Nature Notes for January/February 2010

Monday 4th Jan Bright and sunny but very cold with a hard frost, my wife and I decided to take a short walk around Broadstone nature reserve. The first birds we came across were a group of about twenty fieldfare sunning themselves on a silver birch; these large winter thrushes really are a joy to see. We then made our way to the viewpoint near Westcroft Park; we sat on one of the seats observing the wonderful view across Poole and the Purbecks. A few feet from where we sat I noticed a Queen Buff tailed Bumble bee (Bombus terrestris) searching for flowers, we watched it flying back and forth over the heather then after a few minutes it flew off to the gardens nearby. I have seen bumble bees active in winter before and wondered why they hadn't hibernated but I have since read that Queens are starting new colonies in autumn instead of hibernating, that accounts for the dead Buff-tailed bumble bee worker I found back in December. Making our way toward the woodland our approach startled a pair of great-spotted woodpeckers that began chasing one another through the trees; we saw a goldcrest in one of the pines and a beautiful male bullfinch in the willows. On returning home it seemed our garden had more birds in it than we had seen on the reserve, there were half the tit family, Great, Blue, Coal, and Long-tailed tits, Dunnock, Nuthatch, a hen Chaffinch, a Wren and a Great-Spotted Woodpecker, but we do have several feeders that my wife tops up twice a day.

Wed 5th Jan 10am a female blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) paid the garden a visit followed by the snow.

Thurs 7th Jan Redwings have discovered the pyracantha that grows under my window in the front garden, it will be stripped of its berries in a couple of days, I have taken some photographs of them and also the female Blackcap. A Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) was accidentally flushed by one of the regular dog walkers on the reserve these crepuscular birds are normally seen flying at dusk, the last time I saw one in the recreation ground was November 1978.

Mon 11th Jan I took a trip to Hatch Pond, most of the water was frozen, the usual wildfowl could be seen Mallard, Tufted duck and Teal, along with Coot and Moorhen also a pair of mute swans occupied the margins of the pond where the water wasn't frozen. I didn't see the pair of great crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) that are always seen here, being divers and liking open water they probably stayed hidden in the reeds. I went there hoping to see a Bittern or a Water rail (Rallus aquaticus) but there seemed very little activity in the reed bed where they are normally seen but I was rewarded by seeing a Jack snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus). The ice was covered in gulls, I searched for the Yellow legged gull (Larus cachinnans) that has been seen here but could not find it anywhere. The trees surrounding the pond were covered in fieldfares busily chattering.

If you ever have some time to spare and fancy a walk pay Hatch Pond a visit, you may be lucky enough to see the rare Bittern (Botaurus stellaris) that seems to have taken up residency there, I have seen it a couple of times. If you would like to look for it your best chance of seeing it is on the eastern side of the pond, make your way through the pine trees once you are at the waterside scan the reed bed with your binoculars, you may be lucky and see it, you may not but if you do decide to look for it that's the place. Talking of Hatch Pond Summertime is a good time, you will be sure to see and hear the Reed warbler and Cetti's warbler (Cettia cetti). You may even be lucky enough to see the Red-eared terrapin (Trachemys scripta elegans) resting on a log. He/she is the size of a small dinner plate and has made the pond its home but don't bother looking for it in the winter as it will be brumating in the mud at the bottom of the pond and will not show its face until March. Or perhaps if wild flowers are your thing search the grass area on the eastern side of the pond. In July last year I found Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) St Johns Wort (Hypericum perforatum) and Fleabane (Inula Britannica). I also discovered a six-spot burnet moth feeding on some thistles, this colourful day flying moth is always a joy to see, and I also found cinnabar larvae feeding on ragwort. Oops, I am going off the track here getting carried away talking about what you can see in the summer and we are still in the depths of winter, sorry!

Sun 17th Jan being sunny I went for a walk on Dunyeats Hill, observed three Dartford warblers all singing from their favourite perch the gorse. There was still plenty of water running off the hill like small mountain streams, I wonder what effect this rain water has had on the hibernating reptiles, I will let you know when I start surveying in the spring.

19th Jan Hatch Pond the ice that covered most of the pond on the 11th had melted and the pair of great crested Grebe were back along with a little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) commonly known as a Dabchick, and a Cetti's warbler was singing in nearby vegetation. A Shoveller and several Widgeon had joined the rest of the wildfowl and a solitary grey Heron sat statuesque on some broken reed just gazing into the water.

27th Jan being quite cold we wrapped up warm, my wife made a flask of hot coffee and we made our way to Holes Bay to see what wildfowl the cold weather had brought down. On making our way to the waters edge we saw several hundred Widgeon scattered all over the bay mixed with Teal, and Pochard. We also spotted two beautiful Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) among them and several pairs of Shelduck and Tufted duck. The tide was on its way out leaving large areas of mud that was gradually found by the many waders, first the black-tailed Godwits, (Limosa limosa) followed by Curlew (Numenius arquata), Redshank (Tringa tetanus) and Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostrulegus). There were twelve little Egrets at the waters edge, these wonderful little white herons have become a common sight at Holes Bay and a solitary red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) patrolled a long way out in the open water.

All the birds seen during the month of January can still be seen throughout February so rather than bore you with the same sightings my next Nature Notes will be in March when the first spring migrants should have arrived.

On Saturday January the 30th being bright and sunny I saw two Bittern at Hatch Pond, the time was about 12:30 pm.

Keith Clements - Parks, Nature Reserves & Heathland

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