Wildlife on Wheels: Hooded Crows

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Still lots of colour around.

Only one Gull, a Great Black backed, was brave enough to face the winds yesterday when the new tide had made its way to the furthest corner of the bay. However I was not only looking for the Birds-I am always on the lookout for anything else, and I was curious to see which Wild Flowers were still in bloom. Yet I had not much time, so I was forced to take only the short route and had to forego the higher back road where I would usually find most of the Wild Flowers and Insects.

The hedgerows were glowing with life! Holly and Honeysuckle were showing off their branches stretching far out of the hedgerows, laden with berries. Also Blackthorn I believe, but I still have to learn a lot more before I can definitely spot the difference between these. Despite the cold weather and it being late in the growing season, this Fern had started sprouting as if it knew of no boundaries.
When lifting the camera and focusing on the Hooded Crows, and settled on the little bridge at my previous home, I was aware of a truck closing in behind me, and so I moved off quickly. I let it go past, and discovered that it was one of the county council which was trying to repair the road surface as well as it was able to. It is a very bad way of making roads passable for any traffic in my view, because it will only last till the next heavy rains have swept this lot out again.
Anyway, here are some photos. .

Herb Robert, one of those sweet flowers which are often hidden in the Grass.

This Daisy was hard to photograph, as it was swaying right to left in the wind.

This, I think is an Upright Hedge Parsley, but I still have trouble keeping them apart.

Seedhead of what I believe to be another Upright Hedge Parsley.

And of course, a couple of Hooded Crows too. I spotted 5 in this tree.

Sticking with the yellow theme is this one growing against the wall, stopping the tide from flooding the road.

Bird'sfoot Trefoil, one of my favourite Wild Flowers, still popping up everywhere.

And between the latest houses of the estate and us, the result of the latest weather was quite easy to spot in long and high grass: even the birds would have to pinch deep in order to find this fruit of the Hawthorn, I believe.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Shingle Strand, Swans, Swallows and Surprise after the rain. {part1}

On Monday, the Sun lured me out towards the Bay, and I tried hard to leave at the right time to meet as many water birds as possible, I had not seen the Redshanks lately, and only had a fleeting glance of the Whimbrel last time. However much I tried, I had left it too late to meet my deadline for finding foraging sea birds at the side on the mud.
The tide had already been coming in by the time I reached the little shingle strand, even though I did go straight there, without lingering on the little back road, which I left for my return. Often I find the Grey Herons in the little corner of the bay where the strand is. Only two Mute Swans were here to greet me; and thus I discovered that their little cygnet must have come to its end much too soon.
While I was sitting at the bridge over the little brook which ends into the bay where the Swans were feeding. I was sitting on the bridge and over the next hour or so, while I was switching sides of the bridge and taking photos of the many Wild Flowers I found here. The Swans closed in meanwhile and swam towards the bridge, as far as possible.
There was no sign of any of the Grey Wagtail, neither of the Chaffinches, often calling out of a tree, nearby. Even the Starlings were qiet, perhaps being occupied by the many visitors to one of the 5 Open Gardens along the South side of the peninsula. A Robin called out from a few metres away on te bridge, challenging me to take a picture.
Across from the Swans, I was leaning over for a few pictures of the Herb Roberts I noticed low at the ground, and as I did so I also discovered a lovely little white flower, which turned out to be a Wild Strawberry. In fact there were enough to make a Strawberry mousse. Of course I’d heard of these, yet I don’t think I have seen one before while knowing what I was looking at.

The last two weeks of mainly rain and {too} windy weather, had, together with time, changed the road sides in colour, shape and sizes; all signs of faded Ragged Robins had gone, and in its place was an array of Meadowsweet, Thistle, Brambles, and many more.
The wind was playing a game with the Thistle’s seed-hairs, which tried to hang on as long as possible to its mother plant spines.
From somewhere I heard the call of a Rook, the first I’d heard in quite some time. I failed to spot one though.
Herring Gulls were taking advantage of the increasing and freshening breeze, floating on air at a good height too. Still, I failed to get a picture again. Swallows were flying over too. As it was warm and Sunny, they’d started off flying high in the air, one of Nature’s great weather forecasters, but with the fresh winds they stayed lower and near landing strips in trees or on telephone/electricity cables.

Also I got an opportunity to get a few photos of Hooded Crows; I’d told myself I wanted to see if I would be able to get some for “Crow, who’d not heard of them before. Usually I see them where they are well camouflaged; on the mud of the bay. This time, two had landed on the cables above me and soon six were flying to and fro, crossing the road above me between the fields and the bay below. I tried finding out what the attraction was in the fields and I think it must have been some outbuildings near a few new houses.
I think many of them were juveniles with their light chests, in one almost white even. The black mark on their breast was virtually missing, only a vague darkening was visible there,
Back at the Church of Ireland at the bay, I stopped at tall Dandelions growing at the inside of the bay, just over the wall. They were massive and stood their yellow heads were finding it hard to stay erect in the wind. In the village I stopped to get a few pictures of Swallows.
Back home I was back to not only trying to keep the Jackdaws from eating all my peanut cake, the two Magpies also were attempting to raid as soon as my attention was elsewhere.

Single strand