is cutting more trees down and releasing yet more CO2 into the atmosphere :(

I hope things will at least settle down on your patch quite quickly after the work has finished so you can at least enjoy what wildlife has stuck it out.

Also, excellent Jay photos, getting any good photos in the light we've had lately is a big challenge

Jason K said...

I feel for you Warren with regards to the proposed development on your patch...with similar going through the motions at Shenstone (re. the travelling show people site on the paddock where I have recorded Ring Ouzel, SEO, Wheatear, Whinchat, Redstart, Merlin...amongst others)

Are their many people willing to object to the development on environmental grounds? or a most of the community in favour of the new school?

I know I have deliberated looking into finding a new patch due to a number of issues but I have decided to give it till 2017 (my tenth anniversary of doing Shenstone as a patch) and then re-asses what the situation is like.

I hope things pick up for you mate!

Chris said...

I see it's not only in my area that habitat is being destroyed. I used to see harlequin duck on one river in Reykjavík every year, arriving 19 of March, but they have started to extract gravel now, and the harlequin are found nowhere... Damn it.... Human stupidity..
Lovely goosander pictures, I had them by the hundreds in a fjord Iðm visiting twice a week but they are gone to breeding areas now ;-)

Warren Baker said...

This will be the last of the Goosander this winter Chris, well , probably :-)

Mark said...


"They took all the trees, and put 'em in a tree museum / And charged the people a dollar and a half just to see 'em."

Warren Baker said...

About sums it up Birderwolf!

Stephen Mills said...

Sorry to see the loss of such an important piece of habitat on your patch. I had a similar experience on my patch last winter and was devastated by the loss of a derelict orchard which was a valuable part of my local environment.
You just can't stop greedy land owners!

Warren Baker said...

You're right Steve,
Greedy is the word for it :-(