30th April 2015

Of Peregrines and Bullfinches- Those followers of the Sheffield Peregrines (search engine will give you the webcam) will know the chicks are hatching and look like lovely bundles of white fluff. The equally gorgeous Bullfinches that visit the garden every day are, however, chief culprits for our low level of Plum Blossom this year. Here they are

Male and female Bullfinches devour the Plum buds

The male is busy here

Earlier in the spring they did the same to our neighbours Amelanchier blossom!

devouring our Plum blossoms and next doors Amelanchier blossom. The male is at its brightest at this time of year but like many birds this isn’t through moulting. Moulting happens later in the year but at this time of year the duller feather-tips wear off leaving the males in bright plumage for attracting a mate. Conditions: Cloud and some sun. Temperature: Max 11- Min 2c. Frost is predicted in some northern parts tonight!

29th April 2015

Great Tot investigates the box yesterday

A bit of a struggle to get in!

Today the female has been busy gathering sticks….

…and large amounts of moss from our ‘lawn’!

Great Tits nesting: Just when we thought it was too late, a pair of Great Tits started inspecting one of our nesting boxes yesterday and by the evening they had taken substantial amounts of moss and sticks into the box. This time last year the female was already sitting on eggs. I watched them again this morning- the male was calling and the female was busy gathering nesting material, glad that we have a very mossy lawn! If successful, she will go on building the nest and do all the incubating if there are any eggs. Both male and female feed the young. Last year the eggs were abandoned so we will watch on the ‘nest-cam’ and see how they do. Great Tits often return to the same box, so at least one of this pair may be the same as last year. Young females nest a little later than older ones, and on average only one of each couple and one of each brood of Great and Blue Tits survive into the next year. Conditions: Heavy April showers and sunny spells. Temperature: Max 11- Min 5c.

28th April 2015

Woods are wonderful at this time of year and Tresswell Wood near Retford in Nottinghamshire is no exception. In the brilliantly annotated by Notts Wildlife Trust free leaflet the Notts Wildlife Trust, who manage this big, coppiced woodland, informed us that there is a Midland Hawthorn, which has smoother leaves than the usual indented  Hawthorn. Spring watch want to know when we see the first May flowers open– they weren’t out in this wood last week but we were also lucky to see and hear newly arrived migrant Chiffchaff and Blackcap there. Conditions: Sleet, hail and rain showers with a strong breeze, followed by blue skies. Temperature: Max 11- Min 6c.

Chiffchaff were calling through the wood

Several Blackcaps were singing their beautiful song- here’s a female in the Blackthorn blossom

The Midland Hawthorn has much smoother-edged leaves than the Common Hawthorn

The leaves of Common Hawthorn

27th April 2915

Grass Snakes were also around on the canal banks in Lincolnshire last week. We were walking along the bank in hot sunshine and I was just thinking- look out for snakes- knowing they  love basking in the sun, near water. I heard a slithering sound and looked- there was this beautiful Grass Snake moving towards the water and it then swam skilfully away across the canal. We later saw another and I thought it was doing what Grass Snakes do when cornered, which is play dead, but sadly that one, beside a lane, was dead, probably hit by a passing vehicle. Conditions: Cool, even in the bright sunshine, with cloud gathering kate afternoon and rain forecast overnight. Temperature: Max 11- Min 2c.

We disturbed this Grass Snake while walking along the Chesterfield Canal

It quickly swam away to the opposite bank

As well as liking to be by water, Grass Snakes eat a lot of Frogs and Toads, as well as small birds and mammals.

26th April 2015

Brown Hares- we were lucky to see three of the fastest land mammal of the uk, at an RSPB reserve in Lincolnshire last week. Capable of reaching speeds of 45mph, Brown Hares are in danger in many areas due to the effects of modern farming techniques, but on this small reserve near Buckingham they were easy to see. Brown Hares raise several litters a year, between February and September, in a low depression, called a ‘form’, in the grass or dirt of fields and woodland edges. (Apologies if you get this more than once, and a day late- the blog-site seems to be playing up!)

This shows the black-tipped ears and yellow-flecked fur of Brown Hares

Hares have much longer legs than rabbits and are considerably larger

Conditions: Blue-skied, sunny day Temperature: Max 13- Min 4c.

