Bluebells, and more, at Cranford Park

Despite the chill, the overcast clouds and the occasional light shower, I spent a couple of hours at Cranford Park this morning. I could have stayed home in the warm but I was sort of inspired to go because of a friends visit during the week.

 My learned fellow bird-watching friend is a certain Ms Corinna Smart, ex Mayor of Hounslow.

 On the occasions that I do bump into her, I still drop a curtsey.

Corinna was at Cranford Park on Thursday, the best day weather-wise of the whole week. Amongst her many bird sightings she also had Willow Warblers, Redstarts and a Woodcock. I go to Cranford Park every week and have never spotted a Woodcock. Corinna visits a handful of times a year and spots one !!! In fact I have NEVER seen an elusive Woodcock in my life ! This sort of stuck in my throat a bit, but at the end of the day its great to know Cranford Park attracts some rather stunning birds (and I don't mean myself or Corinna !)

 

The regular pair of Robins at the wood circle shared my breakfast of an oat and fruit cookie....

 

 

The Magpie nest I found last week is still going strong. It is in a tree right next to an old spindly tree which is a very popular perch for many of the woodland birds. One of the Magpies was guarding the perch against any other birds who tried to land on it....

 

Next Saturday the 23rd April is the annual Bluebell Walk and it will be the last one led by Alison Shipley as she is leaving after nine years of being the London Borough of Hillingdon's Countryside and Conservation Officer. Alison, I wish you all the best for the future and I hope you stay in touch.

 

By the wood circle there was a small trampled patch of Bluebells and I decided to take the opportunity of the broken flower heads to really compare closely the differences between our native Bluebells, and the non-native Spanish Bluebells....

 

On the left is our native Bluebell, Hyacinthoides non-scripta, and on the right is the Spanish Bluebell, Hyacinthoides hispanica.......

 

 

The Spanish Bluebell is a thug. It has a thick upright stem, quite wide strappy leaves, conical bell-shaped flowers with open tips and blue pollen..... 

 

 

 

Our more delicate native Bluebell has a stem that distinctively droops, thinner pale green strappy leaves, a sweet perfume, narrow bell-shaped flowers with rolled back tips and a creamy white pollen.....

 

 

 

Luckily today I only found a few patches of the Spanish Bluebell. Left to its own devices this non-native thug will cross-breed with the native ones.

Although it's not illegal to pick native Bluebells, it is an offence to dig up the tubers. And there isn't much point in picking the flowers as they don't last long in a vase.

Anyway they look much prettier on the woodland floor where they belong.

 

I was checking out a new Jackdaw's nest when a Chiffchaff appeared next to me, and for a brief few minutes it got quite close.....

 

 

and I managed to add a new photo to my 'Birds Bums' album......

 

The heavy rain during the night meant it was very muddy in some parts of the park. This in turn meant there were lots of tracks to see. The Muntjacs here (and I still think there are 2-3 of them) had left tracks all through the woods.....

 

 

The chilly weather meant I saw no butterflies at all, and the only critter on the nettle patches I could find was this teeny weeny Ladybird. It was about a third smaller than the Seven-spots that I saw last weekend. It's a Fourteen-spot. You can get ones like this, which are called 'Black on yellow' or you can get the opposite, 'Yellow on black'......

 

I have many favourite birds at Cranford Park, and one of them is the very under-rated Stock Dove. They are very skittish though and trying to get a photo of one is often challenging, but this one below popped out of the hollow behind it and settled before realising I was standing there pointing a camera at it....

 

This is the second hollow where I've had a Stock Dove suddenly appear. Both hollows will be checked carefully from now on.

 

The huge nest that I am pretty sure is a Buzzards, was very quiet this morning. The only sighting of a Buzzard I had was one soaring the thermals in the distance. They are known to construct two or three nests in the immediate area and eventually choose which one to nest in depending on how much disturbance is nearby. Buzzards start laying their eggs mid April, so it might be that the female is tucked down on the nest, or it might be that they've decided to abandon it. Only time will tell as I'll obviously keep checking on it from a discreet distance.

 

Other birds seen today but not photographed included several Goldcrests, Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Blackbirds, Jackdaws, Carrion Crows, Jays, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Green Woodpeckers, Wood Pigeons, feral Pigeons and two fly over Cormorants.

 

And of course the Parakeets....

 

Which brings me to this....

 

During the week I got told off by my Mum. I might be an adult home owner, with a full time job, full time hobby and a proud 'cat' mother to two little furry darlings....but I'm still not too old to be told off by my Mum.

Apparently my use of the term 'Marmite' Parakeets (which I use all the time in my blogs) should be changed to their correct name of Ring-necked Parakeets so that I don't confuse any 'new' readers to my blog.

