Audience Participation

June is here which means it's time to encourage everyone to get a little wild. The Wildlife Trust's 30 Days Wild campaign is designed to get people reconnecting with nature by doing a random act of wildness each day on the month.

I don't think many days go by where I don't do something in nature but of course I have signed up and will be making a concerted effort to persuade others to join me and get outdoors even just for a few minutes.

Yesterday was all about my granddaughter who is nearly 4. She played out in the paddling pool, grass beneath her feet and when she was finished she helped in the garden recycling the water onto my flowers.

Today we walked 6 miles around our local National Trust nature reserve - Wicken Fen. We often walk here and today we spotted a little owl, marsh harrier, meadow pipits, skylarks, goldfinches, cuckoo and brown hares. One of the hares was quite close before he/she spotted us.

We also saw a few dragonflies, the first of the season, and a painted lady butterfly.

As well as 30 Days Wild we also have BBC Springwatch back on our screens and they have a citizen science project - Gardenwatch - running with various missions to complete. I completed Mission 1 last week which is just telling them about your garden. You don't need a big garden, all sorts of garden data is helpful. I will be completing the other missions if possible next week.

One other project I noted was this survey to record sightings of 'cuckoo spit'. These contain the spittlebug or froghopper as it feeds on the plant and the data being collected will map the distribution of the insect in a pre-emptive strike against Xylella, a deadly plant disease.

Catch-up

Rampton woods & meadows, 25th May 2019, 3.30pm, slight breeze, partial cloud, warm 21 degrees

For various reasons, a new grand-daughter being the nicest, I haven't been out around our local woods and meadow for a good few weeks and wow it has turned green!

We popped out this afternoon for a quick walk and the meadow looked lovely with lots of different grasses. As the breeze caught the heads the colours changed from green to brown, orange and red which, along the vivid yellow of the buttercups and the cerise common vetch against the blue sky, made for a beautiful natural canvas.

Rampton meadow

The woodland was a tangle of green and white with the initial flush of cow parsley I saw a few weeks ago now starting to seed and become swamped with clumps of sticky weed. Clear tracks through the mass of stems giving away wildlife corridors.

Some tiny moths and butterflies flew across from one small sun spot to another, unidentifiable without a close up view or photo but a faded peacock - maybe from last year - rested on the path.

We could hear the birds - chiffchaff, blackbird, tits and thrushes but the canopy above our heads is now too thick to make them out and only two young squirrels showed on the low branches of the big oaks half way into the wood. We have also seen a squirrel in the garden this week. They have been over in the garden beyond ours over the winter but this was a fairly young one who has found our peanut feeder.

Common vetch

Also in the garden this week we have had squabbling starlings both parents and juveniles and sparrows feeding their flapping youngsters. I also watched a female blackbird with a large slug on the grass. It spent some time wiping it and then her beak backwards and forwards on the grass - presumably to get rid of the slime - before finally pecking it into submission and carrying it off.

Back to the Fen

Wicken & Burwell Fens, 12th May 2019, 7.15am-10.15am, Bright, dry, calm, 4-10 degrees

Needing to stay local and contactable we decided this morning to go back to Wicken. The last few days have finally seen some much-needed rain. Probably not enough but at least the ground has dampened down and everything looks green and new.

The sound of the cuckoo welcomed us as we walked towards Burwell Fen. The water was fairly quiet, just a few Lapwings circling and some indistinguisable water fowl with their heads still tucked in. In the distance a Marsh harrier.

A single swan glided towards us down Monk's Lode with its wings up in the classic heart shape. Alone?

The Little owl was on his perch, grumpily watching us before flying off into a back tree. Disappearing now amongst the leaves. We spoke to somebody later on who said he had once seen four Little owls at one time here so I hope there is a breeding pair.

Little owl

Over the bridge and no sign of either Barn or Short-eared owls but lots of goldfinches dashed backwards and forwards across the pathway and Skylarks sat atop the scrub bushes. The Marsh harrier was never far away the entire way round, sometimes joined by another, both sending up protesting Lapwings.

