Lesser Redpolls and violets

Whilst recording for the BTO Winter Thrushes Survey http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/winter-thrushes this morning I also saw several Lesser Redpolls feeding probably on insects attracted to the nectar and pollen from the pussy willow flowers of Goat Willows growing along the disused railway line.

I also spotted an addition to the wild flowers page of this blog http://endonwildlife.blogspot.co.uk/p/endon-flora.html. It is violets growing in the little plantation alongside the Caldon Canal opposite Greenway Hall Golf Club.

probably Early Dog Violet Viola reichenbachiana

I also saw my first Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) of this year in my garden today. I was struggling to fly in the unseasonably cold weather.

List of birds seen during Winter Thrush Survey below. 

	NOTES
Blackbirds and Song Thrushes	7 BB+2ST
Woodpigeon	inc. one in  juvenile plumage feeding alongside adult
Greenfinch	one pair in hedge on Post Lane plus another singing
Goldfinch
Chaffinch
Robin
Pheasant
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Starlings
Coal Tit
Mallard
Dunnock singing
Collared Dove
Chiffchaff
Jackdaw
Canada Geese	now in pairs
House Sparrows
c7 Lesser Redpolls
Wren
Magpie
Pied Wagtail
Grey Heron
Bullfinch	2 pairs
Long-tailed Tit	now in pairs
Great Tit
Rooks
Carrion Crows
Goldcrest	in abandoned garden by derelict house by GH Golf Club
Lesser Black-backed Gull	flying over

Brown Hares in Endon (area).

A Brown Hare was spotted today, in a field between Endon and Denford. I have seen Brown Hares, in ones and twos ever since I moved to Endon about ten years ago. I have never seen any young so I am not absolutely sure if they breed in our area, but I can guess they do; Brown Hares are a relatively sedentary species and the population must be topped up by breeding as otherwise they would probably have become locally extinct by now.

Unlike Mountain Hares, Brown Hares are not native to the British Isles, they were probably introduced by the ancient Romans and are genetically close to extant Brown Hares in N. Netherlands and S. Denmark.

Brown Hares feed at night and lie up during the day in shallow forms under cover in uncultivated field edges or in the outer 20m of woodland. Their food is tender nutritious vegetation. As the vegetation any particular field becomes too coarse or too long the Brown Hares move to a nearby field where the vegetation is suitable. The silage fields/pastures around Endon are good Brown Hare habitat because as each field is cut (for silage) or grazing animals are removed the subsequent fresh, and preferably uneven, grass growth is ideal for providing food and some cover for Brown Hares.  Brown Hares also use arable fields, and there are now a few of these in the Endon area (by the sewage works and Stanley Pool).

Brown Hares are a Staffordshire Biodiversity Action Plan (SBAP) species. And so, local nature conservation organisations  (e.g.the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust) have a remit to encourage farmers and other landowners to maintain and increase Brown Hare populations http://www.sbap.org.uk/actionplan/species/index.php?id=20. Because of this designation I find it odd that it is perfectly acceptable for Brown Hares to be hunted with shotguns and killed for sport. It is not that I object to this being done - I just think it is odd that, on the one hand nature conservation organisations may be advising landowners how to increase their hare population, while later of a shooter can come in and kill some of the animals! Brown Hares in Endon are subject to sport hunting.

I took this photo of a Brown Hare in the fields near Endon Sewage Works in June 2011.

My first Chiffchaff in Endon this year and a Mayfly in my house.

Today was the first day I heard a Chfiffchaff in Endon. it was singing in a scrubby woody area off  Brook Lane. I also watched Jackdaws sitting and in flying around a rookery in the same Lane. The rooks were also at the nests I wondered if the Jackdaws may be using some of the old rooks nests this year, but came to no conclusion. Also I was alerted by its call to a Kingfisher on the stream/ditch that runs beside the disused railway and under Station Road, Endon. I have seen one here before, plus, in past years others flying around that general area; probably having been attracted to the streams and a nearby large garden pond.  

When I got home from work the mayfly was on the inside of my kitchen window. I had the window open for a while yesterday, so presumably it came in then. Mayflies typically require high quality water bodies with plenty of oxygen and little pollution - I have never seen one in Endon before. I doubt the canal would provide suitable habitat and I suspect the local streams to be fairly eutrophic (nutrient-rich) therefore low in oxygen judging by the quantity of filamentous algae and other similar members of the sewage fungus community that blankets the stones it the bottom. 

The stream/ditch by Station Road, Endon.

Two-tailed Mayfly in my house today.

Frog spawn at last.

I have been keeping an eye out for frog spawn for the past few weeks. In 2007, 2011 and 2012 it appeared in my garden pond in February. Frogs spawn as soon as they come out of hibernation, and, as we have experienced a mild winter and early spring, I thought they would be early this year, but they were not. Last year, when we had late snows the frog spawn did not appear until 12/04/13. I wondered if their lateness is due to the recent night time frosts. My garden is in a frost pocket and it is often colder that gardens higher up the valley sides. We have had 6 frosty mornings this March, but when I look back at my weather records for 2012 we had had 14 frosty mornings in the first 26 days of February (the frogspawn appeared the next day), so maybe frosts are not a deterrent to frog breeding, and it is the accumulation of degree days that counts see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growing_degree-day.  According to the Froglife  http://www.froglife.org/info-advice/frogs-and-toads-behaviour/website the night-time temperature needs to exceed 5 degrees centigrade for the frogs to emerge from hibernation.

