Is it really December ? Cranford Park today.....

I spent the mild morning a Cranford Park today. And it really was mild considering it's only five days away from Christmas.

First port of call as always was the wood circle to admire the ever growing 'turkey tails' fungi, and to share my breakfast with the resident Magpie....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very near to the wood circle is an old pile of logs. During spring and summer they're hidden from view by vegetation but during winter it can be seen clearly.

The logs were smothered in fungi, probably all honey fungus (I'm not that great at fungi id).

 

 

 

 

My photos don't do it justice, so I've had a go at taking a short minute video clip on my iPhone....

Hope the link works, and it might be better to view from a laptop or pc rather than a smart phone.

 

 

 

I've never seen so much fungi in December before.

 

Deeper in the woods I even found a small clump of  'Yellow Stagshorn'......

 

 

some 'Dead Mans Fingers'......

 

I even found a small clump of 'Candlesnuff' fungi......

 

and I think the one below is Oyster Mushroom.....

 

 

Along the River Crane there was no sign of the Little Grebes. The water level is quite high and they wont like that. They like the level to be lower so they can hide under the overhanging vegetation. No doubt they will be back when the water drops.

 

The Little Egret was in the usual place by the M4 viaduct along with a couple of Mallards....

 

 

It is very nervous of people and dogs and soon got scared away when I got too close. It circled over the river and settled back once I'd left....

 

The mild weather is confusing the Ring-necked Parakeets. It's generally several weeks too early for them to be thinking about nesting, but there were lots of squabbling noisy birds today and lots of them checking out potential nest holes....

 

 

In a way this might be a good thing as it will mean their nesting season will be over before the Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers start theirs. There have been many studies on whether Ring-necked Parakeets are responsible for the decline of woodpeckers but strangely enough all three birds seem to survive alongside each other in the woods.

 Green Woodpeckers tend to use the same nest hole every year and I have witnessed the occasional battle of the green birds, but the woodpeckers do tend to win the fight. 

Great Spotted Woodpeckers use the same nest hole every second year and their hole is a little smaller than the Green Woodpeckers. Most parakeets are to lazy to bother with enlarging the hole, so these nest sites rarely get raided.

There are plenty of old dead trees around with crevices large enough for the parakeets and that's where they tend to go. The biggest gathering of these noisy but colourful birds are the woods nearest to the Headland area, an area also frequented by the Jackdaws.

 

The oaks in front of the burnt out Information Centre is a popular area for the Grey Squirrels to find acorns or chestnuts and bury them, and today I watched five clever Jays go round after the squirrels and dig up their buried treasure......

 

 

The last surprise for my mild December visit was finding the wild bee hive that we discovered back in the summer, is still there ! And there were still Honey Bees going in and out.

The hive was built in a tree hollow. I check the hollow regularly as Stock Doves nested in there a few years ago.

My photos aren't too clear as the hollow is a bit higher up than my camera focus would like, but I got two photos this morning from slightly different angles and you can just see the honeycomb inside the hollow. The second photo shows how far back the honeycomb stretches. The honeycomb is the yellow stuff, the black stuff above it is the remains of yet another fungi.....

 

 

I couldn't find any flowering plants so what are the bees feeding on ? There's still some ivy in flower but most of that has gone over now.

I answered my own question when I went back to the wood circle for a cup of coffee.

My old flask is covered in a flower print, and it attracted a solo bee......

 

which soon realised the flowers were fake and settled instead for a sip of my sweet coffee.....

 

and walking back to the car park I noticed a few more bees going in and out of the bin.

They're getting their nectar from the drinks cans, cups and bottles......

 

The bees should be hibernating now, but it's been so mild that the hive is still active. The other hive that I know of above the Secret Garden, also had a few bees going in and out. It's quite incredible to realise they are probably surviving because of our litter.

 

And to top it all Edwina from the Cranford Park Friends group spotted not one, but two Hedgehogs on her early morning dog walk today. The ground is still so soft that the Hedgehogs are still getting to pick out juicy worms and eat fallen berries.

Just a little foot note though - to see a Hedgehog in the very early morning or early evening is quite normal (though a little unusual in December) but if you do see one out and about in the day, it's not normal and means the Hedgie is probably in trouble. Best thing to do is scoop it up, get it into a secure cardboard box and contact one of the many wildlife rescue centres. Do not give it milk or bread, if you have to feed it give it dried meat cat biscuits.

 

My next visit wont be until after Christmas now. Will it still be mild ? Will I need to wear more than one layer ? Will I ever get the chance to take some wintry photos of the park ? Who knows, but I bet it wont be a white Christmas.

 

So just one last thing to say.....

 

Happy Christmas to all of you from Wino Wendy's Wildlife World