Recent rambles

Another jaunt up to Cumbria last month saw me staying at the beautifully located YHA Eskdale. The stunning location provided great views from the hostel garden, a lovely place to enjoy a walk around before dinner. I was hoping to catch sight of my first red squirrel, but no luck, so I settled for a fleeting glimpse of a jay against gorgeous clear blue skies. Just along the road, and up the slightly hair-raising Hardknott Pass lies Hardknott Roman Fort with low walls marking out the footprint of building once occupied by Roman soldiers and offering stunning views all around.

Lovely view

Hostel garden

Hardknott Roman Fort

A stop off for a quick walk around South Walney Nature Reserve provided a chance to enjoy the amusing sounds of the beautiful eider ducks, and to walk through a huge group of herring and great black-back gulls. I also came across loads of mermaids purses along the shore and picked up a few belonging, I think, to the smallspotted catshark.

Gull gauntlet

Piel Castle

With more promising weather I decided it had been too long since I had taken on a longer walk, so I set off for 12 miles around the Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, and Buckinghamshire countryside. The day was beautiful, the walking good, and the wildlife did not disappoint. The raptors were around and I caught sight of three kestrels, one hovering very close over my head, three or four pairs of buzzards, and a red kite pair. A few of the fields also offered glimpses of hares hunkering amongst the low crops, and a stoat scampering along below a hedge but recognisable by its black tail tip. I lost count of how many skylarks I saw dart up in front of me whilst crossing fields, or how many I heard singing high overhead. It felt great to stretch my legs out a little further and enjoy the countryside.

Red kite pair

Spring lambs

A recent trip to Norfolk gave me just enough time to pop out to the coast at Horsey to get a look at the grey seals. It was a lovely blustery day, and walking a little further along the beach away from the crowds nearer the car park was well worth it for a private view of a larger group of seals. We kept a distance so as not to disturb the animals back into the water, but enjoyed watching them wriggling around on the sand for a while. Walking back along the beach there were lots of bird tracks with long lines running from the footprints. At first glance they made it look like something with a tail, but I think it was perhaps a crow not picking his feet up in the sand. We also came across two decomposed seals, probably juveniles judging by the size, and as a marine mammologist I just couldn't pass them by... I may have 'acquired' a seal skull which I'm working on cleaning up. The walk back to the car gave views of a few stonechats flitting along beside the path, and a small lizard scampering across in front of our feet.

Keeping a distance

Seals aplenty

Keeping look out

Wriggling around

Corvid tracks

Seal skeleton

Female stonechat

Some home patch exploring

Just a few minutes drive down the road from my house is a Wildlife Trust nature reserve and, shamefully, up until a few weeks ago, I had never been. It is only a small place, so I guess I'd always favoured the effort of going a little further to larger areas, but I'm glad I finally went. There was plenty to spot despite the small size, including a beautiful snake's head fritillary with some lovely purple flowers, and others such as cowslip beginning to bloom. Heading in to Spring, but still with few leaves on the trees it was easy to pick out lots of birds nests. There were many rooks around, and their high, messy nests, but also some much smaller and more delicate looking creations whose makers I was unsure of. There were lots of birds around though including goldfinch, robins, and great and blue tits. With a little dampness in the soil there was also plenty of evidence of animals which weren't actually seen, including Muntjac deer and badger footprints, as well as badger sett entrances which appeared to be active. A lovely short walk, well worth exploring the little places.

Snake's head fritillary

Cowslip

Frogs spawn

Rooks nests

Badger

Muntjac deer

A few days later I enjoyed the sunshine over the fields behind my house, with plenty to draw the eye. The blossom was bursting, the buzzards were flying, and the butterflies were dancing along the field margins. Though I have walked in these fields many times, to be able to escape out of my back door and so easily enjoy these little nature encounters will never get old.

Buzzard

Blackthorn blosson

Peacock butterfly

Two small tortoiseshells

Over the fields

Sunny spring day

I've fallen a little behind so there is another trip to Cumbria, a longer walk around home turf, and some seal spotting in Norfolk to come!

Wildlife firsts!

A few weeks ago I had need to drive up to Cumbria, and so decided to break the long journey with a walk around RSPB Leighton Moss Reserve. Though the weather was a little grey and damp, I enjoyed a quick wander to stretch my legs and managed a few wildlife firsts along the way! Stopping off in one of the hides I was quickly treated to lovely views of a male and female marsh harrier sweeping over the reed beds. Though I've previously had a very distant glimpse of a male, this was a much better encounter, and great to see the two close together. There were plenty of wading birds around, as well as a pair of great crested grebes just beginning their courtship display. One of them was apparently not quite in the mood for love yet, and scooted off before they got to the stage of presenting plants to each other!

