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DAILY DIARY
HAVANT NATURE NOTES for 2010
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Apologies for break in service from February to July 2010 In February 2010 my wife's physical and mental health started to decline sharply (she had Lewy Bodies Syndrome giving the physical aspects of Parkinson's plus Dementia). The needs of 24 hour caring made it impossible for me to get out for any length of time or to spend the time at my computer necessary to maintain this website. My wife died peacefully on July 9 and was laid to rest in Warblington cemetery on July 19 It will be some time before I have fully recovered from my loss but I have now resumed updating my Diary page and will resume my Weekly Summaries before too long
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Summary of past week’s news
My latest weekly summary of reports is now available by clicking
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Storksbill flowering at Broadmarsh
On another sunny afternoon with a biting north east wind I cycled past Bedhampton Mill to Broadmarsh, coming home via Budds Farm and the South Moors shore.
High spot of the outing was finding my first Storks Bill flowers at Broadmarsh (there is always an early patch by the Hermitage Stream footpath immediately you leave the slipway area) but I also found more Cherry Plum flowers on at least two trees in the Broadmarsh area and came on leaves starting to unfurl of both Elder and Hawthorn there (the Hawthorn, in the scrub on the north side of the boat park, also had well developed flower buds). Another surprise find came at the mouth of the Langbrook stream were one of the Dog Rose bushes was also putting out fresh leaves.
One bird surprise was the sight of two Ringed Plovers (a pair?) on the shore of the Hermitage Stream just south of the gravel quay - could they be thinking of nesting on some of the patches of gravel in that area?
Arriving at the new 'view point bench' above the Budds Farm pools I found a group of people (I suspect they were the ones which constructed the bench) having their photo taken by a presumed supervisor of the work.
On the pools the pair of Swans and the pair of Shelduck that will nest there were back on territory and there was a good showing of Tufted Duck but small numbers of the other species including Shoveler, Gadwall and Teal
Along the shore several hundred Brent were spread out and feeding while at least fifty Wigeon were at the Langbrook mouth with flocks of Dunlin on the mud among the gulls and single pairs of Shoveler and Merganser caught my eye on the water. Heading upstream I noticed at least half a dozen Meadow Pipit on the South Moors - probably passing migrants but soon I will hope to hear Meadow Pipit song from breeding birds.
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Coltsfoot and Med Gulls at Hayling Oysterbeds
This afternoon I was able to get out on my bike for the first time this month and made a tour of north Hayling in a chill northerly wind with none of this morning's sunshine.
By the Lymbourne Stream there are now more than two dozen Celandine flowers and Cherry Plum is starting to flower at two places in Langstone but the star of the outing were the dozen or so Coltsfoot flowers now out at the entrance to the Oysterbeds carpark.
The 'Tern Island' at the Oysterbeds gave me my first sight of Med Gulls in full breeding plumage - around 15 of them mostly in pairs at the south end of the islands and a few more flying around emitting their distinctive calls. Also at that end of the islands were seven Brent geese (the first time I have seen them on these islands) - they seemed to be searching for food as were several other much largers parties of Brent scattered around the shore. As I was leaving the island a flock of around 700 Brent was circling over the water between Northney and Langstone, giving me the impression that after having fed they were thinking of continuing their journey east.
Other birds noted in this general area were small parties of both Black- and Bar-tailed Godwits (around 20 of each), plenty of Redshank and Oystercatchers and a large number of Wigeon. The northernmost field on the east side of the Coastal Path had a single Greenshank in it, behaving in a restless fashion with much 'bobbing' and erratic low flying. The prominence of the white around its tail and the dark colour of the closed wings both suggested it was acquiring breeding plumage.
South of the Oysterbeds I turned east at the pillbox and headed for Daw Lane. In the field south of the path between West Lane and the Coastal Path were at least 50 Redwing but Daw Lane itself had no vestige of the show of spring flowers it will have later - at the moment it is rather depressing to see the long lines of felled Poplars in the field (old orchard) north of it.
