Walk to Deep Hayes Country Park.

This morning this Ash tree growing along the disused railway line had attracted a number of birds: Wren, Dunnock, Chaffinch adult and three, possibly female/juvenile, Greenfinches,a male Bullfinch, Blue Tit and Goldfinches. Some may have been feeding on the Ash seeds while others were finding invertebrates.

Ducks on Park Pool, Deep Hayes Country Park today. Three pairs Goosander, c20 Mallard (ducks and drakes), c2 male Teal, female Tufted Duck, Grey Heron.

Also around were Jays, 3+ Nuthatches, 5 Tree Creepers, a Buzzard plus more passerines.

Fungi at DHCP today.
 

A black bracket fungus on a dead stump of (probably) Elderberry.

Probably Yellow Brain Tremella mesenterica growing on dead branch of oak tree. 

Birds seen at Rudyard Lake during November and December 2013.

Here is a list of birds seen during three visits to spot winter birds at Rudyard Lake. The numbers are an indication of how many were present during each visit. Some species, such as Snipe and Willow Tit were only see on one occasion out of three visits.

Black-headed Gull	300+ birds in flocks	Lapwing	c140
Blackbirds	c6 birds	Lesser Black-backed Gull	c20
Blue Tit	c10	Long-Tailed Tit	c16
Brambling	flocks of 20+ birds amongst Beech trees	Magpie	3
Bullfinch	2 pairs	Mallard	c70 birds (ducks and drakes)
Buzzard	1	Mandarin Duck	pair
Canada Geese	flock of about 60 birds	Mute Swan	3 juvenile birds
Carrion Crow	c12	Nuthatch	c8 birds
Chaffinch	c7 birds	Pheasant	1
Coal Tit	c8 birds	Pied Wagtail	1
Cormorant	c6 birds	Redwing	c5 with Fieldfares
Dunnock	1	Robin	c6 birds
Fieldfare	small flock with Redwings	Rook	c10
Goldeneye	1 solitary drake	Siskin	3
Goldfinch	flock of c 20	Snipe	2
Goosander	3+ pairs	Starling	flock of c 30
Great Crested Grebe	c6 birds	Teal	c20 (ducks and drakes)
Great Spotted Woodpecker	1	Tree Creeper	2
Great Tit	c20	Wigeon	c10 (ducks and drakes)
Grey Heron	2	Willow or Marsh Tits	c3
Grey Wagtail	1	Woodpigeon	in trees and flocks flying over
House Sparrow	c8 birds	Wren	3
Jackdaw	c14	TOTAL	46 Species
Jay	c4	Grey Squirrel	3

The north end of Rudyard Lake.

Winter Starlings

This year winter flocks of Starlings seem to be larger than in recent previous years. The flocks  I am seeing this year around Endon appear to contain at least four times more Starlings than last year. On 6th December John Higgins, who lives in Oakamoor, phoned me to tell me that at about 8am that morning a huge flock of Starlings that “turned the sky almost black for five minutes” had passed overhead and travelled on towards Threapwood. I wonder if the huge flock John saw was a combination of all the Starlings from the Staffordshire Moorlands area and had they just left their overnight roost (in just getting light at that time of the morning at this time of year)? I haven't seen a murmuration here in Endon.

Over the past few days I have noticed that the Starlings, along with Black-headed Gulls and corvids, seem to favour feeding in fields that have either been recently cultivated (and perhaps sown with winter wheat) or contain livestock. The photo below, taken during today's misty morning, just about shows a large flock of Starlings taking off from a sheep field between Endon and Longsdon. I presume that these fields supply more food than permanent pastures that are without grazing animals at the moment. Perhaps the presence of animal dung or soil turned up by scuffing of hooves provides a source of invertebrates on which the birds can feed?

Corvids harrass a Buzzard at Endon Riding School.

