And then there were three

Y'know, it was a coincidence that Mike Rutherford from Genesis was featured in the closing ceremony of London 2012, the 30th Olympiad. But more on that later...

Earlier in the day, a FoHESC work party had performed their version of a Greek-tragedy-cum-marathon (it's a tenuous Olympic link, and nowhere near a personal best). The morning's work was to move a load of rubble from where it had been deposited to a place of safety, in preparation for the building of a hibernaculum, as another habitat for animals to use.

Now, 'hibernaculum' may be derived from the Latin for 'winter residence', but the oppressive heat of the day, combined with the ferocious tenacity of the local mosquitoes, turned the project into something of a Sisyphean task. And no, I'm not taking it all too hard.

As foreshadowed in the title of this post, the trusty band of volunteers was thin in number, somewhere between 2 and 4, but only if the Japanese didn't protest the score. Many too many? No.

Tony, Alan and myself, armed with the obligatory squeaky-wheeled barrow, set about excavating the larger pieces of rubble from the pile and transferring them to... "Hang on," says Tone, "Why don't we just start building the hibernaculum now? Saves moving this stuff twice." And so a piece of bank (forever to be known as Tony Banks) was hastily selected, high enough above the water table to prevent winter flooding, and in a suitably sunny spot for the delectation of the reptilian and amphibian residents-to-be.

Several layers of bricks were laid out as a base, over an area of 1.5 x 2.5m. Then, the front and sides were built up as a low retaining wall. By this time, the javelin-jawed insects of the reserve were making their presence felt, as we succumbed to bites that were definitely in too deep. But we persevered with barrow load upon barrow load until a rest break was very much in order. I volunteered to make a brew, and though I had used the cold tap earlier, I was quite prepared to turn it on again. Following tea/coffee and biscuits (Abernethy shortbread - I know what I like), we returned to the fray. We now needed a selection of different diameters of pipe, to provide the means of entry to the hibernaculum and places within which to hide. There was a bit of a misunderstanding as we each appeared from the tool store with a different gauge of pipe and type of saw, but eventually we managed to correctly cut up sufficient for our needs. Every scrap was used, as we didn't want to be throwing it all away.

Back on site, the piping was carefully arranged, wedged in place and then covered with more layers of rubble and sand, which we hoped would keep it dark.

This was as far as we could go on the day, as the final step will be to roof the structure with sheets of corrugated iron (to keep out the rain and also provide a basking spot for any herps) and surround the structure with a few logs for added habitat interest. What with global warming, we may even see a scorpion using the hibernaculum, but as non-native invasive species go, that would be an illegal alien.

The original pile of rubble (courtesy of Barney and Betty), didn't look that much smaller than when we started. Methinks that Hibernaculum 2 may be on a much grander scale!

Some bloke stood on Tony Banks

Lizard or newt-sized portals

Rubble pile (or proto-hibernaculum, as we like to call it)

Our thanks must go to all the dragonflies and damselflies on the wing, for helping to combat the swarms of mosquitoes, and to Our Lass for providing a hearty picnic lunch for three tired but happy workers.

Scaly Wings and Eine Kleine Fledermaus Nachtmusik

We are delighted to report that last night the Friends Group hosted a combined Bat walk and Moth trapping evening which was attended by 34 people, of whom the many I spoke to, said they had enjoyed a thoroughly interesting and fun event.

The evening kicked off with a visual presentation by local moth expert Gordon Redford, who explained the life cycle of the moth and regaled us with his own experiences of raising moths in his back garden, before telling us about a few of his favourites, from the 2500 plus species that can be found in the UK.

Next armed with Bat detector boxes Alan Nelson led us out into the brightly moonlit night and we patrolled some of the paths near the lake and through the woods to try and see (and hear on the detectors) whatever bats were active on the reserve that evening. At first we blanked, but as our bat detectors became tuned to the correct frequencies and our eyes attuned to the darkness we encountered low flying Pipistrelles and even spotted (after picking up its distinctive sound on the detectors) a Noctule (Nyctalus noctula) - which is one of Britains largest bats. We also spent a little time in the near hide watching, as Alan illuminated the surface of the lake with a powerful torch beam, in the hope of spotting Daubenton's Bat, (Myotis daubentonii), which specialises in feeding over water.

