31st October 2016

Mugwort- a widespread, silvery-grey plant of wayside and scrub, this strong-scented wild plant of the Artemisia family was one of the herbs used, before Flemish people brought hop-brewed beer to England in the 15th Century, to embitter the ale of our ancestors. Edward Thomas writes, in The Brook, of “a scent like honeycomb from Mugwort dull”. Associated with sorcery, so a good subject for Halloween, it was said to harbour a ‘coal’ in its roots, which would protect those who dug it up, from lightning and an old rhyme goes: “If they drink nettles in March and Mugwort in

Mugwort flowers at this time of year

Mugwort leaves

Mugwort in summer

May, So many fine maidens would not turn to clay”. Presumably lads were already  beyond saving! Conditions: A stunning, blue-skied day. Temperature: Max 17- Min 9C.

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29th October 2016

Little Grebe- This is the ‘Dive-dapper’ Shakespeare refers to in Venus and Adonis: “like a dive-dapper peering through the wave”. A delightful, very widespread bird, known as a Dabchick when I was growing up, and seen on almost every stretch of water in town parks or countryside. Their legs are well back on their bodies, allowing them to move fast above and below water, as they dive long distancesto catch molluscs, insects and, as here, small fish. Their short tails ensure their powerful legs are freer to move fast. Conditions: Still, with heavy cloud Temperature: Max 15- Min 12C. 

Little Grebe

Little Grebe

Little Grebe

27th October 2016

Golden Plover– gathering in flocks in places like Old Moor at this time of year, and going into their more subdued winter plumage, Golden Plover are often in mixed flocks with Lapwing, either on wetlands or ploughed fields, and make beautiful patterns as they fly together. They feed on insects and small organisms, worms and beetles. You see flashes of gold as they catch the light and they have a little dark cap (see photo’s). Numbers swell with winter migration. They get brighter and more distinctive in breeding plumage. Conditions: Still, sunny after early mist- down south. Temperature: Max 14- Min 11C.

Golden Plover

Golden Plover

24th October 2016

Wild Honeysuckle- still odd ones out, alongside its red berries (poisonous to us but eaten by birds). It is pollinated by long-tongued bees, and Moths- why the scent is stronger in the evening (they can pick it up a quarter of a mile away). This is the Woodbine of Shakespeare: Oberon- “Quite over-canopied with lush Woodbine”, and William Bullein, in 1562 wrote “Oh how swete and pleasaunte is Woodbine”. Probably thus-named from its habit of distorting young trees it twists round, children still pluck a flower and suck nectar from the base as we did. Garden varieties are as good for wildlife as the woodland native species. Conditions: Dry, still with light cloud again. Temperature: Max 10- Min 6C

Native Honeysuckle

Native Honeysuckle

Native Honeysuckle

Native Honeysuckle berries

21st October 2016

Chiffchaff- A blue-tit-sized warbler, very active, flitting through small trees searching for insects among branches, and sometimes out to catch them mid-air. It’s Chiff-chaff call makes it easy to identify in spring, while singing, but less easy to distinguish from the slightly brighter Willow Warbler, once breeding is over. It has darker legs, and tends to feed higher in trees than the Willow Warbler. Most of ours migrate to the Mediterranean over winter but some, like these, migrate in from Scandinavia and increasingly stay over winter. Conditions: Mostly light cloud. Temperature: Max 12- Min 7C.

Chiffchaff

Chiffchaff preening in the autumn sun

Chiffchaff showing its light eye-stripe

18th October 2016

Jack Snipe- Usually secretive birds, the smallest of the Snipe family, these newly arrived migrant Jack Snipe were, unusuall,y feeding for hours in the open near a hide at Kilnsea, Spurn Point. Apparently, keen twitchers describe such unusually visible  behaviour as being ‘very confiding’!  They ‘bounce’ -continuously- as they feed. Beautiful to watch and superbly camouflaged, they have distinctive cream and deep greenish-blue metallic stripes down their backs. You may be lucky and get glimpses more locally at places like Old Moor. Conditions: Showers and sun. Temperature: Max 10- Min 7c.

Jack Snipe- size comparison- you can just see the head of a young Coot in shot

Jack Snipe feed on seeds, plants and small organisms in the water

Jack Snipe

The colourful stripes down a Jack Snipe’s back

15th October 2016

Autumn delights: If for no other reason than it is that time of year again, and soon to be half-term, when forays into the woods and parks are possible, here is a drawing of autumn fruits and seeds I did a while back. Happy hunting. Conditions: Cloudy and still. Temperature: Max 13- Min 8c.