Butterflies and wild flowers at Cranford Park today

This morning at 8.30 I was sharing my breakfast as always, with the resident wood circle Robins.

Today we had oat cookie, raisins and some grapes....

 

 

Sadly also at the wood circle I came across a very sick young rabbit. Look away now if you're a bit squeamish..........

 

This poor rabbit has the beginnings of Myxomatosis, a really nasty man-introduced disease that affects both wild and domestic rabbits. This youngster will be dead within two weeks. It was very sad watching it out in the open feeding within a few feet of me, and twice I tried to usher it down the nearest warren. But I fear if the disease doesn't kill it, a predator will. There's nothing I can do, and I try to intervene in nature as less as possible. If I did catch it and take it to a vet, they wouldn't thank me as the disease is so contagious.

Sorry for the images....

 

 

This is the link to the Myxomatosis website which gives much more information about this awful disease. I've already contacted them so they can put out a Twitter alert for the TW5 area. As I state above, this disease can spread to pet rabbits and the society likes to make every pet rabbit owner aware if the disease is in their area.

 

This isn't the first time I've seen Myxomatosis at Cranford Park but the last outbreak I'm aware of was several years ago, and coincidentally I witnessed it at exactly the same rabbit warren.

 

It added a sad tinge to an otherwise glorious day. The skies were blue, there was barely a whisper of wind, even Martin had rolled up his trousers and was basking on his favoured bench in the sun. The temperature even hit double figures mid morning. There were birds singing, butterflies flying, wild flowers blooming and I got to see both Linnets and Stock Doves mating, though I wasn't lucky enough to get any photos.

 

I also caught a glimpse of one of the Buzzards land firstly on the edge of the nest, then drop in to it before hopping out again seconds later and flying away. This could have been the male bringing in food to the female who hopefully is incubating eggs now.

 

A few days ago a pair of teens were witnessed taking an air rifle in to the woods and firing it up at trees. The Police were called but I don't know if they caught the oiks. It's reasons like this that I purposely NEVER publicise exactly where I see nests. If it's a common bird like the Wren, then I will sometimes publicise the general area. The Wren's nest that Martin found is near the Information Centre but I'm not going to describe it's exact location. So with the Buzzard nest I wont be describing the general area nor the exact location. This is the first time that I know of, that Buzzards have chosen to nest at this wonderful park, and I will monitor it from a discreet distance and post updates on this blog.

 

Other great news, though not at Cranford Park, is that the first of the Peregrine eggs have hatched at Charing Cross. My good friend, Nathalie, monitors the birds there and has posted some lovely vid clips and photos of the young eyass being fed. You can follow their story on the Fulham and Barnes Peregrines Facebook page. Last year none of the eggs hatched and later analysis revealed they weren't fertilised, so this little two day old eyass is very special indeed.

 

Back to Cranford Park I was joined by Sue at lunchtime and we watched a male Blackcap singing right above our heads.....Lovely to hear but an achy neck to photograph....

 

 

The park really was looking glorious with all the fresh leaves emerging......

 

There were plenty of butterflies on the wing today and some were being very obliging and posing for a photo shoot....

 

There was this very tatty looking Peacock, well past looking it's best but there were several fresh ones out as well this morning.....

 

Peacock

 

Plenty of Green-veined Whites around today. The one below is a male. The females have slightly different and larger markings on the upper wings....

male Green-veined White

 

In the photo below of the underwing, you can see why they are called Green-veined Whites....

underwing of male Green-veined White

 

There were lots of Commas about. Most could be found sunning themselves on the ground.....

Comma

 

In the woodland there were a few fresh specimens of Speckled Woods out sourcing territories. I've always found these pretty butterflies are the most territorial. Once they've staked out a patch of their own, they will see off any others that dare fly through it.....

Speckled Wood

 

And my first tiny Holly Blue of the year settled right in front of me....

This is a male. The female has a thicker black band on the edge of its upper wing....

male Holly Blue

 

and the stunning markings of a male Holly Blue underwing...

underwing male Holly Blue

 

Emerging from the nettle patches were several Small Tortoiseshell....

Small Tortoiseshell

 

No underwing photo, but I did get a photo of it's head......

Small Tortoiseshell

 

I also had my first Orange Tip of the year. There were at least three males around the Headland area this morning. The males have the bright orange tips on the upper wing, and the females have the same sized black tips on their upper wing. I didn't see any females today but I bet I do on my next visit...

male Orange Tip

 

I tried to get an underwing shot of the Orange Tip but it was very flighty. The underwing is very intricately marked and beautiful....

male Orange Tip

 

After photographing butterflies, I turned my attention to the wild flowers that can now be seen at the park.

 

The bluebells are still putting on a good display.

The photo below is of the 'baddie' - the invasive Spanish Bluebell....

 

 

Note the upright thick stem, thick strappy leaves and large bell flowers whose petals don't quite curve all the way back.