Skylark

At the far bridge, although I didn't see it, a stoat disappeared into the long grass. I hung around and spotted a Whitethroat on the bridge and a brave vole attempting to venture out before spying me and wisely retreating back into the undergrowth. The stoat didn't reappear.

Whitethroat

We sat for a while and watched a kestrel perched on a pylon and still the Marsh harriers hunted low over the water birds.

Kestrel

Marsh harrier

The Short-eared owls were nowhere to be seen but back over the lode two photographers with tripods signalled the possibility of the Barn owl and sure enough as we walked down past its hunting field it swooped down onto a far post before finally taking off and flying right past us as it returned to the barn.

Barn owl

As we made our way back the cuckoo called closely and I photographed what I thought might be it, but then as I checked the back of the camera thought it was probably a pigeon. Once home and able to zoom in I am pretty sure there are bars on the tail indicating it was the cuckoo after all. Two Marsh harriers sent up a pair of large birds. I didn't catch them but Nick thought they might have been cranes. A Grey heron was perched in a tree nearby though.

Cuckoo

Spotted: Brown hare, Cuckoo, ? Warbler, Goldfinches, Marsh harriers, Skylarks, Reed bunting, Stoat, Vole, Roe deer, Kestrel, Barn owl, Pied wagtail, Swans, Greylag geese, Canada geese, Shoveler, Lapwing, Sheldrakes, Swallows, Whitethroat, Buzzard, Grey heron, Pipit (prob Meadow), Crows, Magpies, Egrets, Terns,

Morning walk in the woods

Rampton wood and meadow, 7th May 2019, 8.30-9.30am, partial cloud, bright, calm, 7-8 deg

A grey squirrel scurried up the oak tree in the churchyard as I passed by and a pair of Dunnocks flew along the fence. Today I opted to first cross the meadow where buttercups, dandelions and grasses swayed very gently and a bird (unidentified) called with a high pitched single note.

The crops in the next field are beginning to show now and the ditch has a little water. Magpies and wood pigeons called out from the trees.

I stopped to have a look up The Cut and noticed two very small warblers in the reeds on the bend. Having taken a quick photo and checking at home I think they were Whitethroats.

Whitethroat

Back into the woods and the cow parsley is now around shoulder height. The woods are green and dense and it is difficult to make out the birds and yet it is noisy with calls - blackbirds, thrushes, great tits. The undergrowth rustles as I approach - blackbirds or rabbits - and flies appear as I brush the grass.

A tiny Chiffchaff's big voice fills the canopy as I come to the large oak trees with their leaves bright and new, unfurling fully now. The undergrowth is encroaching the pathway, nettles, sticky weed and cow parsley the greens interspersed every now and then with a touch of hot pink from the Red campion.

Red campion

Out of the wood and along the path towards the church a small tree is covered in tiny bees enjoying the yellow flowers and two Long-tailed tits hand from the branches. A woodpecker (probably Green) calls across from the fields beyond the hedge.

Wicken Fen Bank Holiday Walk

Wicken Fen, Burwell Fen, 7 May 2019, 7am-10am, cloudy, breezy, cold (5-7 deg)

It's a big year for Wicken Fen as this week it celebrated its 120th anniversary of becoming the National Trust's first reserve and also 20 years of its Vision Plan.

As we walked from the car park towards Baker's Fen a cuckoo called out over Adventurer's Fen. It was really quite cold as we walked along the lode. Lapwings with their blunt wings and high calls took off from the lake and we spotted a wader which checking later I think was a Greenshank (a new spot). A Marsh harrier was being buzzed by two crows in the very distance.

Greenshank

Turning to cross Baker's Fen all seemed fairly quiet. Goldfinches and Reed buntings skimmed the bushes and fence posts and the skylarks called out from the long grass, invisible to the eye as none rose up this morning. Four young Konik ponies played, the breeze in their manes as their trotting accelerated to a full throttle gallop, free and as a passer by noted 'because they can', they arced behind us and crossed though the meadow to a far field.

The Little owl was absent, we scanned favourite perches but only saw a lone Roe deer in the field. The Barn owl was away on a very distant post.

