The King is back at Cranford Park

Yesterday Nathalie and I were at the stone bridge at Cranford Park looking for the Kingfisher. Instead we found two Spotted Flycatchers.

This morning I was back at the stone bridge looking for the Spotted Flycatchers. Instead I had an hour long encounter with the Kingfisher !

 

This was my first view of him. An uncropped and unedited photo.

The shaded white area on the right is the bridge as I was trying my utmost not to disturb him by leaning too far over.....

 

 

He was literally just below me. If I moved he would have spotted me, so I had to make do with the view I had and be as quiet as possible....

 

He even caught a stickleback whilst I watched, but my only photo below, is out of focus...

 

But it was really lovely to have such good clear views, even if they were of an unusual angle....

 

After what seemed like hours, but was in fact just 40 minutes, he flew down river towards the M4 underpass and landed in the overhanging willows.

 

Spot the King....

 

 

A very heavily cropped shows him dead centre.

 

How can such a brightly coloured bird become so well camouflaged ?????

 

I took the advantage of him flying off to get myself in a better position should he come back, and although the view wasn't that much better, I had more a side view than looking down on him.

 

Within five minutes he was back....

 

 

And I spent another 20 minutes with this little stunner before he again flew down river, settling again in the same overhanging willows.....

 

We've known for the last few years that the Kingfishers are back, we've seen both male and female in previous years, but spotting them has been very hit and miss. I have only seen them a handful of times this year, and today were the best perched views I've had for over a year.

They don't nest down the main Cranford Park stretch of the River Crane, the river banks aren't high enough and to be honest I'm quite glad as disturbance to the birds would be very high with the amount of joggers and dog walkers that frequent the river walk.

I've always suspected they nest along the River Crane where it emerges from going under the M4. The banks there are very high, very secluded and there is very little in disturbance from walkers, joggers and dogs.

Overall it was just great to see one so close this morning.

 

There was no sign of the Spotted Flycatchers, they often don't stick around longer than a day or two during migration, but this charming Chiffchaff obligingly popped itself completely level with my camera on the nearest yellow lichen covered tree to the stone bridge....

 

 

Other birds seen from the stone bridge were a juvenile Robin, adult Robin, Song Thrush, several Blackbirds, male and female Blackcap, Goldfinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Long-tailed Tits and at least 10 Chiffchaffs. All of them on the yellow lichen covered trees to the left of the river if you look to the M4 from the stone bridge.

 

In between rain showers I had a nose around the woods. It was quite noisy with lots of Goldcrests, Long-tailed Tits, Blackbirds, Robins, Song Thrushes, Great Tits, Blue Tits, and 'Marmite' Parakeets calling, but I'm not complaining. My favourite woodland sound is birdsong.

 

I came across this 'thing' near the woods edge. It was small, the size of a 5p piece, and at first I thought it was a fallen berry but after nudging it with a stick I realised it was a fungi of some sort.

 

 

The log it is on has been in the same position at the woods edge for more years than I can remember. I often find bracket fungus on it later in the season, but I've never seen it fruiting this little red 'thing'. The jury is still out on what type of fungi it is, and all I can do is hope it is still there when I visit again next weekend.

 

In the Headland area as soon as the sun came out, so did the bugs......

 

This below is a Green Shield Bug, but it's not yet reached adult form. I think this is 4th instar stage, which in common language basically means it's a teenager rather than a grown adult....

 

The sun also bought out loads of Dock Bugs, mainly all adults but with the odd 'youngster'....

 

I like Dock Bugs. To me they are like tiny dinosaurs. The information below is from the UK Nature website....

 

With a length of 13-15 mm, Coreus marginatus is a fairly large bug, mottled reddish-brown in colouration with a broad, oval abdomen. Between the antennae are two small projections, known as antenniferous tubercles, which can be used to distinguish this species from other superficially similar species. Known as the dock bug as it feeds on the leaves and seeds of docks and sorrels. There is one generation per year, the adults mating and laying eggs in spring. The resulting nymphs feed on dock and other related plants with any new adults will be usually found from August onwards. Like other Coreidae the dock bug has an annual life cycle consisting of an egg followed by five successive nymphal instars before becoming an adult. It is often found in dense vegetation, such as hedgerows and wasteland and is common and widepread in southern Britain.

 

Even though my visit this morning was cut short at lunchtime after I got soaked three times in the showers, I had a great visit as always.

 

There was a first time visitor to the park this morning, who I got chatting to at the stone bridge. He had binoculars and was very knowledgeable about birds. I managed to show him the Kingfisher before it took flight and he advised me as to where he had seen another large gathering of Chiffchaffs. Unfortunately I didn't get his name, but I did give him one of my blog cards so hopefully he will read this later. Anyway the reason why I mention him is that it wasn't until I had been talking about the park, its wildlife and its history, that I realised this guy was genuinely interested. I had been waffling for ages and he was still listening.

Thank you mystery man. Sorry if I did go on a lot, but I am passionate about Cranford Park and what it has to offer. Thank you for listening and I hope to see you there again.