Bat Detectors at the ready - bravely they went into the night

Unfortunately, we spotted only one bat over the lake and so headed back to the centre, however, on the way we saw and picked up the echolocation ultrasound signals, of several more Pipistrelles, as they flicked over the paths and trees and occasionally our heads.

Please, please, please dear bats stay and munch up as many of our mozzies as you can.

Gordon (far right) and Friends checking new arrivals at one of the Moth Traps

On returning to the centre we found that Gordon had set up five moth traps for us to check out and whilst being hopeless at identifying (and remembering the names of) the dozens of species that were in and around the traps myself, I can tell you, that amongst them were Common Marbled Carpet, Common wainscot, July Highflyer and the amazingly named Uncertain. Perhaps one of the more unusual visitors to a trap was a Great diving beetle (Dytiscus marginalis).

 

Great diving beetle (Dytiscus marginalis)

We will try and get a complete listing of all the species recorded on the evening from Gordon and publish it on this site shortly.

Small Magpie Moth photographed in the Near Hide

The evening concluded around 11.30pm at which point some of the younger visitors could be heard negotiating a lie-in for the following morning with mum and dad.

We would like to thank Gordon and Alan for their excellent inputs into the evening and hope to advise you shortly of future events, including our planned “Open Sundays”. In the meantime we hope you will continue to visit the reserve and enjoy it's wildlife and look forward to meeting with you all again soon.

Best wishes

Tony

On the Boardwalk

As I passed the boardwalk today (near the bench) I noticed a young bird spreadeagled on the boards. To be more accurate, I think it was spreadchiffchaff, as that is what I deduced it was from its rather scruffy plumage, and I think a fairly newly fledged example at that.

At first I thought it was just sunning itself as I have often seen birds lying on the ground or a flat surface with their wings spread out on hot sunny days. Then I noticed it looked particularly bedraggled and thought it may have been attacked, injured or even dying. As if to prove me wrong the little fella,who must have spotted me, jumped up, hopped onto the side of the boardwalk, uttered a fairly tuneless tweet and then fluttered up into the bushes.

Having now studied the photos I took at the time, I have come to the conclusion that the poor little thing looked quite wet and I am wondering if its early excursions into flight may have resulted in ditching in the briney (well one of the small ponds), from which it has managed to flutter out and was in fact drying itself in the sunshine. Anyway good luck to the little chap and he had better not try repeating the feat when he heads south in a month or so.

Talking of boardwalk encounters, my habit of trying to walk as quietly as I can when I approach junctions or corners on the reserve and listening for animal activity at every opportunity paid dividends yesterday when I was able to walk up on this male Muntjac.

Not perhaps the closest encounter I have had, but a good photo opportunity nonetheless.

Changes

With one thing and another, it's probably three weeks since I last visited the reserve. Time enough for Nature to paint a different canvas, presumably using watercolours. The growth on the butterfly bank has been phenomenal and towards the northern end seems to consist mainly of Yellow Vetchling. However, about halway along, a single Corn Cockle flower was spotted, pointing its purple bloom skywards in defiance of all other vegetation. Through the Comfrey Triangle, Azure Damselflies flitted between grass stems and the occasional Blackcap could be heard. We arrived at the Far Hide in time to see a face off between two pairs of Great Crested Grebes. The victors, obviously buoyed by their success, then saw off a Coot. A Reed Bunting flitted past with a faecal sac in its beak, whilst, in the distance, a large bird heading north with a strong flapping motion of its wristy wings may have been an Osprey. Too far away to be sure. Retracing our steps to the Near Hide, I was struck by the Hendrix-ification of the bund, the Loosestrife flowers creating a purple haze, shimmering above the other vegetation. Several Reed Warblers hopped through the undergrowth immediately in front of the hide and a few Lapwing twisted and turned above the water. Twenty or so Common Terns were swooping over the lake, some of them juveniles with a white forehead. Swifts, too, were busy feeding on the countless flies dancing over the water surface. As we returned to the car park, the skies lightened as the sun put in an appearance. The butterfly bank resumed its eponymous function as we identified Ringlet, Small Skipper and Gatekeeper. It's great to go on holiday, but it's also good to be back.

