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Country Matters 9th June 2002
I have written about our pheasants before. The dominant cock Half Ring was in his second season at the top and had kept five hens in his harem. He was at least three years old but was being constantly harried by another cock Smart Boy who had no females of his own. Then we found Smart Boy dead and the next day Half Ring’s body was also found under a hedge. We assume they had had one final monumental fight and as both were elderly for wild pheasants the strain had been too much.This was only part of the story as when I fed in the morning none of the hens appeared, one did surface after two days and several days later another cock Stumpy moved in to take over the territory. It was probably two weeks before two more hens came back. The whole social group had been broken down by the death of the dominant cock.
This is the main reason gamekeepers always say you can never have too few cocks as they are aware that continual fighting can lose not only the male but more importantly the females from a territory.
Mark Giles found a squashed 6 inch baby grass snake at the entrance to our farm yard. This is the first confirmation for eight years that they are breeding in the Parish again. As a boy they were common as they laid their eggs in the many muck clamps and the warmth from the rotting manure hatched them.
Mark has also recently seen badgers crossing the road near Greenacres at Duckend. This is a route they have used for some years. They use a crop tramline from Pods Brook, then cross the road and head for the school playing field where they probably feed on the worms that come to the surface at night. We have just put a fence round the farm yard with two badger flaps in it. The first night the badger ignored the flaps and headed for the pedestrian gate on the footpath and squeezed underneath followed by the tracks of a fox, it is surprising what a small gap badgers need to get through. They will go through pig netting that has 6 inch mesh though they do open this up somewhat.
In March a buzzard flew over the village on a hot day riding on a thermal. In our garden we have two pairs of Stock Doves one of which has successfully nested in our oak tree and at the beginning of June a pair of Turtle Doves arrived, the first I have seen in the Parish for many years. Also in the garden Whitethroats and Goldfinches have nested for the first time but the Spotted Flycatcher and the Goldrests have not returned.
We have at least four pairs of Swallows nesting in the farm buildings and up to 10 House Martins gathering mud from a large puddle near the yard. This is encouraging as I am only aware of one martins nest in the Parish last year.
Mink were often seen on Rayne Lodge fishing lakes even during fishing matches, I doubt they will be tolerated for long as they are major predators of fish, water nesting birds and water voles. This area of Pods Brook and the lakes were one of the few areas locally where one could still find Water Voles so I hope the mink have been dealt with by now.
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