The fields that belong to Endon Riding School often attract a number of bird species. I suspect that insect larvae in the horse manure and the poaching by horses hooves provide feeding opportunities for hungry birds. Today, as I walked past the riding school I heard a commotion amongst the local corvid population. As I looked over towards the noisy crowing I could see a number of Carrion Crows swooping down into the fields and more gathered in tree tops. These were joined by a Magpie or two, plus Jackdaws and Rooks. I also heard Blackbirds and a Grey Squirrel joining in, though in the latter case this may just be coincidental. Meanwhile flocks of Black-Headed Gulls and Starlings feeding in the fields, but these flocks were also pretty active flying up from time to time as if to join in the action. I watched for a while, hoping to see what had caused the fuss. I expected it was a cat or bird of prey. It turned out to be a Buzzard, which I expect, also wanted to feed in those fields. I don't know how long the Buzzard was grounded, but I watched for about 15 minutes before moving on. There were at least 60 Carrion Crows plus 10s of Jackdaws and Rooks. So I expect every time it attempted to fly, the other birds deterred it. In my experience, it is the crows that cause most bother to Buzzards. Carrion Crows seem to be the only ones that have the capacity to match a Buzzard's flight.

I took this photo after the Buzzard had gone. By then the birds seemed to be gathering pieces of bread from the field. Perhaps someone had put some in the for the horses. What ever it was had attracted the gulls and corvids again, several were flying away with large chunks of food in their bills.

BH Gulls and corvids in Endon Riding School fields.

House Sparrows and Tree Sparrows in Endon

Both House and Tree Sparrows reside in Endon. Both visit my garden - see photo below. I have seen House Sparrows in a number of hedgerows throughout the village, however, as of yet I have noticed Tree Sparrows at only one other site; this was a few weeks ago when I spotted two in scrub near Stanley Moss Lane.  

Kingfisher on Caldon Canal and Dunnocks singing.

This morning I recorded winter thrushes for the BTO survey. My survey route takes me  along the Caldon Canal towpath to Stockton Brook and back along footpaths through Stanley Moss, and then back through the John Emery land and the disused railway line. Didn't see many winter thrushes; just 5 Blackbirds, 2 Mistle Thrushes flying over, and about 14 Redwings feeding on Hawthorn berries in hedgerows.

However I did see a Kingfisher perched on a hawthorn bush growing alongside the canal and heard two Dunnocks singing against each other. The Kingfisher is just visible in this photo.

Birds on seasonal pool Endon valley and birds and fungi in Deep Hayes Country Park

ENDON AND LONGSDON

This morning about 20 Mallard (males and females) and about 25 Wigeon (males and females) on the seasonal pools in the fields between Endon and Longsdon. Most of the floodwater has now drained away from the fields. A few gulls feeding on cultivated field next to sewage works.
 

 

 

 

Other bird species seen on walk between Endon and Deep Hayes Country Park.

 

 

06/11/13	NOTES
Black Headed Gulls	Flock of about 10 flying SW
Blackbird
Blue Tit
Canada Goose	flock of about 200 resting in fields adjacent to Caldon Canal
Carrion Crow
Chaffinch	c11 feeding along with other species beneath oak tree growing along disused railway line
Dunnock	1 feeding along with other birds under oak tree
Fieldfare	small flock of about 10 birds
Goldcrest	in DHCP
Goldfinch
Great Tit
Green Woodpecker	on disused railway line
Grey Heron	1 feeding in floodwater
Jackdaw
Jay	3 feeding on acorns
Kestrel	2 one definite male the other poss. Juv. Bird calling to parent
Little Grebe	2 on pool DHCP
Long Tailed Tit
Moorhen
Magpie
Mallard	on floodwater, canal and in DHCP
Nuthatch
Redwing
Robin
Rook	1 flying over – relatively few being spotted recently
Song Thrush
Sparrowhawk
Starling	flock of about 50 birds feeding in fields and flying
Wigeon	on scrape
Wood Pigeon	About 20 flying over (poss. Migrants) plus other singles
Wren



 

 

 

DEEP HAYES COUNTRY PARK

 



On the fishing pool of Deep Hayes Country Park c10 Mallard and two Tufted Ducks. On the middle pool c 25 Mallard and 2 Little Grebe.

 

 

 

Other birds seen at DDHCP today.

   3 Nuthatch

   2 Goldcrest

   3 Treecreeper

  c6 Redwing

    1 Great Spotted Woodpecker

    3 Robin

    2  Carrion Crow

    2 Jay

    2 Long-tailed Tit

   1 Wren

Plus  a number of Chaffinch, Blue and Great Tits feeding under Beech trees, probably on beech mast.

