First outing of the year at Cranford Park

For various reasons today was the first day I was actually out with my camera in nearly two months. Hopefully I'll get out more frequently now.

 

It was bitterly cold but very sunny, so wrapped up in thermals and layers I spent a very pleasant few hours at Cranford CP. There were quite a few thrush species around including the two below, Song Thrush and Redwing....

 

 

I also saw five Mistle Thrush but couldn't get any photos of them.

 

The Blue Tit below looked glorious in the light and was all fluffed up against the cold....

 

Along the River Crane there were three pairs of Mallards. The drakes have been wooing their females for the last couple of months. Next month the females will have nests and will be incubating eggs. The pair below also looked exquisite in the good light. My photo also shows just how the River Crane got last month. That muddy grey foliage was all under water.

 

I was quite surprised to see a Chaffinch feeding on the ground with some Great Tits. They are very common birds but I rarely see them at Cranford Park...

 

 

Both species of woodpeckers were very vocal today, but not obliging enough to get photos. I saw three Great Spotted Woodpeckers, all of them calling, but this was the only photo I could get.....

 

I also saw and heard five Green Woodpeckers, but didn't get any photos at all.

 

Last spring I watched a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers feeding chicks at a nest hole in Bluebell Dell. The same nest hole has now been taken over by a pair of Ring Necked Parakeets......

 

One kept going in and throwing out a far bit of sawdust, which means they are excavating the old nest site to make it a bit larger for their young. There is a lot of debate about Parakeets and their impact on our woodpeckers. Studies are still being carried out. I'm not worried about this pair though as Great Spotted Woodpecker never use the same nest hole the following year. However they will the year after (eg I would expect them to nest there again in spring 2019).

 

When the wildlife pond was rebuilt late last summer, some seeds and bulbs were sown in the old stone trough outside the Information Centre. Even though we've had snow and frost, the seedlings have survived.....

 

In the church yard there were several welcoming early spring flowers including this primrose....

 

 

And in Cranford Woods there are lots of new bluebell shoots......

 

At the back of the stable block just before the underpass, there is an old ornamental acer tree. I don't know what species it is, but it's the first tree in the park to gain autumnal colour and the first tree to have buds in the spring...

 

As to be expected there were several Grey Squirrels around.....

 

The hazelnuts below are certainly the work of the squirrel. Only they can split the nut in half. Mice nibble a hole in one side....

 

Also at the back of the stable block were a trail of Muntjac tracks which I followed all the way to the river bank.....

Muntjac 'slots' with 50p piece for size comparison

Lastly some photos of the beautiful snowdrops that come out every year in the church yard.....