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| my final February visit of the year |
I have been off-Island during the school half term holiday so missed my visit to the Reserve last week. Would there have been any changes during my absence? The water levels seemed much the same and wellies were still essential, but I immediately heard the increased birdsong and noticed the clump of snowdrops near the gate. An additional clump was down near the ditch, which until this year had been hidden beneath brambles. Also, the Frogspawn I'd been looking for throughout February had finally arrived! Here is my report:
Birds:
SC210694 male Blackbird; Robin; House Sparrow x 3; Chaffinch; Goldfinch x 2.
SC209694 ( from hide) male and female Mallards; Blue Tit; Goldfinch x 2.
SC209694 ( elsewhere) Robin x 2; Goldfinch x 5; Great Tit x 2; Blackbird; Blue Tit; male & female Chaffinch; Wren heard not seen; Dunnock; Long-tailed Tit x 2.
SC209693 Redwing x 2 flew from Reserve and settled in churchyard treetops; Long-tailed Tit x 2; Woodpigeon; male Blackbird.
SC208694 Blackbird; Robin; Blue Tit x 2; Great Tit x 2; Woodpigeon flying over; Goldfinch x 8 together in tree + singletons; flock of 20 Goldfinch flying over; Greenfinch; Greylag Goose flying over; female Chaffinch; Magpie heard not seen; Wren; Siskin.
SC208695 (on or near feeders) Robin; Great Tit x 3; Blue Tit x 4; Chaffiinch x 2; Goldfinch x 4; Long-tailed Tit x 2; Greenfinch x 2; Coal Tit; male & female Blackbird; Dunnock.
SC209695 Long-tailed Tit; Dunnock.
Other:
SC209694 8 x clumps of Frogspawn. Frog glimpsed briefly.
SC209694 and throughout reserve, Blackthorn starting to flower ( late this year?)
SC208695 Daffodils in flower on private land boundary.
SC210694 Snowdrops in flower.
SC208694 Celandines in flower among Hemlock Water Dropwort.
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| Blackbird near the entrance |
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| Woodpigeon & Blackbird near the road but taken from the hide |
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| closer view of the Blackbird |
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| another Blackbird foraging on the gorse boundary |
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| small flock of Goldfinches |
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| Goldfinch near the entrance |
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| this one was very close to the boardwalk |
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| feeding on Alder seeds |
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| there was a tiny Siskin right behind it - difficult to see |
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| Great Tit |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Mallard drake, the duck was hiding in the reeds |
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| I liked the reflection! |
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| Robin in the meadow |
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| very distant view of Redwing |
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| Blue Tit busy in the pussy willows |
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| Chaffinches are singing from song posts again |
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| Wren |
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| the feeders were busy - Blue Tit |
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| Great Tit & Greenfinch |
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| Long-tailed Tit |
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| Coal Tit feeding upside down! |
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| and the right way up! |
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| 3 Goldfinches together |
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| female Chaffinch assessing the feeder situation |
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| Robin doing likewise |
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| a fourth Goldfinch awaiting its turn |
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| one of at least three Great Tits |
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| the Robin always pops out to see me |
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| Greenfinch near the feeders |
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| Long-tailed tit in tree above feeders |
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| one of two Robins singing near the gate as I left |
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they were taking it in turns - clearly a conversation |
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| I was delighted to spot the frogspawn at last |
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| a closer view |
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| Blackthorn finally starting to flower too |
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| Celandines among the Hemlock water Dropwort |
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| Daffodils in flower just outside the reserve |
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| Snowdrops near the gate |
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| Hawthorn in full leaf |
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| usual view of the Hide |
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| and seen from the willows |
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| through the shutters |
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| I looked through binoculars but couldn't see frogspawn here |
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| usual view from the hide ramp - still very muddy |
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| no sign of fresh growth among the reeds yet |
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| there was birdsong under the trees |
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| usual photo of the willow copse |
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| still very muddy |
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| and the "unofficial pond" gets bigger each week |
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| usual view of the boardwalk - gloomy weather again |
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| the rushes are growing up now |
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| plenty of water in the stream |
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| view from the boardwalk - notice the alder catkins |
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| each time I passed the dragonfly pond....... |
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| a frog dived beneath the surface |
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| I wonder how long it will take for this to dry out? |
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| my final view of the Reserve for February |
On Tuesday morning the Met. office mentioned that so far we had only enjoyed 24 hours of sunshine during February and that this was unlikely to change during the remaining few days of the month. The gloomy weather certainly doesn't help photography! However, at least the mild temperature (10 C.) meant I could linger in places and let the wildlife come to me. Previous visits this month were too cold for that and a brisk pace to keep warm was required! My next visit to the Reserve will be during March when I hope for sunnier conditions!
please click on photos to enlarge them
