Clearing ivy, spotting Weasels and chasing Kingfishers at Cranford Park

On a warm October Sunday, I joined Bob Barton and some volunteers from Friends of Cranford Park, to clear the ivy off the 18th century ha-ha walls near the front of the Information Centre. It's not an easy task to do, you cant just pull the ivy off in case it damages the ancient mortar so it has to be cut off first off all with a saw, then the rest with secateurs and clippers. It was a thankful job, the wall looked much better afterwards, and the ivy will come back next spring. We were serenaded by one of the Little Owls calling from the Sweet Chestnut behind us.

 

 

 

The Secret Garden was opened for a while. It was good to hear the small pond in there is now home to seventeen Common Newts. The garden is now getting ready for winter, so not many photo opportunities, however it produced a good crop of potatoes this year, and a fantastic glut of grapes. And yes, in the future there will be a Cranford Park Wine. Lights have been fitted around the ancient well, and there's a new waterfall feature on the pond, but sadly neither were working today. The lovely Lorraine has given me the keycode to the garden so I can enter as I please now, so long as I don't abuse my privilege of course :)

 

 

 

After two hours of cutting back ivy Bob announced he was happy with what us volunteers had achieved and we all went our separate ways. Naturally I stayed on site, its been weeks since I've spent a day at Cranford Park.

 

 All over the park various types of fungi are fruiting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few weeks ago Alison Shipley told me she had seen two Kingfishers by the green bridge. The photo below is the view from the green bridge towards the stone bridge by the car entrance to the park.

 

 

I found some late butterflies, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

 

 

 

Then something moved at the other end of the bridge. It was small and brown, and my first thought was that it was a rat, but it was a Weasel, and not just one as right behind it was another Weasel. I have been fortunate to see Weasels at Cranford Park before, but I have never seen two together. I fired off several shots before they disappeared, but only three photos were in focus. I'm not sure why one is darker in colour than the other.

 

 

 

 

As with all Weasels and Stoats, you have to stay still once you've spotted them as any movement at all, and they are off. It was my find of the day today, and probably a moment I'll never get again. I waited around to see if they would come back, but cyclists and dogs and walkers were using the bridge, so I gave up after a while.

 

I still hadn't spotted any Kingfishers so started walking back towards the stone bridge. A Heron was feeding, and while I was watching him, a Kingfisher zoomed by closely followed by a second Kingfisher. I tracked them with my bins and saw one settle. Could I end my day on a perfect high ??

 

 

Yes and no. The Kingfisher that landed was only 20 feet away but my camera was wanting to focus on the water and not the bird. So I'm not very pleased with my photos of this gorgeous bird, but at least I know for future the best place along the River Crane to look now.

 

 

 

As I was leaving the park, a female Kestrel dropped into a tree and posed for a photo.

 

 

So a very enjoyable day, the highlight of course being the two Weasels. I'm already looking forward to my next visit.

Trip to Kensington Gardens

I had two reasons to go out today, one was to meet up with my mate Gina who had been away for a months holiday, and the other was to play with my new camera, the Sony a77.

 

Kensington Gardens was the ideal venue, you can get really close to birds there, and it's only a short walk away from Whole Foods, where Gina and I like to catch up on the gossip over a pitcher or two of cocktails, and some very tasty grub.

 

Sadly the resident Little Owls at Kensington Gardens weren't feeling as sociable as us, and we failed to see them despite checking their regular tree several times. However we did hear one calling as we were leaving the park. 

 

One of the Cormorants was much more obliging.

 

 

There are several Great Crested Grebes on the Serpentine, some still have chicks with them, but they were too far off in the distance to get any decent photos. This single bird was more than happy to come close to us.

 

 

Herons are abundant, as they are by most bodies of water. They may not be the mot picturesque birds, but at least they stayed still enough while I practised shooting with my new camera.

 

 

 

 

This stunning male Pochard was also happy to pose while I snapped away.

 

 

The birds at Kensington Gardens are fairly tame, and most are happy to take food from your hand. The Carrion Crow below happily took a digestive biscuit from a fellow bird watcher.

 

 

and Gina had success feeding Great Tits, a Robin and a very gentle Parakeet.