25th April 2015

Swallows are back, and here’s the first I’ve seen this year, at the campsite we were staying at in Lincolnshire. They arrived there this week and were bust feeding on insects caught in flight, and preening and resting after their long journey from Africa. Such beautiful migrants, I’ll let the photo’s of these Hirundines speak for themselves. Conditions: Sunny intervals and showers, welcome after this recent dry spell. Temperature: Max 14- Min 4c.

First Swallows of the year

The long tail-streamers are one of the main identifying features of the Swallow

The glossy blue-black feathers and brick-red chin show well in this photo

21st April 2015

The cunning Bee-Flies again today because they are really fascinating and for the first time I’ve seen them, with their furry round bodies and extraordinarily long legs and proboscis,  in the garden in Sheffield. They are widespread so look out for these Bee-mimics which have a cunning plan to steal a march on Bees and Wasps. These bee-mimics can hover beside flowers and, with their long tongues, reach right into the nectar, even of long-tubed flowers like these Pulmonaria. I managed to photograph another

The very furry body and extraordinarily long legs and proboscis of the Bee-Fly

A Bee-Fly, with its distinctive wing-markings hovering while feeding from Pulmonaria

This Bee-Fly , with it’s long proboscis and legs, and distinctive attaining on its wings, hovering about 3 metres off the ground

one hovering about 3 metres above the lawn– they do this to watch for ground-nesting Bee and Wasp nests. What they do next is extraordinary- they fly low, past the entrance to a nest and flick their eggs into the nesting hole. When the eggs hatch, the Bee-Fly larvae parasitise the larvae of the Bee or Wasp, killing them while thriving themselves. Conditions: A glorious sunny, blue-skied day. Temperature: Max 15- Min 6c.

19th April 2015

Grey Squirrels– it’s no wonder they are so successful. They will eat such a range of things and here one is eating an apple left out for the birds by our neighbours while I spotted another one running along our Oak branch with a very big cone from another neighbours tree. In one of the photo’s you can see bark stripped off the Oak by Grey Squirrels. They seldom ring bark trees as Deer do, so their bark-stripping, which is usually for food, isn’t usually fatal for trees but can weaken them. Conditions: A cool day of cloud, sunny intervals and rain by evening. Temperature: Max 11- Min 4c.

Squirrel sitting on our hedge eating a scrumped Apple

This squirrel can just get its jaws round a big cone. On the right you can see the bark stripped off the Oak by squirrels

The cone will be packed with energising seeds.

17th April 2015

Tawny Mining Bee– we have a lovely little colony of Tawny Mining Bees in the pebbly area of the garden. You can tell by the little ‘volcano’ of mud they build while tunnelling into the ground. Don’t worry if you have them in your grass or flower beds- they are harmless with only a very mild sting. They are one of 60 solitary mining bees species in the uk. Tawny Mining Bees burrow into grass or ground, each hole being the

The little ‘volcano’ of dirt that indicates a Mining Bee

A female adult visits the nest- you can see why it is called ‘Tawny Mining Bee’

This beautiful small bee is harmless and helpful in pollinating fruit trees and bushes

entrance to a small tunnel to underground individual nursery cells. They produce a fluid to cement the tunnel so it doesn’t cave in. The female stocks each cell and egg with pollen and nectar to feed the young when they emerge. Once stocked like this, the female blocks the opening. They finally fly the next spring. The adults feed on currant and fruit trees in spring. Conditions: A cool, dry day with sunny intervals. Temperature: Max 12- Min 6c.

15th April 2015

Ash Tree flowers come out now, before the leaves emerge, which enables their pollination by wind. Ash Trees are ubiquitous and can live to 400 years, or older if

The big black overwintering buds of Ash begin to burst

The burst of Ash flowers

coppiced. They have big, velvety black buds but I have never watched the emergence of the beautiful flowers before, so here are a few photo’s. Ash wood is good for furniture-making and charcoal, but the Ash is also very good for wildlife. As the leaves develop late, many wild flowers thrive under their canopy, several moths feed on the leaves and birds like Nuthatches, Woodpeckers, Redstarts and owls nest in Ash trees. Bullfinches eat the seeds. As you can see, these trees in our garden and the Rivelin Valley are so far free of the devastating Chalara Ash Dieback, which is causing losses of Ash in some parts of the UK and between 60-90% of all Ash Trees in places like Denmark. Conditions: A cool day, with light cloud. Temperature: Max 11- Min 6c.