A female Kestrel was perched near Upper Tye Farm and the Northney rookery was active (I sense there are fewer nests than ususal this year). Many of the Rooks were feeding in the open fields west of the trees and I was pleased to see at least a dozen Stock Doves also feeding there with many Wood Pigeons and a small flock of Brent. Back at Langstone the first few Cherry Plum flowers are out near the south end of Wade Lane, and further up it, in the field north of the path to the Billy Trail, was another flock of perhaps 50 Redwing
Water flowing uphill in my garden?
Last week I captured on film a strange phenomenon which I regularly see in my garden after a hard frost at night. It occurs in the plastic water containers put out on the ground for the birds to feed and drink - as you can see in the picture below the containers are of the black plastic twin tub type in which I occasionally purchase a take-away meal from the supermarket and the mystery concerns the icicles (up to ten centimetres long) which grow up from them. I guess that as the water freezes (and expands) the plastic sides of the tub are forced apart and the unfrozen plastic bottom exerts an upward pressure on the unfrozen part of the water, causing a jet of water to be forced upward through a weak part of the surface ice. Any proper scientific explanation would be welcome!
10 cm Icicles growing upward in my garden (see above)
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Summary of past week’s news
My latest weekly summary of reports is now available by clicking
Weekly Summary here(Link to previous day’s entry)
Summary of past week’s news
My latest weekly summary of reports is now available by clicking Weekly Summary here
(Link to previous day’s entry)
Buzzard soaring over Havant
Just one note for today - walking to Waitrose this morning I heard much noise from gulls above my head and saw many town birds - Pigeons, Crows and Jackdaws - in a swirling mass over my destination. Cause of the commotion was a single Buzzard soaring unconcernedly among them and drifting with the wind.
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The Leigh Park eccentric Hawthorn (Glastonbury Thorn?)
A short cycle ride this afternoon took in a visit to the Hermitage Stream where it passes through the area of Leigh Park between Purbrook Way and Barncroft Way where a single small Hawthorn tree (part of a hedge like planting) regularly flowers in winter months. Today it was trying to do so (tufts of leaf and flower buds could be seen) but the recent wind and rain had stripped off any petals that might have emerged earlier this month. The tree was in flower a few weeks ago on Dec 9 and I won't repeat what I then wrote about it but for anyone who has not heard of the winter flowering Glastonbury Thorn a visit to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glastonbury_Abbey#Glastonbury_Thorn might prove of interest, not that I think this tree has any magical or historical properties (more likely to have been imported from southern parts, where Hawthorn naturally flowers in winter, for planting by the local Council).
Similar unseasonal activity by Oak trees came to my attention recently in Clive Chatters new book " Flowers of the New Forest" in which he describes a series of Oaks scattered through the Forest which regularly put out leaves in winter. He refers to them as 'Cadenham Oaks' (old spelling of Cadnam) and relates how William Gilpin (then Vicar of Boldre) rode his horse from Boldre to Cadnam on 29 Dec 1781 to see the famous 'Cadenham' Oak which regularly started to put out its leaves on or around the old (pre-Gregorian calendar) Christmas Day (before the calendar was revised and we 'lost those notorious eleven days in 1752' - if not familiar with that Google Gregorian Calendar revision).
Coming back to today my only other notes were of a find of another large patch of Thyme-leaved Speedwell in flower and a now quite impressive show of Common Whitlowgrass in Waterloo Road.
Today's trawl through the bird news showed me that the Red-breasted Goose (which we hope may soon stop off in the mouth of Chichester Harbour on its way east) is still near Dawlish in south Devon. Today's surprise bird was a single Common Crane which circled low over the site at Stotfold in south Bedfordshire where there has been a long staying flock of 700 Corn Buntings - very few still there now.
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Uncommon Butterburs by the Langbrook stream
What turned out to be a very wet walk with the wind-driven rain soaking my trousers as I walked into the wind along the exposed South Moors seawall started off with my first Blackbird of the year in full song by the Langbrook stream. Further down stream I found Giant Butterbur (Petasites japonicus) now in full flower (though a little frost damaged) and near it the first signs of female Butterbur (P. hybridus) pushing up through the damp streamside ground.
