Nesting news from Cranford Park

At the wood circle this morning I was watching a Magpie mobbing a Carrion Crow, and wondering why a bird would mob a larger bird.....

 

 

when I realised the Magpie had a nest in an adjacent tree. Trying to get a photo was tricky but you can just see the Magpie at the top left of the picture below....

 

The perch where the Magpie had mobbed the crow is a popular one. Over the years I've seen Sparrowhawks, Kestrels and Hobbys use that perch, so it will be interesting to see if the Magpie mobs them too over the coming weeks.

 

Yesterdays alarm calling Mistle Thrush was spotted again this morning, and it too is nesting. I watched both adults going in to the large evergreen with nesting material. However to get a photo I had to hide behind the evergreen trunk and wait patiently. Even then I only got two half decent shots, but as you can see below that is definitely nesting material in it's beak.

 

 

I think I can now safely say the possible Buzzard nest that I found yesterday, is indeed in use. Both birds were very vocal today, and after a lot of waiting and hiding behind trees, I finally saw one of the birds actually leave the nest and land in the next tree. It was hard trying to get a photo, so apologies in advance, but I didn't want to linger too long and risk upsetting the birds. As far as I know this is the first time Buzzards have nested at Cranford Woods, so I'm quite excited.

 

The first photo below is a very bad heavily cropped and lightened one, but it does show there are some feathers missing on the right wing. This may help identify the bird over the coming weeks (so long as the feathers don't grow back too quickly).......

 

 

The next photo is even worse. Very heavily cropped and taken through many branches, you can just make out a pale shape to the left of the trunk. This was the bird that flew out of the nest and landed in the next tree.......

 

For obvious reasons I wont disclose where in the woods the nest is, but I will continue to monitor it from a discreet distance.

 

The buzzard is fully protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it an offence to kill, injure or take a buzzard, or to take, damage or destroy an active nest or its contents.

 

Also checking out nesting places was this 'Marmite' Parakeet.....

 

 

The Jackdaw below was sitting looking at a hole in the trunk......

 

after he/she flew off another one appeared from inside the hole in the trunk....

 

So it looks like the Jackdaws are nesting too.

 

I saw my first Blackcaps of the year today. Two males and one female. Trying to get a photo was near on impossible and I only managed the one shot below which makes the bird appear to have no head ! There'll be more opportunities to photograph this handsome bird in the next few weeks. Soon the males will be perched out in the open singing their little hearts out......

 

 

The butterflies were a bit more obliging.

I got this sunning Peacock....

 

and photogenic Comma.....

 

The Cranford Park Bluebell Walk is scheduled for the 23rd April. However it may be bought forward by a week as a lot of the Bluebells are already out.

 

 

A patch of nettles provided me with some critters to photograph.

Another male Syrphus species of hoverfly.....

 

 

One of the Mining bees....either a Communal or Grey Patch.....

 

a Common Carder bee....

 

and a Green Shield Bug.....

 

Other birds seen today but not photographed were a male Sparrowhawk, Song Thrush, lots of Goldcrests and lots of paired up Long-tailed Tits, and of course the pair of Robins at the wood circle who shared my breakfast of raisins and an apple.