Easter Adventures

With the Easter holidays and the children being off school the weather took a turn for the worse with cold winds and periods of heavy rain,I have been kept very busy guiding walks and recording nature records, and with the large spring tides more and more of our summer birds have been seen after migrating from Africa and other warmer climates,Swallows,Sand Martins,House Martins,chiff chaffs and ospreys have all been seen.
Our native birds are busy nesting now and a wonderful find was a Robin nest at the base of a tree in tangled roots with 5 eggs in.

Well hidden Robin nest.

All the bird boxes in the garden are now full of Great and Blue Tits,with other nesting birds Blackbirds,Song thrushes,Green and Gold Finches and Collared Doves we even have a cheeky Jackdaw that has nested in a Owl box.Song thrushes are delightful birds often leading the dawn chorus with its wonderful melodic song,and is also the Blacksmith of the bird world who uses a prominent Stone in the garden or park as a Anvil to crack open Snail shells to get at the juicy meal inside,if you look carefully as you are out walking you should be able to find one surrounded by broken Snail shells.

Song thrush Stone Anvil surrounded by smashed Snail Shells
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Another unusual sight while out walking was a heavily pregnant female Toad walking over the field trying to get to a nearby lake to lay her strings of eggs.

female Toad heavily pregnant
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On one of the warmer days when i was out by the coast i came across a heavy hatch of Saint Marks Day flies in amongst the sand dunes they where everywhere and the local bird life was taking full advantage.

Saint Marks Day Flies.

On the Reservoir banks the spring flowers continue to flourish with the early Primroses and Daffodils now being replaced by two wonderful flowers, the first one is the earliest Orchid to emerge the Early Purple Orchid this wonderful flower with its marked leaves will be on show for the next six weeks.

Early Purple Orchid.

The other magnificent flower is called Bugle and was used in the olden days as a medicinal plant that was used to stop bleeding, this tall stem of blue flowers will also flower for the next six weeks.

Bugle.

One of the highlights of the holidays was taking a guided walk of six miles,with family and friends the weather was kind to us and among the highlights where 3 Deer's being spotted in the woodland,Herons fishing in the river and all kinds of flowers and insects.Included in the party were 10 youngsters they listened really well and when shown how to track Badgers and Deer's they where enthralled,i really think schools should teach more about the natural world so as the youngsters of today grow up they have a understanding of what is all around them.I have just been given permission to visit a secret lake that has been developed in to a wonderful site over the last three years i will let you know all about it next week,have a great weekend and keep your eyes open, Nature man Andy