Secret Surrey – Page 6 – Hidden corners

February 11, 2019

January passes and new challenges

The first month of the year has passed and I find myself looking at the wildlife I have observed in the past month and I find myself asking myself some familiar questions and this piece is an amalgamation of those questions, a challenge to myself and some points Steve raised in his recent article about his walk round Old Woking.

I decided to keep a year list of birds in my local area and those further afield as well. Over the course of the month I managed get a few walks in and even after my first walk I noticed a few things that concerned me. In Godalming, where I live, I will often look at the Lammas fields that run alongside the River Wey and they often provide the most interesting sightings and only today I observed 7 Snipe in a wet corner of the field. These fields have also shown me a pair of Shoveler, Kestrels and Stonechats all of which were good to see. In my travels I was seeing various species of birds but was noting that birds in general were not present in any large numbers and species that I would have formerly regarded as common seemed to be more difficult to find. I didn’t see a Starling for nearly 2 weeks which indicates my last point precisely.

Starling is a good example to look at, as this familiar species has undergone an 87% decrease in England since 1967. Reasons for this decline are currently being researched into but there are similarities with many other species that have suffered at the hands of agricultural changes in the last 70 years. There will certainly be a few more reasons for their decline and the same could be undoubtedly said for Chaffinch, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock and Song Thrush which are ‘ common species that are in decline at this time.

On my travels I also noted some species that were the opposite to the species just mentioned. I was on the river one afternoon last week near Peas lake when a Little Egret got up from the water meadow and flew down stream over my head slowly. This would not have happened 10 years ago as this species had only been breeding in the UK for 12 years. They have spread throughout southern Britain and there are now over 900 pairs breeding in the UK and are fairly regularly seen in Surrey. Their spread has been helped by global warming and an increase in well managed wetland habitats in southern Britain. On the same afternoon I walked back towards Godalming and near Farncombe I watched a pair of Ravens fly around calling for a few minutes before they drifted off. This species is at the centre of a controversy at the moment with licences having being recently issued for some farmers to shoot them. The reason that Ravens are now being seen in Surrey and south east England again was because the numbers of gamekeepers has fallen and they were being legally protected and were given a chance to recolonise areas they had been driven from in the past.

From these local observations I had witnessed there were the obvious winners and losers but one factor tied them together and that is good habitat availability. To further this point, I sat and read a report on how some of Britain’s rarer breeding birds were doing. There was some good news I’m glad to say and there were increases in a variety of species including Avocet, Bittern, Stone Curlew, Chough, Crane and Carl Bunting. All of these species have benefitted from good habitat availability much of which had been specially created/ managed by a variety of conservation organisations. The increase in Cirl Bunting numbers is a particularly interesting one where the R.S.P.B. had identified the requirements of the species and approached local farmers in Devon, where the last wild population remained, and Cornwall to manage their farms in ways that would help the species to survive and now their number have reached over a 1000 breeding pairs. This is the highest number that have been recorded for many years. This is a classic example of the good habitat availability and when I look at the drastic fall in many birds’ numbers because of habitat changes, I am very aware that serious changes have to be made in the way we manage all our green spaces if we’re are to save our formerly common species such as House Sparrow which we have lost 44 million of since the second world war.

There are many things that can be done to halt the decrease of these bird species and the associated wildlife that would live alongside them. The rare Bird report shows that good habitat will increase numbers and this needs to be carried out over larger areas to redress the losses of the bird species and the associated wildlife. We can all start to help if we have gardens by not using pesticides, leaving the hedge trimming till the end of the summer or having a nettle patch. If these simple ideas can help imagine if councils or County councils took up these ideas. I can guarantee wildlife numbers would increase.