 

 

 

Fungi seen in Deep Hayes Country Park.

 

Sulphur Tuft Fungi Hypholoma fasciculare.

 

Unidentified fungi growing at base of dead oak? tree

 

Jelly Ear Fungi Auricularia auricula-judae

 

Candlesnuff Fungi Xylaria hypoxylon

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 



140 Lapwings roosting on flooded fields.

This evening around 140 Lapwings settled on the flooded fields between the railway line and the A53.

Butterflies in October.

Today was warm and dry enough for two species of overwintering butterflies to take (perhaps) their last feed before hibernation.

Small Tortoiseshell on Echinacea flower.

Red Admiral on Sedum flower.

Birds on Flooded Fields between Endon and Longsdon.

After about 30mm of rain over the past three days the Endon Valley is flooded once again.

This afternoon many of birds were feeding, preening resting and flying in and over the flooded fields.

The photos shows an area of shallow water (up to breast height on LBB gulls). This area contained:
25+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls
35+ Lapwing
c250 Black-headed Gulls
30+ Starling
c5 Carrion Crows
 1 Magpie
2 Buzzards

The recently ploughed and sowed field beyond held:
perhaps another 200 BH Gulls
more LBB Gulls
more corvids

In the small rush fringed seasonal pool (next to the wildfowl scrape) were a few male and female Mallards
On a deeper floodwater pool further towards Longsdon there was:
4 juvenile Tufted Ducks (these may be the four ducklings that were reared on the Caldon Canal this year - see photo)

Further along on another shallower area (near Hazlehurst Junction) there were:
another c15 BH Gulls
c20 Jackdaws
c5 Rooks
c10 Carrion Crows
Also seen were;
a Kestrel
2-5 Jays

Endon Valley floodwater.

 



One of four juvenile Tufted Ducks that were reared on the Caldon Canal between Endon and Longsdon this year.

Birds and insects on a sunny day in October.

It was a lovely calm and sunny late October morning so I walked up to Stanley Pool to see what birds were on the lake.

A view of the upper end of Stanley Pool with a freshly ploughed and rotovated field on the far side.

   4 Juvenile Mute Swans
 c4 Great Crested Grebes plus 2 juveniles
   3 Grey Herons
c25 Mallards
20-30 Carrion Crows feeding on muddy bank - they had probably been attracted to the pool by a recently, though previously unploughed field. There were more crows feeding in the field.
c20 Jackdaws - as above.
 c7 Woodpigeons
c25 Black Headed Gulls
   3 Coots
   7 Cormorants
c50 Canada Geese flew in during the time I was there.
    1 Magpie
       Blue Tits and Great Tits
       Robins
   1  Jay
plus two or more dragonflies and other insects, notably feeding on Ivy flowers.

A vespid wasp, greenbottle and other flies feeding on Ivy flowers growing on garden wall at Stanley village.



Mesembrina meridiana basking on a rusty gate near Stanley Pool.  

Stanley Pool.

Birds seen at Stanley Pool today.

Great Crested Grebe feeding young on Stanley Pool.

 

Mistle Thrush	c13 flying over
Blue Tit	c9
Long Tailed Tit	c7
Teal (inc juveniles)	c10
Great Crested Grebe	7 adults 2 juveniles
Black Headed Gulls	17
Mallard	9
Coot	7
Cormorant	5
Robin	5
Great Tit	5
Carrion Crow	3
Wood Pigeon	3
Jay	2
Grey Wagtail	2
Nuthatch	2
Wren	2
Blackbird	1
Grey Heron	1
Magpie	1
Kestrel	1
Canada Goose	1

Lapwings and Grey Wagtail.

The photograph below shows a field between the A53 and railway. It has recently been ploughed and rotovated and possibly sown with some sort of agricultural crop - perhaps autumn wheat. Whatever it is, that bare soil and perhaps the seed, is attracting numerous birds. Yesterday (01/10/13) there were flocks of gulls (mostly Black-headed Gulls), corvids (Jackdaws, perhaps Rooks and Carrion Crows), two Buzzards and around nine Lapwings. The gulls, corvids will be feeding on invertebrates or seeds, whereas the Buzzards and Lapwings are finding prey such as beetles and worms, or (in the case of Buzzards) creatures that were killed during cultivation.  As far as the Lapwings are concerned, this field will be a welcome source of food as we have had a fairly dry September, around 50ml of rain, and no significant rain for the past nine days. Lapwings favour damp soils that they can reach prey with their medium length bill.

