What a crackin' weekend this turned out to be:
Saturday morning up with the lark, the usual early morning gathering of House Martins wheelin' round in tight formation above the house no doubt gathering in preparation for the long journey back to Africa for the winter, numbering about 30 today. By 6-45am I was in the cattle field counting the Yellow Wagtails, with the beasts spread evenly across the field, was easy to get a good count; 15 in total.
After breakfast & paperwork, cut the meadow area in the garden, uncovering 2 Frogs, one large, the other small. Finished this, received a text from Stewart to say he had 2 distant Whinchats at Liberty's Reserve.
So thought I'd take a quick wander down the track to check for any Chats, no joy, but heard an unfamiliar call for these parts, lookin' round in time to see a Curlew about 200yds behind me just above tree height as it made it's way north east over Lower Bassibones Farm. Spent the afternoon watching Chesham United put in an inconsistent performance to come from behind to beat Fleet Town 4-2 to book a place in the next round of the F.A Cup, grabbin' £4,500 prize money at the same time. As I arrived back home Tawny welcomed me with a loud HOOT.
Spent Sunday morning with Stewart in the Pednor/Herbert's Hole area, which proved rewarding:
The Lapwing field held 35 Black headed Gulls, Herring Gull, 3 Pied Wagtails & a Stock Dove. Walking along the bottom road, we took the diagonal path, just a single House Martin here, across to Herbert's Hole, where a Whitethroat greeted us as it commuted between the large Hawthorn & the cover crop, Whinchat briefly perched on a fence post & was never seen again.
A Wheatear flew from near the fence into the ploughed field, where it joined a second bird. Stewart picked out a fast movin' tiny distant yellow/orange dot; a Clouded Yellow, his second here in 10 days. A Meadow Pipit flew over calling, first of the Autumn. 2 Swallows flew west along the valley, with 4 more going the opposite direction. Retracing our steps we returned via Friars Hill, where another Swallow flew west, as did a Grey Wagtail. We staked out the over grown hedge for a while, which yielded a Lesser Whitethroat, 2 more Meadow Pipits passed over, a loud rumpus came from the trees, which sounded like a distressed Green Woodpecker.... only for a large female Sparrow Hawk to slip silently out skirting the field at ground level.
Back along the road a small bump sat motionless on one of the distant fence posts, got the 'scope on to it; a Stonechat, after a while it began using the posts to feed from, dropping down onto insects in the grass below, ranging along the entire fence line, as we watched, it drew many admirers as passers by used the 'scope to view it, even had to drop the legs down to their lowest height so as one young lad could see, most folks left saying that favourite phrase, "will have to Google Stonechat."
From here we nipped up to Liberty's Reserve to see if Stewart's Whinchats were still around, only one remained. Had a chat with Chris about plans for the site in the future, beyond a nearby hedge Robert was doing a spot of Hay making in the meadow which HS2 intends to turn into a massive mountain of spoil from the excavation work, so could be the meadows final cut or maybe not, depending on the outcome of the current inquiry into weather the so called project is value for money. The cynic in me says, "they just want to be seen to be doing the right thing."..... but who knows.
This Devil's Coach Horse Beetle came into Stewart's kitchen as it tried to join him for a spot of lunch.
Had a bit of an Amazonian experience in the garden in the afternoon as the place became shrouded in smoke, even the dog was coughing & spluttering, as a neighbour quipped, "do they need my fire extinguisher," in the past I would use any excuse to light a bonfire, 'til another neighbour pointed out to me how anti social it was, as you never have control of where the smoke goes, who it effects, not just if they have the washing outside drying, but they may suffer from breathing problems, asthma etc, so now most cuttings get shredded by the lawn mover, with the occasional fire, which is over pretty quick.
Late afternoon, down the track again, stood scanning, nothing, 'til I turned around, there 20yds or so behind me in the grass; a Fox with it's back to me intently staring at something, how it had not seen me is a mystery as I stood out in the open. Dropping down in to the grass I crawled along the fence line, it hadn't moved, took 2 images, in the blink of the shutter it had vanished, the object of it's concentration soon became clear as Tom & our dog appeared at the end of the hedge.
Back at home as I watched the garden a Marsh Tit inspected the empty feeder, which will remain so for another couple of months, best pop over the hedge to Simon's well stocked larder.
A couple of Comma & Red Admiral in the garden. As dusk fell the weekend ended as it began with c25 House Martins excitedly flying around the house, caught sight of 2 as they entered a nest at the rear to roost for the night, with 5 going into a single nest at the front, the rest dispersing to who nows where, a Bat appeared, began it's circular hunting flight, as Tawny HOOTED from his day time roost bringing the lid down on another top weekend.
Don.
Images Copyright: Don Stone/Stewart Dennis.
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