We crossed the bridge and followed the path around Burwell Fen, watching out for any Short-eared owls hunting. Deep calls came across the meadow, deer barking we wondered but as we got closer it was a couple of Highland cattle calling to each other across a marsh, aggression or passion we weren't sure! A Greylag looked up from feeding in the long grass and watched us pass.

Greylag goose

A Meadow pipit sat on a fence post until we got quite close and a Brown hare turned tail as a cyclist approached ahead. As we came towards the end of the path a Short-eared owl took off from the grass. Us almost upon it before it gave the game away and flew back towards the old barn area.

Meadow pipit

Crossing through the middle of Burwell Fen we respectfully passed cattle and calves and swans and cygnets and watched three Brown hares scuttle around the grass tufts before spotting the Short-eared owl hunting just beyond the old barn area and coming to rest on a post. It watched us approaching, we slowed as a Roe deer came alongside before the owl took off hunting alongside the bank.

Cygnets

Brown hares

As we walked towards the bank the owl flew across in front of us and dropped to the ground. We could just spot it with the binoculars and zoom lens, sitting in the grass. We sheltered near a tree and waited for it to rise up again but eventually lost sight and never did see it fly off!

Short-eared owl, Roe deer

The Barn owl was still hunting though as we crossed back over the bridge and walked alongside Baker's Fen, stopping briefly in Charlie's Hide to see some Canada goslings and a Little Grebe.

Barn owl

Canada goose and gosling

New Nest!

I had neglected this blog - apologies! But more and more I find the time I spend outside walking in nature, or even watching it in the garden through the window, is time well spent. It calms, makes me mindful of my surroundings, the weather, the changes in seasons and it is my go-to therapy when I'm feeling grumpy. I am very lucky, I don't have any specific mental health issues, bar feeling a bit down or moody every now and then as most people do. But I know being outdoors absolutely, without fail, always lightens my mood and lifts me. I am guilty of spending way too much time on the tech, in front of the computer or phone, so getting outside for a walk, listening to the birds and watching the bees busily pollinating my flowers has become even more vital for my well-being.

So! Along with revitalising this blog, writing about what I come across, taking photos and enjoying the experience I have also started nature journalling with watercolours. It is not a skill I have learnt, I didn't even do art at school after 14, but is something I've always wanted to try. I'm not the best at sketching, I struggle with proportion and scale but I enjoy it and it is not tech based or done on a screen! I will share some of those entries on here and the first few are below.

The Beast From the East Brings Snow and Visitors

It's been a while hasn't it! I've been busy with building a new business whilst still working, grandma duties and general life! But I've still been walking and definitely still been watching nature go through her seasonal manoeuvres. One curve ball was thrown at us last week when an icy blast of weather came our way bringing windchill and snow. In Cambridgeshire we got off very lightly with a few centimetres of snow on and off for a few days whilst other areas had drifts of 10 and even 20 feet.

Weather watchers soon nicknamed this front The Beast From the East although towards the end of the week it had also combined with a European storm called Emma - much less fierce sounding but the one that hit us with the most snow.

One advantage of the freezing temperatures and the ground being covered was some new visitors to the gardens. Photos appeared everywhere of people seeing fieldfares and redwings for the first time. And where the little birds feed the bigger birds follow with sparrow hawks and buzzards being seen brazenly sitting on fences and sheds.

I made a point of putting out more food each day, topping it up and keeping the water from freezing.

Watching the birds it was interesting to see their behaviour change. The robin who would normally see off any other robin reserved its energy - at one point we had three in the garden - the blackbirds stopped chasing each other for a few days too. But bring in a few outsiders and the dynamics changed again. The robin took exception to a male blackcap who appeared one afternoon, the jackdaws saw off a stray gull and the blackbirds and a fieldfare fought it out over an apple - the fieldfare arrived on the second day of snow and having found some apple stood guard over it for the next few days.

As the snow eventually thawed and the visitors disappeared back to the woods and the fields the garden became calm again and the regular birds went back to the job in hand - spring!