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Country Matters January 2004
Last month I forecast we would have some berries left on our holly trees for Christmas. I should have known better, birds can strip berries within days and all we were left with was the odd yellow berry. They were eaten according to their palatability, first the orange ones then red and the yellow last of all. But it was not the Fieldfares and Blackbirds that ate them but the pigeons. As anybody who has shot pigeons will tell you, they can stuff an incredible amount into their crops. I once had one with 17 acorns, which must have formed a large part of its total body weight.The Fieldfares, Redwings and continental Blackbirds did arrive in force over Christmas and started on the fallen apples in the orchard. I set up a hide to photograph them and it was surprising the number of species that came to feed. The following actually ate the apples: Greenfinches, Moorhens, Wood Pigeons, Chaffinches, a Stock Dove, a Pheasant, a Green Woodpecker, a Song Thrush as well as Fieldfares, Redwings, Blackbirds and I understand, a neighbour’s Black Labrador. The last three listed birds and I’m not sure about the Labrador, depended on the apples to provide most of their diet, the rest only appeared to be eating them for enjoyment just like humans. Though the apples were Bramley cooking apples, they had fermented and were slightly sweet to the taste. We tend to think that only humans have a developed sense of taste, smell and enjoyment of food and drink but many birds and animals can also appreciate differences in taste and smell. We must accept that there can be some differences in our appreciation of what is enjoyable; especially if one has watched a fox eat a decomposing, foul smelling carcase, then roll in the remains with evident delight.
The dry spell we had after the storm on 17th June 2003 lasted until well into the autumn and not only resulted in an easy cereal harvest, but made subsequent farming cultivations difficult. Most rape crops did not germinate until October and as the plants were too small to survive hard weather or the depredations of feeding pigeons they were ‘pulled up’ and re-drilled. My own rape was replanted with winter beans. Normally only the Rooks will attack young beans, digging them out and eating the bean from the germinating plant. The rook leaves a v-shaped hole with the green shoot of the bean being left on the ground to die. This year part of the field has suffered from rabbits as well. They have dug a much larger scrape than the Rook but have also taken and eaten the bean. I have never seen this on such a large scale before and it is probably due to the rabbits being surrounded by beans and not succulent cereals and so they are starving.
Please keep telling me about your wildlife observations. If anybody has newts in their ponds this spring please let Syl and I know, as the Essex newt survey will continue this year. Last year I did not ask for reports until too late and most adult newts had left their ponds and we will need to confirm identification.
Wildlife Reports January 2004
Alan Stannard saw a Barn Owl sitting on the side of the road at 11pm early in October near Pudneys Farm, Shalford Road. He also saw a Roe Deer at 6.45am near Mounts Farm, Shalford Road. This is the first Barn Owl report for two years and is probably a juvenile looking for a suitable territory. There are not many breeding records for Essex because of unsuitable habitat and vehicle kills. The Barn Owl needs rough grassland that is not mown where there is a high vole and mouse populaton. Roadside verges provide one of the largest areas of this habitat and hence the high vehicle kills. They are long lived, we had one at Goulds for at least eight years but this was over 20years ago. When checking round the farm after dark it would often fly low over my head, always coming from behind on silent wings. To begin with it scared me rigid and I was always convinced that it had a perverse pleasure out of the effect on me. Great Notley Parish Council are erecting a pair of Barn Owl and two Little Owl nesting boxes in their Parish. Lack of suitable nesting sites is probably the other main limiting factor on owl numbers.The first report of 2004 was for New Years Day at 3.30am by Keith Rawlings of Baytree Close. Having spent the evening celebrating he arrived home and being unable to sleep was in one of the back bedrooms. There was an almighty bang in the garden and this was repeated a short time afterwards. Keith then shone a torch round the garden sensibly staying inside his house, but there was nothing to be seen. He went back to bed but peace did not last for long as there were three more loud crashes all apparently coming from the garden fence. Keith was now convinced that someone was trying to break into the garden and needing moral support and a back up in case of attack woke his wife Deborah and they ventured downstairs. Probably with Deborah leading the way, Keith followed holding the torch. Shining the torch through the kitchen window the intruder was seen racing across the garden. Keith decided to undo the side gate and try and encourage the intruder to leave peacefully but with its adrenalin raised at having been caught,it ran to the corner of the garden and jumped over the six foot wooden fence. It used a small compost heap in the corner of the garden as a springboard.
The intruder turned out to be a Muntjac deer. As the garden is surrounded by a 6ft. fence and there were no other obvious entry points it must have come in the same way as it left. Daylight revealed that the earlier loud noises were due to its jumping up against the fence and trying to clear it. There are scratch marks left by its hooves just inches from the top of the fence. I am convinced that Muntjac spend much of their time in the village, hiding in cover during the day and foraging at night. They have the ability to remain very still and will not usually be frightened into action unless one almost steps on them. In the past the one we had in the garden spent the day under a buddleia bush and it only bolted when you were 2-3m away from it.
The second report for 2004 was slightly later in the day when Ken Turner was walking his dog by the sewage pumping station on Pods Brook. A white heron-like bird flew from the river and circled several times before dropping back to the spot from where it had been disturbed. In the past Ken’s descriptions have been accurate and he is convinced, as I am from his description, that the bird was a Little Egret. This is another first report for the Parish. In the 1991 Breeding Atlas it was recorded as present, but not breeding, at just three sites in the southwest. It now breeds in this country and is found on the East Anglian coast and larger water bodies often in small flocks. It is about two-thirds the size of our Grey Heron, is white with black legs and very bright yellow toes and has a black bill. Its spread to Britain is probably the result of our warming climate.
Alan Spooner has had eight Long Tailed tits on his nut feeders all at once. These birds are very attractive and spend most of the year in small flocks most of which comprise family members. The race in Britain is called rosaceus, which aptly describes the reddish colouration of its flanks and belly. The flock is always on the move so only rarely do they become regular nut feeders only returning to the garden when their feeding route passes through. Their nest is an amazing construction oval in shape with a single small entrance hole. It is made from moss, lichen, bark and other fine materials held together with cobwebs. It is usually in an inaccessible position in the middle of a thick bush. Now is the time to find them with the leaves off the trees. The last one I saw in use was in Braintree Public Gardens in a prickly Berberis bush.
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