In Southmoor Lane the Cherry Plum flowers were still restricted to one branch of one tree but a new addition had appeared on one of the big Willows overhanging the track up Budd Mound almost opposite the new cut through to the new wooden 'viewing stand' overlooking the Budds Farm pools. The new addition is another of the owl boxes erected by Havant Borough (through the efforts of Rob Hill) on their various properites such as Warblington cemetery.
On the pools the pair of Shelduck which I had seen here on Monday was not in sight (nor could I see any Teal) but one pair of Pochard was on the water with Shoveler, Gadwall, Mallard and Tufted Duck (very few of each).
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Garden Sparrowhawk
Coming home from shopping today I heard a single pair of Long-tailed Tits moving through our neighbour's front garden - they may well soon nest in the extended blackberry patch behind Glenhurst School where sidings for the Hayling Billy Line once required a fan-shaped area of level ground beside the main track. Entering my front garden I noticed wild gesticulation from within the window of our sitting room where this mornings 'carer' was with my wife and had spotted a young Sparrowhawk on our front lawn with a small corpse - inevitably all I saw was the departing hawk!
Cheering news from Europe which I picked up today is the first report I have seen of a Swift back in Spain (Punta de Calaburras, just east of Gibraltar) on Feb 21 - the first Swallow had been reported there on Feb 4. Yesterday the first two spring Hoopoes arrived in Scilly and Cornwall respectively. Another news snippet for Feb 21 is a report of 3 summer plumaged Golden Plover among a flock of 157 seen at Slimbridge.
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First Cherry Plum blossom by Southmoor Lane
A short walk in Havant this morning found the first (garden escape) Lungwort flowers and also gave my the first Chaffinch song in my home area - a Coal Tit was also very vocal in Orchard Road.
At Budds Farm pools in the afternoon a pair of Shelduck were back (presumably to nest as two or three pairs do here each year). Balancing that swing towards the breeding season was an almost complete absence of winter duck on the pools.
Just before reaching the pools I found the first few Cherry Plum flowers out on the trees beside Southmoor Lane just before you reach the height barrier but I saw very little else in flower on this trip save Hazel and Goat Willow trees, Winter Heliotrope and Butcher's Broom
Along the South Moors shore with the tide high the Rock Pipit was put up by John Goodspeed who happened to be a little ahead of me, and at the Langbrook Stream mouth John pointed out the high tide roost of around 40 Turnstones with Dunlin and Ringed Plover, while out on the water there was a substantial number of Mergansers with Wigeon and at least one pair of Gadwall.
In the Langstone pond area all last year's cygnets have now got the message and left the breeding territory of their parents but as yet the Little Egrets show no sign yet of taking an interest in nesting in the trees here - of the nine Egrets I saw seven were in the pony fields north of Wade Court. The southern, half flooded field, had a newcomer today - a single Greenshank among the Teal and Moorhens.
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Summary of past week’s news
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Weekly Summary here(Link to previous day’s entry)
Birds at Warblington and two new flowers
This morning I cycled from Langstone along the shore to Nore Barn at the west end of the Emsworth shore and then around Warblington Farm where the local pair of Buzzards were making a courtship flight across the fields between Church Lane and Pook Lane. Also seen here was a pair of Stock Doves investigating nest holes in the old Oaks just east of the Old Rectory and a single Redwing perched at the very tip of an Ash tree as if scanning the area for the flock of Redwings from which it had become detached (just my impression, no such flock seen by me). At the farmhouse the male Kestrel of the pair which often nest in Warblington Castle tower flew from its perch when a Crow landed beside it.
Along the shore many Brent (1000+ ?) were strung out over a large area with small groups constantly moving from place to place, giving me the impression that they were already on passage and restless to get on with the journey. There were also plenty of Wigeon and Shelduck but few Teal and waders (at one stage I thought I spotted a couple of Knot among a group of Bar-tailed Godwit on the tideline) but at Nore Barn I definitely saw the Spotted Redshank and on the southern end of the Warblington marsh SSSI (which has turned from the green of mainly grass to the brown of mainly intertidal this winter - maybe the flap which allows water from the stream to leave but prevents the sea from flooding back in at high tide has failed?) a Greenshank was searching for food - first time I have seen one there.