In these politically unstable days it is of great concern to think about the future of environment and we are going to wait a while longer to see what the future holds. I hope the politicians can see sense and actually do something to help stop the decline of our wildlife

February 11, 2019

New Year, New Issues

Winter finally arrived and we have actually experienced some freezing weather this winter. You might think that we don’t want freezing cold weather that ends up costing us money on heating our homes and making us put on our winter clothes. The weather so far this winter has been incredibly mild and I was regularly seeing Bumblebees through December into the new year and the flowers that were planted in the late summer were still trying to flower in what used to be called winter. There were still Cornflower in flower at Christmas and it is only this recent spell of cold weather that has finally killed off the flowers and stopped the growth of the other plants.

Even when I look at the site today there is still a lot of green plants that have not been killed off but there were signs that the cold weather was having an effect on the local wildlife. As always, the birds were showing their presence with almost continual visits to the feeders with a number of species being seen daily. It was at this point when I realised that I was going to eat my own words when I had just topped up the feeders and returned to the kitchen and whilst watching the squirrels and Magpies wreak havoc on the feeders, I spotted an unwelcome face at the bottom of the old hedge. Yes, there was a Brown Rat busily feeding on the bird seed that had fallen on the ground. I stood and watched for 20 minutes and observed what the rats were doing and it was fairly obvious that not only was the bird and Badger food attracting the rats. I went and had a closer look and could see all of their runs in the old hedge and also realised that I had created a hotel for them by dumping all the vegetation from the reserve in a corner at the top of the site. This was their home!

Well When you look at the situation it’s not really much of a surprise that they have turned up as they have a home and food very close together and as I stood and watched a large adult Rat and a Grey Squirrel sitting next to each other eating the fallen bird seed, it was obvious that I would have to stop feeding the birds for a while.
I have realised that there were a number of options that I could carry out to try and make the site less attractive to the rats.

Knowing that this issue is happening has made me look at other management ideas for the site. I have also realised that time is starting to become little bit more precious and unless this winter finally catches up February and March could be quite hectic with clearance work and the final bits of ground preparation for the new insect attracting plants. That was a point I had started to look at and was looking at plans for the planting season. As always there has been some weeding to be done as after all last year’s clearance I had given the hidden bulbs a new lease of life and I have removed quite a few Daffodils and Crocus shoots. You may think that I should leave them as their flowers will bring early colour and food for early insects. I’m probably going to leave a few in but remove most of them as I don’t want them to take over areas that are for more sensitive insect attracting plants.

I was a little disappointed that the local predators had not dealt with my rodent issues and to be honest I’ve not seen the badgers for a few weeks and they had been leaving food which probably helped the squirrels and rats. It is not uncommon for Badgers to become inactive in the winter months and although they don’t hibernate they will lie low for a few nights and I’m guessing that these badgers are well fed and will easily survive the cold we are currently experiencing. The local Foxes were very noisy around Christmas and there were several nights of murderous screams in the woods behind the flats. There were more signs of spring and the days were brightened up with up with the first birdsong of the forthcoming spring starting to happen on a daily basis and this morning I could hear Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush and Blackbird all in song around the reserve and flats. It’s starting to get busy out there.

January 15, 2019January 15, 2019

Misleading Green

Resolved to try and walk a new, to me, path and area of Surrey at least a couple of times a month. Had a couple of hours to fill last week and decided to explore an area of land bounded by the Wey navigation, Old Woking and a newish development at Westfield.

My wife and I frequently park near Trigg’s Lock and walk along the river to the New Inn at Send. Beautiful walk, decent beer and food, beautiful walk back. We never park at Trigg’s Lock and walk across the fields and it was to this end I set out.

Clear blue sky, distant woods and pretty good hedge, what’s not to like? Trouble is it just felt too quiet and lacking in life to begin with.

Look the other way and the view is sadly more……..industrial?

Well managed for horses? Certainly. Good for the countryside and wildlife? Depends on where you are standing I suppose.
Horse culture and modern beef cattle production both cause unintended consequences for both the appearance of the countryside and the wildlife that live in it. Little attention is given to maintaining hedgerows and wild flowers/weeds are given little chance to seed and provide food for farmland birds.