Colourful pheasant

Spot the snipe

Continuing along the path towards another hide I came across a male pheasant. Nothing too exciting you might think, but often they are skittish and don't allow you to get to close. I slowed my walking and eventually stopped and this guy was happy to strut right up to my feet so I could appreciate what colourful birds the males really are. I reached the last hide and sat a while watching a few birds and waiting while some other visitors clattered off down the path. Once it was quieter again I turned back myself, and was enjoying the peace when a sound caught my ear and I froze... did I imagine that. I thought I must have done and took a few more steps before I heard it, and stopped, again. I definitely heard that, and once more to be sure. My first audio encounter with a bittern! I heard the soft booming of a male, four or five groups of four calls, before quiet descended again and left me standing stock still on my own in the middle of the path with a stupid grin on my face!

Starting to court

Not ready yet

I wandered off again and topped off that incredible moment with a beautiful view of a goldcrest flitting along in the hedge beside me. Then I headed down to the coastal hides to enjoy watching some elegant avocets feeding in the shallow pools, not expecting to improve the much beyond the bittern. But soon I spotted my first kingfisher, who obligingly perched and posed on a post right in front of the hide! All in all highly enjoyable day, and somewhere I would definitely return to for a longer visit.

Teal

Obliging kingfisher

Not long after this trip it was time to head off to another European Cetacean Society Conference, this year in Malta. Yet again a great conference allowing the chance for a snapshot of all the great marine mammal research going on at the moment, particularly in Europe but other places too. Alongside this is the fun of socialising with others working in the field and get a glimpse of a new country... and enjoy a little spring sunshine too.

Capital Valletta from Sliema

Spinola Bay by night

Mix of old and new in Spinola Bay

Evening waves in Valletta

Siege Bell memorial and Valletta Grand Harbour

Look out for more reports from the local home patch coming soon.

Late winter wanderings

At the end of February there was a bright but blustery day on which I went for a walk in the south of the island. The strong breeze made some lovely splashing waves on the rocky shore, though not quite as spectacular as the huge waves crashing into Peel the week before. The sun was out for a while, showing up the last of the snowdrops still hanging on, and the first of the daffodils coming through.

Last of the snowdrops

Wave splash

Catching the sun

Daffodils

At the beginning of March I had to leave the Isle of Man for a while, so back home in Northamptonshire, I again took advantage of another good weather day to take a walk around my local home patch to see what was about. I enjoyed a distant view of a red kite over the fields behind my house before following the lane down to the lake and catching a glimpse of a grey wagtail, as well as many robins singing loud and proud. Many were so caught up in song they didn't mind me getting quite close to take photos.

Grey wagtail

Red kite

Singing...

...still singing

More updates to come on a great day spent at Leighton Moss, and a trip to Malta for the European Cetacean Society Conference.

Wild winter

So, after a wet and windy January spent in the office finishing off my report, I then had to condense my work in to a 15 minute talk to be presented at the Forbes Conference. The conference was an excellent insight in to all the interesting marine work going on on the island, and a great opportunity to meet people in the field. It's wonderful that on such a small island there is so much brilliant marine research going on. It was also interesting to hear about the life of Douglas born Edward Forbes who, despite unfortunately now being best known for his mistaken azoic hypothesis, conducted some brilliant marine biological work. Many of his texts were accompanied by doodles of sea life, and he even wrote a song about dredging!

Conference poster

A drawing by Forbes

With all that over I have a little more time on my hands and am able to take advantage of some breaks in the wintry weather to explore a little more. One afternoon, shortly before sunset, I headed towards the north of the island to check out an impressive gathering of birds. A huge congregation of rooks and jackdaws could be seen filling the evening sky before settling down to roost for the night in one of the islands plantations. They were tricky to photograph in the fading light, and hard to do justice to the scale. But the sight, and sound, was a great spectacle.

Lots and lots of birds

I think it won't be too long until the leaves start to appear on the trees again, though On a drive around there were signs of spring to be seen. Plenty of snowdrops lining the verges, and even clumps of daffodils appearing, though no distinctive yellow yet. I'm fairly sure I spotted a merlin perched on top of a telephone pole, but with a car on my tail I couldn't slam the brakes on to stop and check, unfortunately.

Bare trees, for now

Daffodils on the way

The winter season still has a few shows to put on, with strong winds and high tides making for some spectacular waves. I claimed a spot looking on to Peel Castle and watched the spray crashing in. Despite the very cold wind, the backdrop of the castle provided some great context for the size of the waves splashing up the beach and over the wall.

A big splash obscures Peel Castle

A wave crashes up Fenella beach