The only item of botanic interest was a single flower still open on the Blackthorn at SU 736 052 on the seawall of Nore Barn woodland roughly 50 metres east of where the path down the west side of the woodland meets the shore. This one tree was found in flower by Brian Fellows last November and has been bearing a few odd flowers ever since.
Two other new flowers (in addition to Monday's Thyme-leaved Speedwell) for my yearlist this week have been Smooth Hawksbeard - one flower in my Havant garden on Feb 17 - and Grey Field Speedwell - a few plants flowering in Juniper Square, Havant, on Feb 18
(Link to previous day’s entry)
Thyme-leaved Speedwell in flower
This morning, in damp but mild weather, a Song Thrush was blasting its song from a tree outside our Havant garden - the first time I have heard one here this year and the first early morning song. I have seen what I take to be the same Song Thrush in our garden several times recently and have found the shells of snails it has devoured so this song was not that of a new arrival, just that of one sensing that spring was on its way.
Further proof of spring came in the late afternoon when I found the first flowers on Thyme-leaved Speedwell on a Havant roadside shortly after seeing that the one plant of Common Whitlowgrass that I found in bud last week had by now become at least six in bud (no open flowers).
Other things noted today were a flock of at least 25 Redwing in the fields north of Wade Court at Langstone (near where the same two Lesser Celandine flowers can still be seen - one wide open, the other a closed bud). In the late afternoon I also enjoyed the twittering of a regular pre-roost gathering of 30 or more Goldfinch in the very top of a Horse Chestnut tree in the grounds of Fairfield School, just around the corner from our house - the birds have been gathering here each evening for a couple of weeks at least.
My last observation for the day was of flowers that I had not noticed before on a planted Eucalyptus (Australian Gum Tree) species. Luckily my first attempt to identify the tree came up trumps - going to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus I saw a picture of the flowers above the caption saying the tree was Eucalyptus melliodora. Hardly a native wildlife year tick but definitely an extension to my knowledge of tree flowers. Also locally in Havant Mimosa trees will soon be in full flower.
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Summary of past week’s news
My latest weekly summary of reports is now available by clicking
Weekly Summary here(Link to previous day’s entry)
Another new Buzzard in our area
This morning I managed a short trip around Havant during which I found the first two Early Dog Violet flowers in the Eastern Road cemetery (I have already found one in my own garden) plus flowers on Common Chickweed and Hairy Bittercress.
Later I got on my bike for a trip to Budds Fam and back - nothing new on the pools but I did see the Rock Pipit and Green Sandpiper on the South Moors shore and Langbrook Stream respectively and was hailed by a stranger as I went past the Wade Court area with news that he had just seen a Buzzard take off from a tree overhanging the Lymbourne stream close to the footbridge leading to Wade Lane. As with the one seen by the Langbrook stream last week this bird was in an area where I have not seen Buzzards before and I suspect these may be young birds seeking new hunting territories and extending the local range of the species. While in that area I found two flowers on the Lesser Celandines.
(Link to previous day’s entry)
Erophila verna - a tiny Spring jewel
For the past couple of weeks I have been taking an indirect route into Havant via Waterloo Road to walk along the wire mesh fence of the carpark belonging to the Morris Crocker accountants office close to Havant rail station. On one side of this fence is the tarmac of the street pavement, on the other that of the carpark, with no soil separating them, but a minute amount of dust has been trapped along the base of the wire-mesh fence and in this dust at least a thousand tiny plants of Common Whitlowgrass (Erophila verna) have found a foothold.
Today I found just one plant which had raised its minute candelabra of brilliant white flower buds - soon the other plants will raise theirs, the flowers will open, and the base of the fence will appear to have a shining white line along its base before the flowers turn to translucent seed cases from which seeds will be blown to find other equally precarious places to grow and bring gladness to those like myself who see them as an emblem of wildlife surviving in the hostile human built environment and as a defiant symbol of the unstoppable urge to survive shown by every living thing.
Full Diary ends here but by clicking the WEEKLY SUMMARY link (below)
you can see summaries for each week back to 2007
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