The irony in this instance was that feeding in the horse paddocks was the largest flock of Meadow Pipits, 40 odd, I’ve seen for quite a while!

Walking on the path crosses old flood meadows, largely improved grasslands but still with lots of wet scruffy bits.

A herd of Canada geese was happily minding its’ own business but I was amazed to find a dozen Teal hidden under some fallen willow.

Long time since I’ve seen these pretty little ducks locally.

Clear skies and wonderful open grown trees make interesting views.

Path skirts the old printing works, now rather lovely looking flats with some hidden gems to find.

Just as you reach Old Woking there is a small common open to all for a wander and for beady eyed wildlife.

Fortunately for me Yes moved lower!

Returning across the field and through a farmyard there was a notable absence of any finches and buntings which only a few years ago would have been common place.

Then whilst bemoaning about farmers obstructing paths and missing way markers (carry an OS map!) I stumbled on a tiny field where an old brassica crop had long gone to seed.

Impossible to photograph but I estimate that there were a couple of hundred finches and buntings of half a dozen species crammed in to a small area. Not green or attractive in appearance but clearly really important as one of the few bits of the local environment that was supporting biodiversity.

Did I enjoy my walk and the birds? Absolutely yes but do I think green can sometimes be misleading? Sadly also yes.

January 14, 2019

The Love Hen

So, you all know about my favourite species of bird now and it’s true I have a tattoo of one on my arm! It needs a bit of work doing on it to be honest as it’s been there 23 years which shows you how long I have been a fan (obsessed) with these birds.

Now Steve has persuaded me to pass on some more information to you about this enigmatic little water bird I’ve had to cast my mind back to where this affair all started.

I’ve been looking at birds all of my life and when I think about Moorhens in my childhood and can vividly remember two places where I always saw Moorhens. The first place was the large lake, in the large park that was on the edge of the town where I grew up in Kent. In one corner of the lake there was a carpark and area where the local boat club did things. On a Sunday afternoon it was common for the people of the local town to come and feed the ‘ducks. ‘ There were the usual hybrid Mallards, Canada Geese, a family of Mute Swans and lots of Coots. In the winter months there were often Tufted Ducks, Pochard and the resident Great Crested Grebe were also present here. When the people fed the birds, it would often be what I can only describe as anarchic with all these birds fighting to get to the food that the humans had brought with them. Being the smallest species present the Moorhen were lucky to get any of the food that had been thrown in the water or had dropped on the ground. I noticed despite their size they were pretty feisty and ready to defend themselves against the larger birds. I then realised that they were pretty smart as well when I observed them leaving the water and apart from the smash and grab style of feeding some individuals were walking, or should I say strutting around the parked cars and picking up the scraps around the cars that had been dropped by the humans eating their sandwiches. None of the other birds present were brave enough to try this method of feeding.

The other childhood place where I learnt about them was in the stream in the nearby village. The stream had an open area called the Brooks where the stream broadened and slowed down and there was a path down the middle where people would walk and also feed the many fewer Mallards that were generally there. The Moorhens were always along the edge of the stream bordering the over grown field. They would take part in similar feeding methods and were often found in quieter moments to be found in the gardens and the pub garden on the other side of the stream. Here I first saw nesting Moorhens and remember how fiercely territorial they were with many a fight being seen in March when they were preparing to nest. Two to three pairs would nest here every year and there were normally 2 nests along the field edge, attached to vegetation that rooted on the field but had bent over the stream and supplied the Moorhens an anchor point on which to build their nest. There was another pair that build a nest ten feet out in the stream on a branch that had fallen from a riverside tree and, in the complete open. Moorhens nesting habits are particularly interesting and as I’ve tried to show how opportunistic they are as nest builders the rest of nesting story is equally interesting. The nest itself is generally woven from vegetation such as Reedmace but I have seen all sorts of material from small branches to plastic being used. The nesting season can start in late March and these days go on as late as October with a pair capable of producing 3 broods per breeding season

