Country Matters ~ July 2005

I have just had lunch in the garden; juvenile Swifts, Martins and Swallows are flying overhead.   The long cold spell we had earlier has already become a distant memory though many of our insect feeding birds lost young during that spell.
I have been trying to get Goldfinches to feed on Niger seed in feeders for many years without success but this year they not only started on the Niger but also the Black Sunflower.   As the rape has been ripening they have started shredding the rape pods to get to the green unripe seed.   Linnets and Greenfinches also have learnt to feed on the rape, something I have not witnessed to any extent before.   A Whitethroat has also made use of the aphids on the developing pods.

I also saw three Fallow hinds trying to run through the rape about 20m away.   They jumped almost clear of the rape with each bound but found it very difficult to make any headway until they eventually found a tramline.
We found a young Greater Spotted Woodpecker dead below a bedroom window then two days later there was a tremendous commotion in the pond as three generations of Moorhen mobbed something floundering in the water.   Grabbing a net I hauled out a juvenile Green Woodpecker that was very wet and bedraggled.   It dried off in the sun and was then seen flying around the garden and hopefully the adults eventually answered its plaintive calling.   Our Ruddy Shelduck hatched 10 youngsters from its nest on a big straw bale.   This was reduced to 8 probably by a fox.   The survivors though only three weeks old are already changing to adult plumage.   As the parent had a Common Shelduck with it earlier their final feather pattern is awaited with interest.   The parent will not allow any other bird near its young, it chases off the Mallard, Moorhens and even the Pheasants.   She pulls large beak fulls of feathers out of the slow moving Mallards as they try to escape while the Moorhens have the sense to disappear quickly.

A Great Crested newt has been found on our porch on several occasions it stands like a Gecko with its forelegs extended and its head up.   It appears to be after insects attracted to the porch light in the evening.   At first it was nearly squashed underfoot and the law states that one must not disturb a Great Crested Newt if it has been identified as such.

We have had a pair of Grey and a pair of Red Legged Partridges in our garden and farmyard but I have not yet seen any young. It would have to be a very lucky Partridge to survive with all the foxes we have.

I have written in the past about foxes killing cats in the Parish but Syl and I heard an amusing tale from David Lang a vet and the author of the new book on the Orchids of Britain.   It was about one of his clients that had a large 18lb moggy that used a cat flap in the kitchen door.   One night this large feline came into the house and made a considerable fuss so its owners followed it out to the kitchen where the part eaten rear legs and body of an animal had been pulled through the cat flap.   It was not until they opened the door that they recognised the front quarters and head of a young fox that the cat had not managed to tug through the flap.   If the tale had been recounted by anybody other than David I would have filed it away in the tall story file.

Another tale concerning cat flaps came from Maureen Brady in Queenborough Lane.   She had a friend who had a badger who came into their house through their cat flap unfortunately on the way out it took the cat flap with it.   Yet another cat flap tale we have been told was of a badger that tried to get through the flap but was too large to fit but it was able to put a paw through and scoop the cat food out of the dish just inside the door.

Wildlife Reports for July 2005

Ken Turner found a Slowworm on the Shalford Road allotments.   It was part grown and about 22-25 cms long.
Sheila Buxton, Philips Close was walking at 3pm on the footpath from Haverings to the Flitch Way when a male Muntjac trotted down the path in front of Sheila.   It stopped and looked, then when it reached the Flitch Way it stopped again before continuing along the Flitch.   At no time did it show any fear or need to run away.
Roger Johnson, Duckend Green had a good view of a Grass Snake in his garden.   In past years his neighbour has seen one and we have had them in our garden.   Hopefully there is a breeding group in the area.
Ruby Green’s sister Rosalie Amos of Bartholomew Green had two Fallow deer in her garden for two nights running until they had eaten off all her Phlox, Busy Lizzie and Runner beans.   The last night her linen line was broken and a section had disappeared.

Veronica Pollit found three Bee Orchids on the footpath near the old water mill site on Pods Brook.
Graham Alen School Road had to bury a young badger that his mother had found dead in her next-door garden.   It may have been hit by a vehicle on School Road.
Ernest Sexton Old Hall recounts looking out of his house and seeing an Osprey take a fish from the house moat, there were two witnesses that also saw the Osprey swoop down and take the fish.
Geoff Stone reports a Blackbird that has nested on top of a rake in the gardens shed and the Tits have had a successful year in his nest boxes.   The Moorhens on his pond have also raised broods but the duck have not managed to rear any young.   He hopes to build a duck-nesting platform so the foxes cannot get to the nests.
Marion Swetenham when she opened her garden admitted that she had Fallow Deer and Rabbits in her garden.   It is normally us farmers that are blamed for harbouring rabbits, now I can say they are probably Marion’s rabbits that have escaped.