The view from the Worminghall home office window – January 24th 2012!
This is a first for me but certainly not for others; Siskin ( Carduelis spinus - http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/siskin/index.aspx ) – pair at the garden feeders

Rushbeds Wood & Lapland Farm

With the blessing of the family I enjoyed an end of year walk around Rushbeds Wood and Lapland Farm (http://www.bbowt.org.uk/content.asp?did=23527). Given the time of year and the fact that it was late afternoon by the time I arrived, neither the Wood nor the fields were packed with wildlife. However, 18 bird species were seen and identified, and 20+ gulls (Larus sp.) we're seen overflying the reserve but not identified. I am useless with gulls so need to get some lessons!! Of particular note were 2 Raven (Corvus corax). All the birds (excluding the gulls) were recorded in BirdTrack (http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdtrack). Other wildlife sightings were limited to Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) and evidence of European Mole (Talpa europaea) activity.

The view from the Worminghall home office window - June 17th 2011!

This is a first for me but certainly not for others; Great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) – pair feeding juvenile with peanuts from the neighbor’s garden feeder. I will get my feeders up today!

The view from the Worminghall home office window - June 15th 2011!

Blackbird (Turdus merula) – a pair feeding young and one juvenile.
Blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) – 1
Great tit (Parus major) – 1
Song thrush (Turdus philomelos) – 1 in full song
Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) – at least 2
Great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) – 1 briefly in the neighbor’s garden
Red kite (Milvus milvus) – 1
House sparrow (Passer domesticus) – at least 4
Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) – 2 or 3 calling and flying through
Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) - 2

Rushbeds Wood - Buckinghamshire

I enjoyed a short walk in Rushbeds Wood today. The weather was not so good with about 95% cloud cover, a moderate wind and, when compared with recent weeks, a ‘cool’ temperature of 17°C.



Birds:


19 bird species were seen and records of them were loaded to BirdTrack (http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdtrack). There were no species of great note seen during this visit; though, I did get some close views of a ♀ Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) collecting nest lining material. I also recorded on my Blackberry a ♂ Blackbird (Turdus merula) in full song with a Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) providing the backing track!


Butterflies:


Just 2 Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) were noted. I did obtain this nice photograph of the first of them.

Other insects:


A single Hornet (Vespa crabro) was on the wing, plus I photographed the following moth species.

I think this is a Cream Wave (Scopula floslactata); however, I will ask the iSpot (http://www.ispot.org.uk/frontpage) community to confirm that.


Flora:


I took the following pictures:

One of the Brambles (Rubus fruticosus agg.)

Spindle (Euonymus europaeus)

See http://philcoles-naturalhistoryblog.blogspot.com/ for photographs and notes.

Lea Park, Thame, Oxfordshire

I went back to our pond this morning to check the exuviae of the Coenagrionidae damselflies that I noted yesterday. This time I found and photographed a couple in immature adults. Though these were immature insects I think, from checking out my field guide, that they are Large Red Damselflies (Pyrrhosoma nymphula). However, I am by no means sure so will check with the folks on iSpot to see what they think!

Also noted that the tadpoles of the Common Frogs (Rana temporaria) are maturing rapidly in our wonderful spring sunshine!

Lea Park, Thame, Oxfordshire

The pond at home is very popular with the local Honey Bees (Apis mellifera). I am not sure where their nest is located (certainly not in our garden); however, there is a constant stream of the bees coming to the pond to drink.

Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)

While watching the bees I noticed many exuviae of Coenagrionidae damselflies. I am not sure to what species they belonged to as only one adult was seen and then only for a very short time. However, that brief view convinced me that the exuviae were from one of the blue/black Coenagrionidae.

Exuviae of Coenagrionidae damselflies