The eggs are an olive brown with dark spots of varying sizes and shades. They are incubated for 17 – 22 days by both parents. The early broods normally have more eggs than the later ones with up to 12 eggs being laid in early broods and 5 – 6 in the later ones. The newly hatched chicks are super cute black woollen balls with long legs and are instantly mobile and actively feeding and swimming under their parent’s vigilante guidance. A study of the Moorhens North American counterpart and considered to be the same species until 2011, the Common Gallinule has revealed that newly hatched chicks have barbs in their wing feathers that help them climb vegetation in order to feed, avoid predators and roost. Clever stuff and more interesting behaviour can be seen with our Common Moorhens later in the breeding season when the first brood juveniles will be left for short periods of time, by the adults to ‘ babysit ‘ the next younger broods. Perhaps this explains the different brood sizes that they lay. By the autumn, when the young have been reared, the adults will drive the youngsters off their territory.

Now when you look at Moorhens in flight they don’t look that impressive but don’t let it fool you because Common Moorhens breed almost continually from western Europe to Japan and many of the birds that breed in Russia have to migrate south great distances because of freezing winter conditions. Many of these birds will make it to Europe including Britain and Ireland. They migrate at night and several times over the years I have heard calling Moorhens at night over head. Moorhens make a whole variety of calls from the purring trill to the explosive alarm that has made me jump at night time. I find their calls really expressive and characterful.

I once visited Copeland Island, six miles into the Irish Sea, off the coast of County Down to look at the birds there. The Island’s bird observatory were catching migrant birds for ringing and one afternoon they caught a moorhen. There was not really any fresh water on the island and this bird was obviously a migrant. This bird was also pretty angry at being caught and managed to make one of the ringers bleed after he was lashed by one of it claws. Their ability to survive seems to be pretty hardcore and their omnivorous diet will help them further. I have seen them eating everything from new plant shoots to dead rabbits. Back in my childhood I remember looking in an orchard in the local valley where some apples had been left fallen and in amongst the feeding winter thrushes were 2 Moorhen.

To me they are a pretty amazing species and thankfully the population is remaining stable with declines in some areas and growth in others, they are spreading North probably helped by global warming but are also susceptible to land drainage and developments. The species will prevail I feel as I’ve seen them on ponds in the centre of London and little pools in the middle of woods. Where ever there is water with some vegetation there’s likely to be some Moorhens there so I urge you to have a closer look and see what they are up to. This time of the year they can gather in to fairly large numbers and will often fed in fields adjacent to the water.

They are hardcore survival species with an interesting life story

January 9, 2019

Early Signs

New year always feels out of sync for me as nature never seems to recognise dates and the increasing variability in seasonal change throws up anomaly after anomaly.

We have commenced with the slash and burn in the garden, making sure that there are no hidden guests in the bonfires. Looking after hedges and ditches is one of those tasks which both landowners and local authorities seem to frequently ignore. Most hedges locally to our home are either overgrown or grazed out, usually by horses. Happily though, the “accidental” wilding of the fields and hedgerows immediately round our home is allowing the hedges to expand into the fields, creating a wonderful scrubby edge. Looks like Merrist College are also choosing to ignore the fly grazing horses on the site which is resulting an improvement in the sward. How do I know this? Well, the coarse grasses were becoming so long that predators were having problems and now the Barn owls are back!

It’s always a joy to see the feeders and surrounding trees crowded with birds but it might seem churlish to complain as for every smile there’s a frown as to where are the missing species?

A variety of tits is great….

But where are the Chaffinches, Green Finches, House Sparrows, Starlings? I get excited if I see just 1 or 2 of these species and even 4 or 5 Goldfinches seems ridiculous as there was a time where there were flocks of up to 500 consuming vast quantities of sunflower seeds in my back garden!

It’s sad that people often equate the increase in predatory species with the decline of small birds, its simply not true.

The other difficulty with the success of highly visible species like

and Buzzard or even Little Egret is that a casual observer thinks “everything is ok” and the conservationists are just some kind of extremist eco nutters.