Anyway, I hope plenty of tadpoles result from this year's spawning, and, after an unusual absence last year, the grass snakes that generally use my garden compost heaps as incubation sites are tempted back by lots of frogs for them to eat!

Another winter Jackdaw roost.

Driving between Endon and Wetley Moor this eventing I spotted 100s(?) of Jackdaws apparently assembling ready to roost. They were over the trees at the junction with Thorneyedge Road and Luzlow Lane. Presumably this roost id in addition to the one at Baddeley Green mentioned in and earlier post - here:
http://endonwildlife.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/jakdaw-roost-and-willow-tit-near.html

Jackdaws in a frosty field.

My first Chiffchaff of 2014

I heard a Chiffchaff today. It was the first one I have heard singing this spring. I didn't hear it in Endon, but while I was habitat surveying near Ford Green Nature Reserve I preparation for participating in the British Trust for Ornithology's Breeding Bird Survey 2014. Did this one fly in from its overwintering grounds Africa or somewhere in Europe or has it spent the winter in a the British Isles? I do not know. At one time most Chiffchaffs used to leave Britain to overwinter in warmer climes, however in more recent years, as our climate has warmed, more individuals are able to find adequate food to survive the winter hence increasing numbers save the energy involved in migrating south and spend their winters in the milder regions of the British Isles.

I have never seen a Chiffchaff in Endon during winter, however other birdwatchers have. These birds find enough winter food by catching insects at Endon Sewage Works.

Frosty start to a fine day.

We are currently experiencing some settled weather due to a high pressure zone over Europe. The last three days have started with a frost and remained calm all day. Today was no exception apart from being pink at the start (see photo).

A walk along the disused railway to Deep Hayes Country Park produced the bird list below.

Notably there are no Fieldfares or Redwings on the list, also no Black-headed Gulls flying over, though I have seen some feeding in local fields this week. These species are probably returning to their breeding grounds. Once again I saw 4 Lapwings displaying in fields near Endon Sewage Works. Last year two pairs raised chicks in these fields - looks like they may nest there this year again. Another first for this spring was to hear Reed Buntings singing in their usual sites in swampy vegetation near Hazelhurst Junction. Today I saw two pairs (see photo below).

05/03/14	COMMENTS (numbers approx.)
	between Endon and DHCP	Deep Hayes Country Park
Blackbird	7 all males seen
Blue Tit	8	6
Bullfinch	3 pairs making contact calls
Buzzard	1	heard
Canada Goose	1 pair
Carrion Crow	8
Chaffinch	6 males singing	4 males singing
Coal Tit	1 singing	3 singing
Coot	1 on farm pool near DHCP	1
Dunnock	2	2
Goldfinch		4
Goosander		5 females and 1 male
Great Spotted Woodpecker	1 drumming	2 drumming
Great Tit	5	10
Green Woodpecker	1
Greenfinch	2 singing
Grey Squirrel		1
House Sparrow	in hedge by garden by level crossing
Jackdaw	feeding in fields
Jay	1	1
Lapwing	4 displaying in pasture near sewage works
Long Tailed Tit	3
Magpie	3
Mallard	5 pairs	8
Mole	molehills seen
Moorhen	3	3
Nuthatch	2	2
Pheasant	2
Reed Bunting	2 pairs in swampy ground near Hazlehurst Junct.
Robin	7singing
Rook	1
Snipe	1 calling then flew over to land in rushy pasture near H. Junct
Song Thrush	4 heard
Teal		2 pairs
Tufted Duck		4 male 3 female
Wood Pigeon	30	2
Wren	12 singing	5 singing

Sunrise over Endon this morning.

Reed Bunting habitat (small reed bed and willow scrub) along disused railway line at Hazelhurst Junction near Denford. 

First butterfly and first hoverfly of 2014

 

Today was a lovely early spring day. It was 12 degrees C on my thermometer in the shade and warmer in the afternoon sunshine. Not surprisingly I saw my first hoverfly of the year feeding on Coltsfoot in my garden. It is probably either Surphus vitripennis or S. ribesii. On Saturday 01/03/14, another fairly warm and sunny afternoon saw my first butterfly, a Small Tortoiseshell, of this spring flying near a hedge on a walk up to Brown Edge . Now the insects are starting to fly I will start to cut back last year's dead flower shoots that I had left as refuges for overwintering insects. 

The fist hoverfly I have seen this year feeding on Coltsfoot flowers.

 

Dead flower heads left overwinter as refuges for insects.

 

First day of spring.

The fist of March is the Met Office's date for the first day of spring. And, after a slightly frosty start with mist in the valley, it tuned out to be a lovely day. My thermometer reads 10c in the shade, but I suspect a little warmer in the sunshine.

I watched a couple of Lapwings display briefly in a field near my house. A Starling perched in an Alder tree in the corner of my veg patch, singing for extended periods. I could hear Great Tits singing in the distance. And Dunnocks  were chasing each other through the hedges and shrubs.

In the afternoon we walked on public footpaths across the fields to Holehouse Lane, and up the lane to Brown Edge. Gorse was flowering near a stream in one of the fields, and we also saw Daisies, Dandelion and Lesser Celandine coming in to flower.

View of fields adjacent to small valley with a headwater stream that runs into The Village, Endon SJ925 543.