Compared to our native true Bluebells photographed below.....

 

Thinner paler leaves, nodding heads of delicate flowers whose petals curve all the way back until they're almost touching the bell shaped flower.

 

Another way to tell the difference is to turn a bell upside down and check the colour of the pollen stamens. True Bluebells have creamy white stamens, the Spanish Bluebell has blue stamens.

 

A garden escapee is flowering in St Dunstan's church yard. This is a Wood Anemone, but not a true native one.

 

 

Along the alleyway leading to the underpass the path is flowering either side with the statuesque Green Alkanet. This is one of the earliest spring wild flower to bloom....

 

We have both Sweet Violets and Dog Violets at Cranford Park. This little lovely Sweet Violet has self seeded in a tiny crevice right by St Dunstan's church door....

 

There are lots of good sized spreads of Lesser Celandine all over the park and in the woods.....

 

The Ground Ivy has started flowering in the last week. The tiny delicate flowers have beautiful markings....

 

There are several small clumps of Forget Me Not in the church grounds. Not really a true wild flower but very pretty and which self seeds rapidly....

 

The Cuckoo Flowers are still popping up all over the church yard. My photo doesn't do them justice. They are a wonderful shade of pale dusky pink.....

 

I have only ever found Herb Robert in one particular area in Cranford Woods. But it's spreading really well and the patch is getting bigger each year....

 

There were more Red Campion in flower than a few days ago.....

 

White Dead Nettle is blooming every where. Very attractive to bees and hoverflies....

 

and the Red Dead Nettle is flowering as well....

 

Lastly, probably the most abundant wild flower is the one that flowers first, provides valuable nectar for all the early emerging bees, hoverflies and butterflies yet is the one that is mostly ignored, or even worse, purposely destroyed......

 

It's the humble Dandelion......

This one has attracted a hoverfly, Melanostoma scalare......

 

and Sue got a photo of a Tawny Mining Bee on another.

Scroll back through my photos above and you'll see how many butterflies are also attracted to this 'weed'.

 

It was a lovely day out on the patch. Six hours nature watching and over 14,000 steps on the Fitbit.

The only sour note was that poor young rabbit. I can only hope nature runs it's course sooner rather than later and that rabbit doesn't suffer for too long.

 

 

 

 

Wild flowers, blue skies and hoverflies at Cranford Park this morning

At 6.30am this morning I was at Cranford Park.

 

Initially I hoped my early start might get me a glimpse of one of the Muntjac, but despite starting my walk at the Northern Meadow (aka the Watersplash) by The Crane pub, and following the nature trail and also investigating the orchard in the walled garden, I saw no Muntjacs at all though there were plenty of tracks to taunt me.

 

I shared my breakfast with the usual pair of Robins at the wood circle.

 We had quite a feast today - cheese, raisins and bread pudding. And I finally managed to photograph both Robins in the same frame.........now all I've got to achieve is to get them BOTH in focus !

 

 

At lunchtime I went back and put out some more raisins and was joined by a Grey Squirrel. I had to sit completely still to get this shot, any movement from me and he/she was off.....It took five attempts and just over an hour of my patience to finally get this photo....

 

It was a beautiful morning. There wasn't a cloud in the sky until about 11am. But it was bitterly cold. I regretted not wearing gloves today ! Very hard to believe it's going to be May in a few days.

There were plenty of birds to see, but with cold hands I found it very difficult to handle my camera, so not many good shots from this mornings visit.

 

There were two male Blackcaps chasing each other around, and this was the best I could do.....

 

 

The Common Whitethroats in the Headland area were being as un-obliging as they were two days ago......

 

There was a male Linnet singing from exactly the same bramble patch as the one that Sue and I watched a couple of days ago.........and his missus could just be seen in the thorny tangle below.

A new nest site ? It's certainly looking that way.

Even he was proving difficult to photograph with the sun directly in my eyes....

 

In the woods I neither saw nor heard the Buzzards. But there were plenty of Jackdaws, Carrion Crows and Ring-necked Marmites (aka Parakeets) to watch.

 

I even saw a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers mating but by the time I lifted my camera the show was over and they flew off together calling.

 

Martin's Wren nest was still active this morning. There was a singing male right near it a few times today, and more bringing in of feathers.

 

There was a Stock Dove sitting alone in the woods by the Bluebell Dell, and he didn't seem to mind me shuffling around the woodland floor trying to get a good angle of him. Normally our Stock Doves are pretty shy and flighty.

These under estimated birds are cousins of the usual feral Pigeons, which we don't see many of at Cranford Park. Stock Doves are much more appealing with that wonderful black beady eye and the beautiful green hued patches on the back of their necks.......

 

 

We are fairly lucky that they breed in Cranford Woods along with it's other cousins, the pretty Collared Dove and the stocky Wood Pigeon.