With apple trees come Fieldfares, beautiful but incomparably aggressive!

This particular bird defended the last few apples on our trees against all comers, other thrushes, Jackdaws, Jays and even tried to scare off our deer! Aggression can be an effective survival tool for a bird and Fieldfares are truly expert. They nest in loose aggregations and will cooperatively attack any predator with lots of noise, dive bombing and yes aerial pooing!

You just have a to love Fieldfares.

December 20, 2018

Park lake surprises

Some lakes and ponds start as ways of managing a local flooding issue or as a means of enhancing a local park (whilst again helping drain the surrounding land). Broadwater lake is one of these. Set in a large multi-user park, the lake gives a glimpse of a wilder environment.

With a few minutes spare Francis and I stopped and strolled round the lake, it only takes 20 minutes or so (unless of course you get distracted by the local wildlife).

First surprise was the number of Moorhen, over 30, and their apparent tameness.

I probably need to explain that my fellow writer, Francis, long ago adopted the Moorhen as his totemic bird! Many of his friends know that he is probably the only person in the world to be tattooed with an image of a Moorhen! Yes, really!

I am hoping that he will illuminate us all on the wonders of this charming bird…………..

Coincidentally my winter visiting Moorhen, Morris (I like to think it’s the same bird!), has reappeared in my garden to feed on apples and the spillage from feeders.

On the water were the expected Mallards and Canada geese

but further out were Tufted ducks and Great Crested Grebes, always lovely to see.

Some of the bank had been left with mature trees and a scrubby fringe which allow more vulnerable and nervous wildlife a bit of refuge.

Lots of people run round the lake or walk a dog but take some time and move quietly and you will be surprised at what you will find.

December 13, 2018

Forgotten waters

It is easy to forget the importance of open water to wildlife particularly when you live in a landlocked county not famed for its’ lakes. Most of the larger bodies of open water in Surrey are a result of human need, gravel and sand pits, or a demonstration of human vanity and the need to engineer a landscape. Whatever the origin nature has a way of exploiting water wherever it appears.

I returned to an old haunt today, Sheepwalk Lake, with a not altogether legitimate motive but more of that later!

Sheepwalk is one of a series of old gravel pits in the Thames valley to be found in the forgotten Surrey borough of Spelthorne. Forgotten as it appears as London, urban and crossed by the M3 and under the Heathrow flightpaths. Old mineral workings are one of the boroughs saving graces for wildlife.

Many of these local pits are now used for water sports but Sheepwalk is only fished as part of the Civil Service Angling Society waters. As a consequence it often attracts waterfowl during the winter looking for a bit of peace and quiet, M3 and jets-no problem!

A bracing walk round the lake reveals lots of small birds in the trees and dozens of Tufted duck, Coots and small groups of Gadwall, Gt Crested grebes and Pochard.

Even more birds on the yachting lake next door, no boats today! Same ducks but supplemented with Cormorants, Swans and lots and lots of Coots.

All the way round and a quick glimpse of blue and a Kingfisher iced the cake. Always stop and have a look at accessible open water, it will often provide bird surprises and in clear winter skies there is a harsh beauty to enjoy.

As to that alterior motive, well years ago somebody planted several contorted willow whips which I was hoping to plunder for Christmas twigs. Thing is trees grow and what were reachable scrubby saplings are now bloody great trees!

December 10, 2018

Observing All Hours

To know what kind of wildlife uses a reserve you to actually have to watch and observe the area to record the species present. In my new reserve, or garden as some might call it, I have mainly had casual observations whilst looking out of the window often whilst washing up and the other day I thought I ought to start trying to record more species and share them with yourselves and send records in of what I recorded so I could add to the database of recording and monitoring the state of our wildlife. This year I have spent more time in the reserve than ever before and after undertaking the clearance work and all the continuing ground preparation, this has added up to a fair few hours out there. When the first few flowers started to attract insects, I started to make notes of the records from the garden. Then I started to run the Moth trap and have so far recorded over 40 species. All of the Moth species records have been sent in to the recorders. The whole reason for planting this area up was to attract wildlife at looking back over the last six months; so far so good.

