Fox tracks

The snow has afforded the opportunity to detect a fox foraging very close to the house last night. The footprints were a bit indistinct as the snow had become a bit slushy but they seem to correspond to the features of a fox rather than a cat. I was surprised to learn that a fox adopts a different gait in snow. On a firm surface it trots with a diagonal gait so that the fore and hind footprints are obliquely next to each other. In snow it adopts a straight position and the footprints are found in a straight line.

Goldcrest seen locally

Just a couple of days after the Garden Birdwatch I was walking across farmland less than a mile away when I had a close encounter with a Goldcrest - a species that I have yet to record on Moat House land. It seemed happy to be foraging on a tree less than a couple of metres away from me. These are not uncommon and I have seen them a couple of times before in the village but not for the last four or five years.

Great Garden Birdwatch 2009

The January 2009 birdwatch recorded 14 species (cf 2008 - 10 species, 2007 - 11 species). Three species -Greenfinch, Blue Tit and Great Tit- made an entrance together just two minutes before the end of the watch. Once again mallards made their first entrance of the year on Garden Birdwatch day. I also recorded moorhens, crows, rooks, magpies, blackbirds, wrens, wood pigeons, collared doves, starlings and chaffinches.
The next morning I glanced out the window and I could see robins, dunnocks, goldfinches and a pheasant but too late to be counted.
The Garden Watch is a brilliant scheme which is valuable both scientifically, from a communications perspective and in just involving people in birdwatching. The thing that it brings home to me is the lack of sparrows. I haven't recorded any in the last three years.

Goshawkor Sparrowhawk?

A friend who lives a few hundred metres away has had a Goshawk in the field next to their house and has seen it taking pigeons. I have often seen Sparrowhawks in the village and have seen one at close quarters eating a pigeon it had killed. I also reported on a 'Sparrowhawk' that took a pigeon from the lawn here in September 2007. I only caught a fleeting glance of the kill and I am now wondering whether it could have been a Goshawk. I have also come across a couple of piles of pigeon feathers (see blog August 2008), which I again thought might be from a Sparrowhawk kill, but again it is conceivable they could be from a Goshawk. Alternatively something else could have taken the pigeon such as a fox. The only point here is that the feathers have been in rough piles whereas when I used to come across pigeons that I knew had been taken by Sparrowhawks, the feathers were in more of a doughnut pattern. All in all I am out of my depth on this one and need some more evidence.........

More fungi

In October I came across of a couple of new species of fungi. The first was Shaggy Ink Cap - unfortunately I was a day or two too late to eat them as they were already deliquescing. The second is I think Sulphur Tuft (photo shown).

How do they do that?

The accompanying picture shows a spider's web. You may not be able to see the web itself which is in the top left corner but you should be able to make out the top thread under from which the web is suspended. The thing that amazes me is how the top thread was put in place. It is over four feet long and is attached at the left end to the tip of the hawthorn about eight feet above the ground (top left of photo) and at the other end to the lime about six feet up (on the right margin). Did the spider jump four feet horizontally streaming the thread behind it? That is the only sensible explanation. That is some feat.

Good Year/Bad Year

This is just my opinion based on observation of the fauna seen in the Moat House grounds.

Good Year - Butterflies, Ducks, Song Thrushes

Butterflies - see earlier posts regarding species and quantities seen this year. I don't know whether this has been a good year generally or whether it is factors peculiar to the site. One difference this year is that the small field next to the church has not been cut. Even today (2 Oct) I saw three species just on one patch of ivy (Peacock, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood)

Ducks - there was not the quantity of mallard ducklings born this year that there was last but even so there were several broods seen on the moat. However the first brood born, who stayed on site, were a joy to watch, being both well-behaved and spending time on the lawn which seemed almost friendly. Also to have the new species of Tufted Ducks just turning up and staying was brilliant.

Song Thrushes - whereas there have been a few thrushes on site before there just seemed to be young thrushes all over the place this year and lots of singing which is the best bit with song thrushes........

Bad Year - Bees, Ladybirds, Dragonflies

Bees - there have been pieces in the press regarding problems with honey bees and diseases but I noticed a distinct lack of bumble bees this year.

Ladybirds - Very few have been seen this year.

Dragonflies - I only have two species that have in past years been definitely identified and regularly seen - the Southern Hawker and the Common Darter. However this year I have only seen Southern Hawkers on three or four days and then only one individual. No Common Darters have been seen. Being away for ten days in August and then two weeks in September may mean this is a false view of the prevalence of dragonflies. I wonder whether the glut of mallards over the last couple of years, the appearance of the kingfisher last summer and then the presence of the four tufted ducks mean that anything that moves in the moat, such as a dragonfly larva, gets eaten.