All Things Bright and Beautiful.....

Or Ladies Day at HESC

It has to be said that, although the songs from a myriad of warblers, continue to ring out around the reserve, apart from the occasional bird perched on a reed or bush, generally the birders at HESC may have a thin time of it for a month or so. Particularly in respect of the main lake which is now very bare of birds.

View from the Near Hide - Not a Feather in sight.

The excessive rain since April has, as you will know, caused the water levels to rise quite dramatically at times and this seems to have taken its toll on many of the margin nesting birds eggs and offspring. Young Moorhen, Coot and Grebe are all conspicuous by their absence. Both pairs of Oystercatchers and Lapwings, that appeared to be getting down to the business of starting new families in April, look like they gave the idea up as a bad job.

Undeterred, by the lack of birds and keen to make the best of the few warm (even hot) sunny days this week and with the aim of broadening my knowledge and identification skills in both butterflies and odonata, I have, once again, been tootling around the reserve with the camera.

Pyramidal Orchid

I had been advised of the location and given permission to photograph the tiny, but stunning, Pyramidal Orchid, which I think, has made a solitary appearance this year, and on the edge of the pathways, found and snapped some Bee Orchids, which are also out in small numbers.

Bee Orchid

Further along the the pathway I spotted and took pictures of a female (orange around the wing eyespot) Meadow Brown

 and then perched amongst the grass was this pretty what I thought was an Essex Skipper (also female – no black line on wing), but have since been advised is a Large Skipper .

Large Skipper (Butterfly even though it looks a bit like a Moth) I originally thought this was
an Essex Skipper but the hooked antennal club suggests Large

The dragonflies are also becoming more numerous and in fact the Four-spotted Chasers are positively plentiful at the moment.

Four-spotted Chaser

I was very lucky to find a female Emperor ovipositing in one of the ponds (note the close attention of the curious four-spot)

and encountered a couple of, you guessed it, female Black-tailed Skimmers clinging to the grass.

Black-tailed Skimmer (female or immature male)

All in all a lot of fun and it just proves what a great spot HESC can be for some colourful wildlife, even when the birds are on their summer holidays.

All photograhps taken by and © Tony Bedford

Stop Press - Moth and Bat Evening Wed 1st August.

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I found an hour earlier today to walk around the Reserve.  

After yesterday's rain there were fewer mosquitoes to bat away along my chosen route than I'd expected to encounter; maybe they'd already feasted on the baby mink which were out to play, and the muntjac that startled and ran when I disturbed it by the side of the woodland hide. 

Smaller birds were invisible but in great voice - I caught myself naming them out loud and sometimes disagreeing. That's definitely a sign that Me, Myself and I were relaxed enough to talk to each other; there hasn't been much time recently to do that, which was one of the reasons for my visit.

This week my head's been filled with Big Ideas about a new writing project which has shut out the kind of normal conversation 'we' usually find time for - you know, all that moment by moment decision making which has to be made, discussed and argued about before even the most inconsequential action can take place. (Oh, you say you don't know...?  It must be just 'us', then!)

We also had an internal conversation about whether or not the noise of the Red Arrows flying over the Reserve this afternoon really was as LOUD as it seemed....it was shockingly LOUD, building to a thundering roar as the planes passed overhead. It actually scared me, something which doesn't happen often. Magpies and blackbirds came out from the woods in a frenzy of flapping, and canada geese on the lake started honking quite wildly. 

And when they suddenly started up again, I realised that the smaller birds must have stopped singing for those few moments....

With the returning peace, I saw a pair of hairy dragonflies going through their courtship routine among some long grasses, watched a reed bunting reciting his mantra over and over in a hawthorn bush, and glimpsed a grass snake slithering away into the undergrowth a litle distance away from the Quiet Please sign. 

Time to take some pictures, we decided.

Greater Spearwort in the dipping pond, a cardinal beetle on a burdock leaf....

.....and dog roses by the Far Hide.