The other day I woke up early and the skies were dark at 6.am. I thought this maybe the day to have a look at the reserve at dawn to see what was using the area. As I lay in bed I heard the first Robin song in the darkness and knew there would be some action soon, so I got up and made a coffee and positioned myself to see what would turn up.

There were 3 Robins in song in the area and as the light became stronger the local Carrion Crows began to leave their roosts and call loudly. I had brought a new bird feeder in the week and positioned it where cat attacks would be quickly spotted. So far, I’ve not witnessed any attempts and, in all honesty, it was taking the local bird population a while to get used to the new feeder, with birds that were using the feeders adopting a smash and grab style of feeding. I saw Great Tit and Blue Tit using this method today and noted the one Blue Tit who was braver than the rest and fed on the peanuts for a minute before the local squirrel arrived. Now we all know how ingenuous these animals are at raiding bird feeding stations and this one crawled along the fence at sat a couple of feet away contemplating its’ next move. It seemed unsure of the situation and decided that eating the bird food on the ground was a better option and proceeded to this feeding method. Its’ presence seemed to scare the smaller birds away from using the new feeding station. The local Magpies were also unhappy as they were coming in and feeding on any leftover peanuts that the Badgers had missed from the night before.

The squirrel to and froes for 5 minutes and I noted it burying some of the food it collected in 3 different locations all of which were going to be dug over in the forthcoming weeks in order to prepare the ground for next year’s planting! Tough luck for the squirrel! Eventually it moved off and after a few moments I saw a Jay fly right over the reserve and land in the woods behind. It called and flew on to the fence and then flew to the ground found himself a missed peanut and flew off into the woods with its food. This was about 5 or six seconds in total and I had that “right time, right place feeling”. Up until then, I had never seen any Jay’s on the ground on the reserve before and made it worthwhile being up early to witness this and remember how opportunistic Jay’s and the Corvid family in general, can be. There were other birds feeding on the ground as well in the quietness of the early morning with Robins, Blackbirds and even a Great Tit taking some fallen seeds. I will most definitely repeat a dawn watch at various times of the year in the future as you can then see some behavioural differences. As I’m aware that the birds here are not totally comfortable with the new feeding station yet but am also aware that it has been very mild again in the last week and I’ve seen plenty of seeds and berries as I’ve travelled about the area. There’s still quite a bit of natural food left out there, so the birds will not be so desperate to be find garden feeders yet. I’m waiting for some really cold weather to see how the birds react and if the feeder gets more active. We shall see.
PS
After finishing this piece, I decided on a coffee and as I stood at the sink a winter Tit flock arrived on the reserve and for 10 frenzied minutes I saw 3 Blue tit, 3 Great Tit 1 Coal Tit 2 Nuthatches and 1 Long Tailed Tits all feeding at the new restaurant. It may be mild but they can’t turn down food!

December 10, 2018

Ears and Eyes to the Sky

My life being involved with the natural world really started with birds. I was lucky with the fact that near to where I grew up there was a very active Y.O.C. club, that’s Young Ornithologists Club to those old enough to remember and was the junior section of the R.S.P.B. now called the Wildlife Explorers. I had been taken on many a walk in the local park as a young child and from eight years old was going on field trips to different places where I learnt more and was lucky in the fact that I picked up on calls and songs of birds quickly. This is still one of my main bird watching tools and during my lifetime of studying birds it never leads me occasionally to comical results.

