Arne deer

03 Saturday Nov 2018

Posted by sconzani in animals, mammal, nature

Tags

British deer, deer, Roe deer, RSPB Arne, Sika, Sika deer, wild deer

As well as the birds at RSPB Arne, we were treated to very close views of Sika deer and more distant views of a herd of Roe deer.

181103 sika deer (1)

The Sika were sporting their winter coats of dark grey so the spots you would be able to see in summer were not visible. These are not native deer – they were introduced from Asia in 1860 but some have since escaped and there is now a sizable wild population.

181103 sika deer (2)

Arne must be like heaven to the Sika, as they love coniferous forests and heathlands, where they graze on heather, grasses and small shrubs.

181103 sika deer (3)

Although October and November are the traditional months for the rut, we didn’t hear any of the usual male groans, whistles or yak-yak barks, though we did hear an alarming whining noise at one stage when a female was calling to her calf.

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A small herd of six Roe deer were in a neighbouring field as we walked along one of Arne’s many trails. None of these deer had antlers, so I assume they were all females and juveniles.

181103 roe deer (1)

Roe deer are native to Britain and, though they were once hunted to extinction in England, they survived in Scotland and have since been re-introduced across the border so are now abundant in much of England and Scotland, with a small population in Wales.

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Birding at WWT Steart Marshes

14 Sunday Oct 2018

Posted by sconzani in animals, autumn, birds, nature, seaside, walks

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Bar-tailed godwits, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cattle egret, coastal habitats, Glamorgan Bird Club, Golden plover, Greenshank, Hare, Roe deer, saltmarsh, WWT Steart Marshes

Storm Callum was wind-blasting the south-western counties of Wales and England with 50-mph-plus gusts yesterday but that didn’t deter 10 mad keen (some might just say mad) members of the Glamorgan Bird Club from heading to England, to the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust property at Steart Marshes in Somerset, for a day’s birding. And what a magnificent place it is and an incredible day we had!

181014 Steart Marshes (1)

This is a man-made landscape, engineered to deal with local flooding issues and future sea-level rises, but it has the advantage of providing much-needed and extensive salt- and fresh-water wetland habitats. You can read more and watch a video on the WWT website.

181014 Steart Marshes (2)

I don’t have a lot of close-up photos to share from this trip. As I mentioned at the start, it was incredibly windy so the conditions for non-blurry photography were difficult, and many of the birds were distant so I was relying on my bins and the generosity of my birding friends and their telescopes for better views.

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That doesn’t mean you can’t see some incredible sights here with the naked eye though: the miracle of hundreds of Lapwings or Bar-tailed godwits rising and flying in unison is one of Nature’s finest wonders, as are views of birds of prey like Merlin and Hobby screaming like fighter jets across the marshes in pursuit of prey.

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We also saw small numbers of Roe deer and Hares, scampering about in the fields.

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For the serious birder, there was much to quicken the heartbeat, with 13 species of wader seen, 12 Cattle egrets, a Spoonbill and a Glossy ibis. I managed to add five ticks to my year list so I was well pleased.

181014 Steart Marshes (9) 181014 Steart Marshes (8)

This is a site that will only improve in future years and will almost certainly continue to attract star birds, but it’s also a place for everyone to enjoy the many walking trails, the excellent wildlife viewing facilities and the stunning beauty of the saltmarsh, an environment more colourful than I had imagined it would be. If you can, do visit!

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My species total for the day was only 49 but this list is about quality, not quantity. Five of these were year ticks for me: Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Shelduck, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Pheasant, Little Grebe, Glossy Ibis, Spoonbill, Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Cormorant, Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Kestrel, Merlin, Hobby, Moorhen, Coot, Ringed Plover, European Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Northern Lapwing, Knot, Little Stint, Dunlin, Ruff, Common Snipe, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Eurasian Curlew, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Common Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Skylark, Wren, Starling, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Goldfinch and Linnet.

The ones I missed but others saw or heard: Eurasian Teal, Northern Shoveler, Mediterranean Gull, Stock Dove, Collared Dove, Raven, Jackdaw, Blue Tit, Cetti’s Warbler, Blackbird and Chaffinch.

Critters at RSPB Ham Wall

13 Tuesday Jun 2017

Posted by sconzani in animals, insects, nature, parks

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Black-tailed skimmer, caddisfly, Common tortoiseshell, damselfly, Four-spotted Chaser, nature reserve, Roe deer, RSPB Ham Wall, Shapwick Heath

The only problem with going on a birding trip is that, in order to get photos of the birdies, I usually have my long lens on my camera, which means it’s then not easy to get photos of all the lovely smaller creatures I see as I’m walking around. And both RSPB Ham Wall Nature Reserve and, just across the road, Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve have a profusion of delightful, and sometimes rare smaller creatures to be seen.

170613 Shapwick Heath

In particular, we saw a wealth of damsel- and dragonflies, including several of the Four-spotted chasers and Black-tailed skimmers shown below and, we think, the unusual Variable damselfly (though this can be tricky to identify). Spiders were particularly abundant on the path-side scrub, as were Dock beetles, judging from all the holey leaves we saw.

170613 RSPB Ham Wall critters (1)

170613 RSPB Ham Wall critters (2)

We rescued several large hairy caterpillars which were determinedly marching across the paths but risked annihilation from feet and bicycle tyres, as well as one large and very friendly Caddisfly (above). Butterflies weren’t as plentiful as I expected, though we did see good numbers of very fresh Small tortoiseshells, presumably newly hatched.

The most unexpected sighting, and a highlight for me, was a Roe deer on the canal-side bank in Shapwick Heath. Only its head and its very large ears could be seen, as it munched happily on a large green mouthful of vegetation while keeping a close eye on our admiring group of photographers.

170613 Roe deer

As I mentioned in yesterday’s piece on the birds of Ham Wall, you really need a week to explore these superb reserves thoroughly and then you might be lucky enough to see their resident water voles and otters. I have to go back!