I call them 'Marmite' because you either love them or you hate them !

Mum, I hope you approve (insert smiley face emoticon). Luv ya xx

 

And lastly.............no I didn't see a Woodcock today !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nesting news from Cranford Park

At the wood circle this morning I was watching a Magpie mobbing a Carrion Crow, and wondering why a bird would mob a larger bird.....

 

 

when I realised the Magpie had a nest in an adjacent tree. Trying to get a photo was tricky but you can just see the Magpie at the top left of the picture below....

 

The perch where the Magpie had mobbed the crow is a popular one. Over the years I've seen Sparrowhawks, Kestrels and Hobbys use that perch, so it will be interesting to see if the Magpie mobs them too over the coming weeks.

 

Yesterdays alarm calling Mistle Thrush was spotted again this morning, and it too is nesting. I watched both adults going in to the large evergreen with nesting material. However to get a photo I had to hide behind the evergreen trunk and wait patiently. Even then I only got two half decent shots, but as you can see below that is definitely nesting material in it's beak.

 

 

I think I can now safely say the possible Buzzard nest that I found yesterday, is indeed in use. Both birds were very vocal today, and after a lot of waiting and hiding behind trees, I finally saw one of the birds actually leave the nest and land in the next tree. It was hard trying to get a photo, so apologies in advance, but I didn't want to linger too long and risk upsetting the birds. As far as I know this is the first time Buzzards have nested at Cranford Woods, so I'm quite excited.

 

The first photo below is a very bad heavily cropped and lightened one, but it does show there are some feathers missing on the right wing. This may help identify the bird over the coming weeks (so long as the feathers don't grow back too quickly).......

 

 

The next photo is even worse. Very heavily cropped and taken through many branches, you can just make out a pale shape to the left of the trunk. This was the bird that flew out of the nest and landed in the next tree.......

 

For obvious reasons I wont disclose where in the woods the nest is, but I will continue to monitor it from a discreet distance.

 

The buzzard is fully protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it an offence to kill, injure or take a buzzard, or to take, damage or destroy an active nest or its contents.

 

Also checking out nesting places was this 'Marmite' Parakeet.....

 

 

The Jackdaw below was sitting looking at a hole in the trunk......

 

after he/she flew off another one appeared from inside the hole in the trunk....

 

So it looks like the Jackdaws are nesting too.

 

I saw my first Blackcaps of the year today. Two males and one female. Trying to get a photo was near on impossible and I only managed the one shot below which makes the bird appear to have no head ! There'll be more opportunities to photograph this handsome bird in the next few weeks. Soon the males will be perched out in the open singing their little hearts out......

 

 

The butterflies were a bit more obliging.

I got this sunning Peacock....

 

and photogenic Comma.....

 

The Cranford Park Bluebell Walk is scheduled for the 23rd April. However it may be bought forward by a week as a lot of the Bluebells are already out.

 

 

A patch of nettles provided me with some critters to photograph.

Another male Syrphus species of hoverfly.....

 

 

One of the Mining bees....either a Communal or Grey Patch.....

 

a Common Carder bee....

 

and a Green Shield Bug.....

 

Other birds seen today but not photographed were a male Sparrowhawk, Song Thrush, lots of Goldcrests and lots of paired up Long-tailed Tits, and of course the pair of Robins at the wood circle who shared my breakfast of raisins and an apple.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Saturday stroll around Cranford Park

 

As always I started my visit today at the wood circle and shared my breakfast with the resident pair of Robins. Today we had dried fruit and a cheese sandwich. The Robins are very used to me now, and often come down to the 'table' before I've even walked back to my log perch.

 

 

There's a large old log pile nearby that is only visible when there are no leaves on the shrubs that grow in front of it. Last autumn the log pile was covered in fungi, and they've fruited again. Not quite the same large display as in autumn, but still pretty enough for me....

 

Also near the wood circle is a very large old evergreen. I don't know what species it is, but I have previously got photos of a Coal Tit hanging of one of the tree's cones. From the comfort of my perch this morning, I was looking around when there was a loud bird alarm call from the evergreen. I could see movement at the top of the tree and then a Mistle Thrush burst out and landed a few feet away from me. It was the Thrush that was calling. A loud sound like a dry rattle. I managed to get a couple of photos before it realised I was there and flew off. And no, I didn't find out what had upset it so much.....

 

 

On the other side of the wood circle is the shady area where I normally see the Song Thrushes. One didn't disappoint today, though it was a bit more distant than I would have liked....

 

A Buff-tailed bumblebee landed on a dandelion by my feet. It was as if was just asking to have it's photo taken, so of course I obliged....

