It was bitterly cold with frost on the field at the back of Mum's garden when we awoke very early this morning. But when the sun had risen to melt the frost, it turned out to be a glorious day and probably the warmest so far this year.
Our initial plans for today were to go for a walk over the quarry pits and up the canal, but somehow during the course of last evening and night, the plans changed to a day tidying up the garden. Not sure whose idea that was, but Mum's garden did need a tidy.
We had achieved quite a bit by lunchtime so whilst Mum did what she does best (ie cook food) I allowed myself some quality time with my camera.
First on the agenda were the regularly visiting Great Spotted Woodpeckers. At 7.30am this morning Mum and I watched a pair mating at the top of the neighbours silver birch. Just my luck my camera was NOT in my hands for once, or I would have got a shot I can only dream about but it was great to see and I'm so glad Mum got to see it too. I was also able to show Mum her first Goldcrest this morning. Granted it was high up in the neighbours trees but at least she now recognises their call, and last night at about 9pm when I popped outside for a smoke we heard a male Tawny Owl calling from somewhere over the allotments with a female calling back. Also yesterday afternoon we saw a pair of Collared Doves mating, again in the neighbours silver birch.
Tis the season to 'get a room'.
But back to the Woodpeckers. We know now we definitely have a pair visiting the garden again. There may be more but I would have to set up my portable hide and tripod and take some real close up shots to determine this. But we know have a pair as we've seen both male and female in the garden over the last two days, and of course seen a pair mating this morning. Photograph wise it was only the male I got today.....
Elsewhere a male House Sparrow was picking out nesting material from our cleaned up garden debris....
and in the field Jackdaws were collecting beak fulls of horse hair....
Another bird I see every time I visit Mum are the Red Kites. They are becoming more and more often seen over Harefield now. Recently there was a great video clip posted on the Harefield In Your Heart Facebook page by Dean Hooper that showed one of the Kites soaring low over Harefield Common being mobbed by a crow.
I always see two or three from Mum's back garden, but today as the temperature got warmer there were seven Red Kites soaring around St Marys Road and Broadwater Gardens at one point. As with most birds at this time of year, hormones are high but the birds aren't necessarily so. When Mum first moved back to Harefield we would often get excited if we saw a Red Kite silhouette flying high over the house, now the Kites are flying as low as roof level, which for me today was just what I wanted....
There were so many Kites that the obvious skirmishes happened. I don't know if this is mating or territorial behaviour, but it was fascinating to watch all the same.....
and later a Common Buzzard soared over too....
Mum is very fortunate where she lives as her garden backs on to a field where horses are kept, and at the back of that there's a small holding then the Grand Union Canal. During early summer we hear Cuckoos calling from the canal reed beds, we've seen Reed Buntings and Redpolls visit the garden feeders in winter, we had a visiting Grass Snake last summer, at least one Muntjac deer is sometimes seen in the field and both male and female Sparrowhawks are regularly seen. Compared to where I live, Mum's garden wildlife is bliss to me. But where as I often see Kestrels where I am, Mum has never seen one from her garden.
And she still hasn't because when I found one today Mum was on the phone in the front room.
I had spotted the Kestrel on the ground in the field and crept out in to the garden to hopefully grab a photo. It flew off before I had the chance, but only a few metres down the field so I made my way over to the neighbours fence and hid behind their oak tree. The Kestrel then flew on to the silver birch which is right next to the oak, so actually it was too near for my 150-300mm zoom lens and the sun was glaring in my eyes. To avoid spooking the bird I tried my best fieldcraft experience of being an oak tree, ie: I tried my hardest to merge into the trunk of the tree and to move as quietly as possible when lifting my camera. It must have worked as I took over twenty photos before the bird flew off without spotting me.
I know I've gone a bit 'lumpy' as I've got older but now I can claim I have a trunk like an oak.
When I got home and uploaded the photos, this is the best of what I had got....
a stunning male Kestrel. And this is an uncropped photo. I would have liked the photo to have been shot with the sun behind me instead of almost in front of me, but it's a record shot for Mum's garden and it'll do for now.
So all in all not a bad couple of days spent with Mum. Great food as always, plenty of banter and gossip as always and great wildlife as always.
And of course great company. Thanks Mum. Even if you did eat all of my only choccy Easter Egg you've bought me in thirty years, before you even gave it to me xxx You are forgiven x Love you xx
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