Lots of 'firsts of the year' at Cranford Park today

As my blog title says...there were lots of 'firsts of the year' on my visit to Cranford Park today.

The sun was out, the temperature was in double figures and the birds were singing.

It truly felt like Spring has sprung.

 

It's looking like it's going to be a good Bluebell season.

Carpets of leaves are spreading across the woodland floor, and most have buds....

 

 

and there are even pockets of them already starting to bloom....

 

In St Dunstan's churchyard I found my first Sweet Violets of the year...

 

 

Another first of the year, and which always tells me spring is here, was my first sighting of a Bee-fly, Bombylius major. These harmless little critters always fascinate me. They lead such an intricate life. After breeding the female literally throws her eggs down a suitable bee's hole, where the eggs later hatch and feed on the bee's larvae.

 

 

I found two Hoverfly species today but neither photo is good enough for a proper identification. One is on dandelion and the second is on Lesser Celandine.....

 

I also came across two flies 'enjoying' themselves in the sunshine.

With the help of Chris Raper and Rui Andrade from the UK Diptera Facebook group, we can possibly say they are either Lypha dubia or Macquartia dispar.....

 

 

The lovely weather meant that both the wild Honeybee hives were very active.

Also active were several of our larger bees, the Bumbles. I saw both White-tailed and Buff-tailed but couldn't get photos, then I came across this sorry sight.....

a dead Red-tailed bumblebee....

 

 

On a brighter note I managed to photograph three species of butterfly at Cranford Park today. I saw my first of the year at Kensington Gardens two weeks ago, which was a Small Tortoiseshell that refused to stay still for a photo. So today I was pleased to see several of them including the two below...

 

There were several Commas on the wing today, and they were being very obliging.....

 

I particularly like the photo below.....look at the huge shadow the Comma has...

 

I also had my first Peacock of the year, but could only find the one....

 

 

I need to brush up on my shield bug ids. I found two today.

The one below is, I think, Common Green Shield Bug....

 

 

and this one is a Parent Bug.... 

 

I spent a lot of time at the wood circle. The Robins have paired up and I caught the lovely sight of one feeding the other, a sure bonding sign. Sadly I didn't get a photo, but one of them posed nearby for my camera.....

 

 

There were a pair of Long-tailed Tits flitting about too. I tried to follow them around the wood circle to see if they were constructing a nest, but found nothing. However they spent a lot of time looking for tasty morsels to eat......

 

Normally when I'm at the wood circle I eat my lunch and share any crumbs with the two resident Magpies. Today I took a fatball with me and crushed it up on the usual 'bird table' log. No Magpies came down, which I found a bit strange, but a Blue Tit soon discovered the appetising suet.....

 

 

and was shortly followed by a Grey Squirrel....

 

 

Up by the Headland area I found another Grey Squirrel apparently sunbathing ! It was completely motionless, and eventually I moved nearer to it just to make sure it was okay......which it was.....

 

The huge ancient Sweet Chestnut tree at the front of the car park has many hollows. I was talking to one of the regular dog walkers when I spotted movement inside one of them. I quickly pointed my camera as the 'movement' emerged, and was delighted to see it was a Stock Dove....

 

I've known for years that they breed at Cranford Park, but I've only ever been lucky enough to find one nest before today (and that nest site was eventually taken over by one of the wild Honeybee hives).

As like all of our Stock Doves, this one was skittish and the above photo was the only shot I managed before it spotted me and flew off.

 

Other news from around the park.......

 

I failed to find the Little Owls in the new location that I had previously seen one at two weeks ago BUT I did hear one calling from that area, so fingers crossed, I may find it again.

 

Our resident Kestrels have paired up again. They flew across the park together this afternoon and one was 'calling'. They took me by surprise though so no photos.

 

A Buzzard circled over the park several times today, and surprisingly wasn't mobbed by any of the Carrion Crows, Jackdaws or Marmite Parakeets.

 

I heard both Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers calling but didn't see them. The Goldcrests in the evergreens in the woods were very vocal but I only got fleeting glimpses as they flitted around. The water level on the River Crane was high again so no sign of either of the Little Grebes. I heard the Kingfisher by the iron bridge but didn't see it.

 

It's Easter. Spring has sprung. But it does look like today could be the only 'good' day out of the whole long weekend !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A beautful day at Cranford Park

Today I was back on my patch at Cranford Park.

 

Sadly one of the first sights I saw was the remains of a drunken party left behind at the wood circle, one of my favourite spots at the park....

 

 

but after borrowing a bag and gloves from Bob Barton, I soon resolved that !

 

I don't begrudge anyone visiting the park, but leaving behind loads of broken glass bottles, numerous empty cans and several plastic bags when there are plenty of bins available, really is beyond me. It took me just twenty minutes to tidy up after this late night drunken get-together.

 

Anyway that wasn't enough to spoil my day.

My morning was spent with this lovely lot.....

 

 

tidying up the Secret Garden....

 

 

I think the only one that was bored was Ginny....

 

After making the garden presentable I then went off for a walk.

 

I came across a sleeping Wren......honestly. It was dozing on a log, eyes closed and basking in the warm sun....

 

 

It soon woke up though, and looked almost embarrassed at being caught out...

 

Good news today is that I found one of the park's Little Owls....

Bad news is I didn't get one photo of it.