 

 

 

 

So despite not seeing the Little Owls, and not being able to photograph the Nuthatches that got within six feet of us, it was a very enjoyable day, finished off superbly with two pitchers of mango and jalapeno margaritas and a good gossip. And, yes, I am enjoying my new camera very much :)

New school building works go ahead at Lake Farm

I fitted in a brief visit to Lake Farm this afternoon, and was dismayed to see workers and machinery back on site. The whole of the affected area is now fenced off, including the toddlers playground, and whilst I was there a large digger was uprooting shrubs and bushes.

 

I walked up to the end of the path (which in the original plans was to be the boundary between Lake Farm and the school) only to find construction is definitely going on across the path. Access is fenced off right up to the park entrance on Botwell Common Road, the one nearest Botwell Lane.

 

Whilst peering through the fence, two of the workers came over and we started talking about the site. They said they were only doing their jobs, which I had to agree with, but they both also said Lake Farm was the only green space in the borough, that they were building on. One of them even commented how surprised he was considering the council are building not just this school, but another TWO in the area. One of them will be at the old RAF Uxbridge site, and one as of yet undisclosed. He also said three other schools in the area were being extended, so it beggars the original question, why build a school on Lake Farm in the first place ???!?

 

They also confided the council had chosen new building plans over the original to make room for more car parking spaces, hence the boundary line becoming larger and crossing over the path.

 

Archaeologists were on site, and did find some artifacts, but nothing of major importance.

 

On the upside for Lake Farm, but downside for traffic in the area, the site entrance for heavy machinery will be on Botwell Lane, and not Dawley Road.

 

More permanent wooden fence posts will be put up whilst the construction goes on. The posts will support mesh fences so we can view the progress of the building.

These trees and shrubs wont be there next week.

 

Workmen in the back ground with a large pallet of wooden stakes.

 

The new plans include cutting across the path.

 

The man-made pond is on my left, the new school site on my right. A new path will be built around the site once it is completed.

 

Elsewhere shrubs are taking on autumnal colour.

 

Only birds seen during my brief visit were a large mixed flock of Blue Tits, Long-tailed Tits and Chiffchaffs, and a Green Woodpecker flying across.

Wheatears and more at Rhyl

I've been to Rhyl for a few days, primarily to see family and friends there but I also managed to fit in a whole day birding too. I try to get to Rhyl at least three or four times a year and stay with my cousins who, luckily for me, live just two streets away from the sea.

 

On Friday while the family were all at work or school, I made my way down to the beach. The first bird (except for the gulls) I saw, was a Little Egret. Nothing special in that, but that's the first time in five years that I've seen an Egret fishing by the sea.

 

 

Oystercatchers were abundant, but hard to get close to.

I spent a lot of time hiding behind breakwaters.

 

 

 

I always see Redshanks on Rhyl beach.

 

 

Turnstones are another species that are guaranteed.

You  can see in the picture below, my first view of them through the breakwaters.

 

 

Sandwich Tern numbers at Rhyl are up considerably from five years ago. Back then I was lucky to see two or three, but on my last few visits I've been seeing twenty to thirty birds at a time.

 

 

 

The tide had not long gone out, and had left several 'pools' of water quite near to the sea wall. There I found a family group of Ringed Plovers.

 

 

 

One of my favourite places on the beach is further up near Prestatyn. Its a stretch of rubble from old defences buildings. I had great views of Northern Wheatears here back in May, and they didn't disappoint on Friday either. Along with Wheatears I also found Wagtails and Meadow Pipits.

 

Mipit

 

Pied Wagtail

 

Northern Wheatear

 

and more......

 

and more.

 

I've never fully explored the sand dunes and the area of scrub that are on the border of Rhyl and Prestatyn, but a very friendly gentlemen, seeing me with my bins and camera, told me it was a great place to see Stonechats.

Whilst looking for the Chats I found a Kestrel hunting, and a large colony of House Sparrows.

 

 

Then I found the Stonechats. At least four pairs were showing really well.

 

 

 

 

On the walk back, I found even more Wheatears. These were on garden walls near the Splashpoint area and were very obliging.

 

 

 

 

 

I couldn't really ask for better views of these beautiful Thrushes.

All in all it was a very enjoyable day out, and one that I hope to do again in a couple of months time.