 

We in Endon should relish the presence of the Lapwings as this species is in pretty desperate straights, on the way to extinction in Britian and perhaps over the whole of its range. Lapwing is now a Red Listed Species of Conservation Concern which indicates that it is Globally Threatened. Lapwings bred in Endon this year. Judging by the hostile reaction of Lapwings to me walking along the railway line adjacent to the field, there were at least two pairs nesting this summer. On the 16th June I counted three chicks. Another place to look for Lapwings is the steep fields on the eastern side of the Caldon Canal between Endon and Longsdon. 

 

 

 

Here is another bird that feeds on invertebrates. This Grey Wagtail is either one of the adults or offspring of the pair that bred on the Caldon Canal near Park Lane this year. Here it is flicking about as it snaps up emerging insects from the canal overflow.

 

 

 



Buttercups 2013

It seems to have been a good year for common buttercup species. The fields in and around Endon are carpeted with the yellow flowers of Creeping and Meadow buttercup. After walking though a field the folds of my walking boots are full of yellow pollen. Other plants with showy flowers also seem to be very floriferous this year, notably Cow Parsley and May blossom.

View of buttercup yellow silage fields from my garden.

Red Kite over Endon.

Saw a Red Kite flying over Endon at about 13:30hrs today. Apparently one was seen flying over Cheadle on 16th May. This species has been thriving since the RSPB reintroduction programme in the Chilterns and Wales which started in 1989. In 1995 some of these birds were used for a reintroduction scheme in the East Midlands - the first record of them breeding there was in 1997. They have become a more frequent sight over Staffordshire in recent years. This bird might be the result of East Midlands or the Welsh reintroductions. Perhaps they are breeding in Staffordshire this year.

Red Kite photo courtesy of Tony Hisgett from Birmingham. From Wikimedia licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

More flowers of Endon photographed 15th May 2013.

Woodruff Galium odoratum growing under a Beech hedge bordering a garden alongside brook. This species is an ancient woodland indicator. Is it a remnant of an ancient wood in Endon or has been transplanted into this garden from the wild I wonder?

Bluebells growing in fragment of woodland next to Stockton Brook golf club.

Greater Plantain Plantago major growing along railway line.

Honesty Lunaria annua a \2garden escape" growing alongside hedge in Stockton Brook.

 

Garlic Mustard Alliaria petiolata growing alongside towpath of Caldon Canal.

 

 Speedwell Veronica sp. growing under Hawthorn hedge along Caldon Canal towpath.

Flora of Endon photographed 14th May 2013.

Blackthorn flowers in hedgerow beside stream by housing estate in Endon.

Danish Scurvy Grass Colchleria danica growing alongside A53 where it passes through Endon. In recent years this indigenous plant species spread inland from its natural shoreline habitat along main roads and railway lines. It is able to out compete other roadside species as it tolerates the salty soils that are the result of winter gritting.

Hairy Rock Cress Arabis hirsuta growing along disused railway line. This species is restricted to growing on calcareous soils, which are not typically found in Endo. However it finds the right habitat along the disused railway line which is limey (calcareous) due to the limestone ballast. Indeed it may have been distributed along the line within railway ballast, perhaps the original seeds originated in Caldon Lowe quarries.  

Cow Parsley Anthriscus sylvestris.

 Meadow Foxtail. Alopecurus pratensis growing in a field in Endon.

 

 Meadow Buttercup Ranunculus acris growing in a field in Endon.

 

 White Dead Nettle. Lamium album.

 

 Shining Cranesbill Geranium lucidum growing along disused railway line.

 

 Thyme-leaved Speedwell Veronica serpyllifolia grows as a "weed" in my garden.

 

Ash infloresence. Ash trees grow in many places in Endon. The recently imported deadly fungal disease Chalara fraxinea may reach these trees within the next few years.



More flora photographed in and around Endon.

Red Dead Nettle Lamium purepureum; a very common "weed of disturbed ground

Hairy Bitter Cress Cardamine hirsute. Another common "weed of disturbed ground.