Stock Doves aren't yet a protected species but they are still on the 'amber list' of conservation concern.

 

Several times today I saw the now resident Mistle Thrushes at the wood circle take on the Magpies. If a Magpie got too close to the Thrushes nest tree, they would shoot out and attack the bigger bird. All of this happened way too fast for me to even think about lifting my camera but at one point two Mistle Thrushes actually managed to ground one of the Magpies. It stayed on the deck for a while before finally flying off. I think it's pride was more hurt than anything else.

 

On the other side of the clearing there was the much more serene scenario of a Song Thrush with a muddy beak.....

 

I found two new wild flowers this morning.

 

The beautiful charming Cuckoo Flowers have started blooming. Also known as Lady's Smock (Cardamine pretensis) it likes damp grasslands, woods, ditches and pond edges. It flowers April-June and Orange-tipped Butterflies are particularly drawn to it. Their caterpillars feed on the plant..

 In folklore the plant was said to be sacred to the fairies and therefore it was considered unlucky to bring flowers indoors. In the old days the leaves were used as a substitute for watercress.

 I found a couple of specimens around the woods, but the biggest stronghold was in St Dunstans churchyard.....

 

 

The other wildflower I found was a nice, but small, patch of Wild Garlic. Also known as Ramsons (Allium ursinum) it flowers March-June in damp woodland and riverbanks. The whole of the plant (stems, leaves and flowers) is edible. It's much more mellow in flavour than the more common garlic and is often used by gourmet chefs for its fragrant flavour. Some First World War soldiers used the plant as an antiseptic. I only found the one small clump this morning, but it spreads easily so hopefully next year there will be more of it......

 

By lunchtime the temperature had risen enough to tempt out some hoverflies, but it was still quite cold and as I'm writing this there are news reports that snow fell in London and Slough today (!!!!!).

I also briefly saw two butterflies on the wing, a Speckled Wood and a Green-veined White, but it was too cold for either to settle for a photo call.

Back to the hoverflies - boring subject for some I know - but I find these tiny harmless critters quite charming.

 

First up is Syrphus vitripennis, a little widdy one less than a centimetre long. It's quite widespread and is a common visitor to garden flowers in mid Summer.

 

 

Number two is Eristalis pertinax, a little bigger than the other one. Again this species is widespread and occurs almost everywhere across the UK. It is one of the first species to be seen in Spring.....

 

The sun also bought out a couple of other critters.

This is a Dock Bug....

 

 

and this is an Earwig burrowing in a dandelion....

 

A very enjoyable sunny start to the day with seven hours nature watching and 13,200 steps clocked up on my Fitbit before 1pm .

I only came home because whatever pollen is out at the moment started my eyes streaming and produced several bouts of sneezing. Hay Fever. Great. Not.

But I still have two days before I go back to work on Friday, and the forecast is for two more fairly dry days albeit still being chilly. The gloves have been pre-packed in preparation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A morning stroll around Lake Farm CP

I've got a few days off work so will be blogging a fair bit this week.

 

This morning I decided on a whim to go for a stroll around Lake Farm which is a ten minute walk from home. We get lots of Common Whitethroats at Cranford Park, but we get lots more at Lake Farm. I also wanted to check on the Skylarks. Lake Farm was a stronghold for them but numbers dwindled after the school was built on a quarter of the land.

 

I wasn't disappointed. At least three pairs were displaying, although the dreadful light made getting any photos quite challenging.....

 

 

There are also more Linnets at Lake Farm then there are at Cranford Park. Yesterday at CP I saw just the one pair. Today at LF there were flocks of birds flitting from bush to bush. Many perched up high to sing.....

 

 

I didn't have quite as much luck with the Whitethroats. There were plenty of them around, but trying to get a photo of one was hard work ! My usual view was below......

 

 

I managed an out of focus shot of two chasing each other in a scrubby bush.......

 

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

 

This same date last year I was at Minet CP, another park within walking distance, and had cracking views of the Common Whitethroats - see the photo below.....

Common Whitethroat 25.04.15 Minet CP

 

It was a very overcast morning today and when the wind blew it really was quite chilly. I had a wander around the only tiny bit of woodland that Lake Farm has and counted eight singing Chiffchaffs, a handful of Robins, several Blackbirds and three pairs of Long-tailed Tits.

The sun very very briefly came out (blink and you missed it) and a movement caught my eye.

My first Speckled Wood butterfly of the year was emerging from under a leaf. It sunned itself for a few short minutes then disappeared back under the leaf.......

 

 

There were hardly any hoverflies around, and the ones that I did spot didn't settle long enough for a photo.

I stalked a Tawny Mining bee for ten minutes before it finally landed for a photo call....

 

 

Other birds seen but not photographed were two Reed Buntings and a Green Woodpecker.

 

Not a bad two hours out and about on the old patch. Maybe the birds will be less flighty in a week or so when they have established their territories.