 

 

Before making my way in to the woods and around the rest of the park, I checked on the honeybee hive in the hollow. Last week Sue and I saw several honeybees going in and out, but today I didn't see one. On looking closer at the photo I took today, the honeycomb looks to be damaged ? I'm not sure. It's hard to say. I'll just have to keep checking the hollow out....

 

 

Going through Cranford Woods I found a lovely established spread of Common Dog Violet.....

 

 

These are a different species to the Sweet Violets that are in St Dunstans churchyard. The one's there are very fragrant and grow quite low to the ground. The Dog Violet has no perfume and the flowers grow higher than the leaves.

 

Also found in the woods were two species of Hoverfly.

Boring for some people I know, but I am quite fond of these tiny little lovelies.

The first teeny one is Melanostoma scalare......

 

 

and the second is a male Syrphus species......

 

How do I know it's male I hear you ask ? Only the males have eyes that join together. The females have a gap between the eyes....................

I'm sure there is a joke in that statement somewhere.........

 

The Bluebells in the woods are really coming on now. It's going to be beautiful display once they're all out....

 

My second favourite perch after the wood circle, is an old fallen log on the other side of the woods. There too, the Bluebells are opening up.....

 

 

It's on this same log that my favourite minute fungus, the Eye-lash, fruits and it's the only place in Cranford Woods that I've ever seen it.

 

We often have Buzzards fly over the woods and park. Sometimes they come from the direction of the M4 and one is often seen perching in one of the trees in the adjacent cereal field. But today I twice flushed one that was perched on the same tree within Cranford Woods. Both times the bird flew away 'mewing' (ie calling in the way only Buzzards and Red Kites call - like a cat with tonsillitis).

After accidentally flushing the bird the second time, I found a spot where I could see the tree but where the bird wouldn't be able to see me unless I moved, and waited to see if it returned. It did.

 I couldn't get a photo as the moment I moved to lift my camera the Buzzard sensed this and again flew off 'mewing'. On top of this same tree is a very large nest which I can honestly say I have never noticed before. I cannot say for certain that it is the Buzzard that is using it as I didn't see the bird on the nest, just on nearest branch to it, and as always when I find a nest site, I will not be publicly declaring where it is. But it would be a great result if along with the other raptors that nest within the woods, the Common Buzzard joined them.

Later in the afternoon whilst I was sheltering from the rain, two Buzzards were soaring the thermals together above the woods both 'mewing' to each other. I only got one bird in focus through the branches though.....

 

Just like last week there were plenty of singing Wrens popping up everywhere.....

 

I walked all the way around the park today, following the path alongside Frogs Ditch. There was a reason for this. On my blog post from last Sunday, a gent called Ian (one of the dog walkers over the park) sent me a lovely message. In it he also told me he often hears Tawny Owls calling at the other end of the park (the Cranford Lane end).

I love the dog walkers at the park. They are so happy to share their sightings and information with me. Sue and I have been told before that Tawnys are often heard, but we have never found them.

So today I walked all the way to the Cranford Lane end and checked all suitable looking trees. There are several that look good. But to be really sure I'm going to need to go back there at dawn or dusk to listen for the owls calling.

 

Ian also mentioned in his message that other dog walkers had told him about the Muntjac deer that frequent the park but he had never seen any evidence of deer. So to prove the other dog walkers are absolutely right I took photos of just a couple of the many tracks that were across the park today.......

 

 

I'm going to lay my thoughts out in the open here now, and state that I think there is just one male Muntjac but that he has two or more females with him. There is a reason behind this that I hope to prove soon.

 

Walking from the iron bridge to the stone bridge along the River Crane, there were at least two Green Woodpeckers calling in that wonderful 'waffling' way.

I spotted one....

Can you see it ?

 

Here he is......

 

and the female was in another tree but too hidden for a photo call.

 

As I continued walking I heard a Kingfisher call and swung around expectantly only to see it very very briefly as it flew back up the river in the direction I had just come from.

 

At the stone bridge I scanned the river with my bins in both directions but couldn't spot it again. However by the M4 viaduct I found the Little Egret ! A nice add to todays sightings as no one has seen it for a few months now. However, as always, as soon as the bird sees you trying to sneak up on it, it takes off. Luckily for me it landed again in the river (yes you guessed it.......back in the direction I had just come from !) and I could only get a half decent distant photo.....

 

In the Memorial Garden the first baby Rabbits of the year have emerged.....

 

 

But on a sour note to end a very pleasant few hours stroll, some moron has nicked one of the new benches that were placed at the back of the stable blocks....

The bench was bolted down, so the idiots have literally sawed through the legs and carried it away.

Only consolation is I suppose is that whoever done the sawing was crap, so each bolted leg left is uneven and slanted. Therefore that is going to be one very wobbly bench decorating some thief's garden !!!!!