Endon washlands.

After 12 days of temperatures hovering around 0 degrees centigrade and about 40mm of accumulated precipitation the weather has changed. The snow and ice have now become floodwater. Endon Brook has overtopped its banks, the valley between Endon and Longsdon,(and presumably beyond) is very wet this morning. Many of the fields in this area are more flooded than I have seen them in the past nine years. I expected the forecast change in the weather would bring some different wildlife into the area.

Last week 20 - 26th January 2013.
For many bird species finding food while the ground was covered with lying snow was difficult though this phenomenon did bring some notable sightings.  For instance last week a few waders were taking advantage of the unfrozen bits of wetlands, for example edges of pools and flowing streams. In such situations I spotted mallard, snipe and three dunlin, during my walks along the Caldon Canal. But, probably my most pleasing wildlife experience last week was watching a barn owl flying in bright sunshine along the disused railway line, at about 8am on Saturday morning (26/01/2013). Hunger must have driven it to  hunt during the day. It had snowed the night before, so I suspect it had forgone seeking prey until the morning, in order to avoid wetting its delicate plumage. Barn owl feathers are highly specialised so that the owls produce very little sound as they fly - this reduces the possibility that they will be detected by potential prey, which is small mammals, amphibians etc. But their plumage is also susceptible to waterlogging and needs plenty of preening with oil (secreted from a gland near the tail). Even so they tend to avoid hunting in wet weather. I watched the owl for about 20 minutes as it flew low and slowly, gently traversing the width of dead vegetation that grows along the old railway. At times it was harassed by a pair of magpies as they flew very close to it. At another time it passed within three metres of me. It seemed totally unaware of me, so intent was it on catching some prey.

Start of a new week and new weather conditions.
So now we have floodwater. And I was right, a change in wildlife to spot. The combination of snow and flooding results in many soil invertebrates being washed out of the soil. this encourages bird scavengers to search the edge of the temporary lakes and pools.  This morning (Sunday 27th) there were a variety of corvids (jackdaws, magpies and carrion crows) busily finding food. Among them were three species of gull, the most numerous being black-headed gulls, in their winter plumage (so white headed at the moment) one herring gull and a few lesser black-backed gulls. There were also a pair of goosanders and numerous mallards. Goosanders feed on fish, and so they won't particularly benefit from the floods; in fact they may find it harder to find food due to the increased volume of water in which to search. The mallards may benefit by finding seeds and invertebrates that are floating on the water surface having being washed off the surrounding lands. But the most notable "spot" of the morning was a flock of about 20 barnacle geese flying overhead. They appeared to bee looking for a place to land, as they flew over the pool at "The Ashes" wedding venue, then veered away again. They disappeared off in a roughly northward direction. Barnacle geese are winter visitors to the British Isles. In March or April they will fly off to their Arctic breeding grounds. They are not often seen over Endon, as they are more typically found in British estuaries and lowland farmland in Lancashire, Scotland and Ireland, so I was pleased to be out at the same time as this flock was flying over my patch.