 Suprisingly it wasn't where I normally see them. I was suspicious last year when they didn't return to the usual place (which was the Oaks in front of the Information Centre) and I guessed they had probably relocated to another area in the park. It looks as if I was right. Until I can be sure, I will keep the new location secret. But at least I have a general idea of where to search again.

 

The Ring-necked Parakeets are loved up and investigating nest holes.

I watched this one emerge.....

 

 

which was closely followed by it's mate.....

 

In the Ice House copse, there was a Kestrel just visible....

 

Another of my favourite places is the churchyard at St Dunstans.

This Robin has staked out it's corner of the yard near to Tony Hancock's memorial....

 

 

and the flowering Crocuses there provided me with my first Hoverfly of the year.

This tiny little lovely is Melanostoma scalare, a common species that is often seen in early Spring.....

 

I was also really pleased to find a good established clump of Anemone Blanda in the churchyard...

 

 

At the back of the stable block there is a very beautiful ornamental Acer.

You can tell Spring is here, because the Acer is starting to bud....

 

I also added to my collection of dog pals today by meeting Steve and his lovely pooch, Jenna....

 

It was a glorious day with good company this morning, some rather tasty boozey home-made cake from Gowan and plenty of laughs.

And my day was made complete by my first sighting of a Cranford Park Little Owl for over a year, and my first Hoverfly of 2016.

 

 

Kensington Gardens and the new owls on the block

 

Firstly I must apologise for the complete lack of blog posts from last weekend. I was recovering from a nasty cold (or Man-flu or Wine-flu), and really didn't feel up to traipsing about.

 

Today however, I was raring to get back out with my camera. All week I had been watching the weather forecast for the weekend and planning where to go. My mind was made up for me after reading Ralph Hancocks daily blog post (link to blog post here) from yesterday.

Part of my routine when leaving work each evening is to read Ralphs blog on the bus journey home. I know I've said this before, but it is so great to read a blog post that concentrates on the same patch daily. Anyway, to put it in a nutshell, there are now at least three pairs of Little Owls at Kensington Gardens. The usual pair near the Leaf Litter yard, the pair near the Albert Memorial and a new pair that have been seen near the Henry Moore statue. Ralph managed to photograph a Little Owl at all three sites yesterday. That was inspiration enough for me.

 

I've already got photos of the Leaf Litter and Albert Memorial pair, so todays mission was to see the new owls on the block. The Henry Moore birds.

 

And for once, I didn't fail.....

 

Following Ralphs instructions on where to see the owls, I found the relevant trees.

And standing out like a sore thumb was one Little Owl sitting boldly in the crook of two forked branches...

He/she didn't flinch as I stumbled around the area trying to find the best view for a photo. In fact I got the impression I was more of a curiosity to him/her than he'she was for me !

 

So the next five photos are of the same Little Owl, but taken at different angles....

 

 

There are three trees here that make a triangle. It wasn't until I had walked all the way around all of them, that I saw another Little Owl in one of the other trees. This owl was much more active and I stopped my stalking until I was absolutely sure it wasn't me that was making it agitated.

 Luckily it wasn't me, but was in fact another bird......whose id I will disclose shortly.....

 

So the next seven photos are of Little Owl number two. The whole time I took these pics, the first Little Owl stayed in the crook of the two forked branches on the first tree. This tree was behind that, and is the one nearest to the Henry Moore statue.....

 

 

So what was making the second Little Owl so active ?

It was a Green Woodpecker !

It had made its way up the trunk and the Little Owl was not happy. Compare the two photos below and you can see the size difference between the woodpecker and the owl - hardly anything in it.

 

 

The Little Owl won in the end though. The Green Woodpecker was soon chased off.

 

Of course I had to check the other two sites, the Leaf Litter and the Albert Memorial, but despite visiting several times during the day I didn't see Little Owls at either of those sites. But it was really nice to see the two new owls on the block.

 

On the Henry Moore statue itself, there were a pair of Egyptian Geese laying claim to their territory...

 

 

Further on up towards the Italian Gardens, a beautifully marked female Blackbird came out for a photo or two....

 

 

Near the bridge that divides Hyde Park from Kensington Gardens, there was a Great Crested Grebe constructing a nest. It was a bit hit and miss on trying to get photos through the branches, but I managed a couple...

 

 

Other birds finding the nesting urge included this Great Tit checking out a nestbox....

 

 

As always when I visit KG, I take bird food and spent a very pleasant few hours feeding the little 'uns. The Blue Tits are looking very smart in their colourful plumage now....

 

And you can always be sure of a good few portrait shots of Herons.....

 

 

I lingered around the Peter Pan statue after yesterdays report of a Firecrest seen in the area, but my attention was grabbed by one of my favourite ducks - the underestimated Gadwall.

Such intricate feather detail means they shouldn't be over looked, but they often are....

 

 

A pair of Mandarins were also taking advantage of the general public feeding bread (yuk) and gave me my first beautiful close ups of a duck I never get to see on my patch....

 

The mild weather today really caught me out. My gloves, snood and jumper were all stuffed in to my already packed rucksack before I'd even arrived at Kensington Gardens. Which in turn made carrying my rucksack somewhat hard work today.

However, my spirits were lifted on my walk back to Paddington train station when I spotted my first non-hibernating Ladybird of the year at Sussex Gardens...

 

 

A beautiful mild day out.

I achieved what I wanted, and my Fitbit states I walked over 18,000 steps today.

 And I even spotted my old friend Posh Boy.