I was fortunate to witness ‘ vis mig ‘ at several English east coast locations during times of migration, that’s visible migration by the way. I have seen small sparrow sized species arrive on our shores in varying styles and numbers. I’ve seen flocks of Linnet flying at speed along beaches and on the same day seen single birds flying high

Many of these small birds were often seen from quite a distance and even with good optics it was difficult to identify them unless they called. Many birds will call whilst migrating and this will give the observer a chance to identify them.
Only this morning whilst out in my reserve/garden I heard a call above me and looked up to see four small birds flying high in a south easterly direction. I was taken back to the vis mig days and inspired to write this piece. The birds flying over were Skylarks that were moving/migrating to new feeding areas. In this day and age this is a notable record as Skylark have massively declined in recent years due changes in agriculture.

Over the years of studying birds I have observed many species by knowing their calls and although sometimes you may not get the best views in the world, you will know that that species is actually present. By knowing bird calls and songs you will observe more and often in places you may not expect. In recent years I have spent more time in town and have recorded a number of species that I was alerted to by calls that could even be heard in the hustle and bustle of a busy town. I regularly hear and see Grey Wagtails, Peregrines, Goldfinch and Swifts. Occasionally I have heard & observed Common Terns and even in the dark I have heard migrating Redwing.
My advice to see more birds would be learn their sounds and although it can be difficult it is well worth the effort and you will never be bored. At this time of year there are not many birds singing apart from Robins, Wrens and Song Thrush but you can still hear all the calls of the other species. So, get out there and see what you can hear! Good luck with it and I hope your ears help solve some secrets

November 22, 2018

Winter Arrives

The reserve has been changing slowly over the last few weeks and our ever changeable weather, as always, has held the key to the change. As you know, this year has been very warm after the slow cool spring and the results have been obvious with a number of the flowers I had planted in the summer still flowering in mid November. The tree leaves didn’t start to drop seriously until the second week of this month and as I raked a few leaves off the reserve last week I remembered that this was the sort of job I used to do from late September onwards and that autumn seemed to be four to five weeks later than when I was a child.

With all the warmth the persistent weeds had a chance to invade areas I had previously cleared. I tried to keep on top off these species but know it is going to be an impossible battle to totally control.

The reason these plants are successful species is because they have the ability to quickly move into cleared areas and put down their roots and runners and establish themselves as the dominant species.

As leaves have only come down in the last couple of weeks I had been spared any major leaf raking but now they were down and building up in areas of the garden that had been cleared and although you may feel that my clearance was a little too tidy for a natural garden/reserve area , I am only doing this to stop over fertilisation of the soil where there would be wildflowers growing next year. Most wildflowers do not require high nutrient levels in the soil where they grow and leaves will enrich the soil when they rot down. It is again a thankless task but until the flowers are established, I feel it will help establishing the wildflowers for next year.

So what has the local wildlife been doing with these changes in the season and on the reserve? Well there has been a lot more birds seen, possibly due to the fact that I have started a feeding stations on the site and it amazed me that when I put the first feeder up, there were Blue Tit and Coal Tits feeding within ten minutes on the feeders. When the weather was unseasonably warm last week I noted less activity on the feeders and then the temperatures dropped a few degrees and the feeders became a hive of activity once again and I have noted Blue, Great, Coal and Long – Tailed Tits along with the feisty Robins and Nuthatches all feeding at the new feeding station.

I say it’s a new feeding station but it all honesty it’s an old site that hasn’t been used for six years now and I’ve already seen a few issues to where it is positioned. A lot of cover has grown around the site and I’ve already seen the local cat community launch a few, thankfully failed, attempts at the feeding station. So I’m going to reposition the feeding station to a more open area where the feeding birds will have a better chance of spotting any incoming predators like the cats and the local Sparrowhawk of which I noted a large female blast through the site the other day but was unsuccessful in its attempt. I have less of an issue with the Sparrowhawks than the cats as the Sparrowhawks are native to the area and need to eat like everything does. The Badgers and Foxes are still regular nocturnal visitors and I’ve seen how the Foxes always give way to the badgers and are much more wary than the Badgers who don’t seem that bothered at my presence at all!

We shall see what the deeper winter brings the local wildlife populations in the garden over the forthcoming weeks and how they deal with it.