Month: October 2014

Warmest Halloween day

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So it did after all turn out to be the warmest recorded Halloween day here in the UK, I decided to take my camera with me to work in Cambridge and took images before I started work, during my Lunch break and when I got home.

Where the leaves on the trees had turned there were some stunning colours and it was hard to know where to start but sometimes just the simple shot works to show the variation in the colours.

Red and Orange leaves

Autumn Leaves

Walking during my lunch break I saw there were many Squirrels running around storing the nuts they had gathered into thier secret hiding places always looking to see who or what may be watching where the stored food for the winter months is located. Usually the squirrel will be watching the Jays stashing food only to steal it for themselves.

Grey Squirrel

Grey Squirrel on the lookout for other watching squirrels

On the train on the way home I noticed lots of Lapwings gathering on the fields amongst them here and there were Golden Plover, the next field revealed about 200 Golden Plover by themselves, the train was going too fast to take a picture and I hoped the train going past may have put the plover up so I could see the changing white to golden brown as they turned into the sunlight, but it was not to be.

When I arrived home the trick or treaters were walking around the neighbourhood, this has got really popular here in the UK over the last few years, when I was a lad we did try to make lanterns using swedes we found in the farmers fields, but I just had to take a picture of Pumpkins my neighbours children had made next door.

 

Happy Halloween to you all.

Halloween Lanterns

Halloween Lanterns my neighbours children had made

Autumnal Colours

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October draws to a close and once again it has been a really mild day, the prediction for the last day is the warmest Halloween on record, but the colours of Autumn this year do not seem to be as bright at last year, maybe I am wrong there are still some very colourful trees but not in such big numbers, maybe some are just late changing? and we are going to see more warm days in November or will we be in for a shock?.

Autumn leaves in the sunshine

The Colours of Autumn

I dare say a mild dry day will bring plenty of Trick or Treaters out tomorrow evening, so I wonder if this scarecrow I saw early this year is still in it’s field or will it be wandering about tomorrow?

Scarecrow in field

A wandering Scarecrow?

Counting on the birds

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I have always kept a list of the species of birds I see every year, unfortunately I happened to mention this to members of our Local Wildlife Group committee and now found we have all kept a yearly list and it has got pretty competitive, only rules are the bird must be seen in the UK.

This year I have decided to keep a monthly list as well as a year list, looking at the months from January so far my monthly list has gone 78, 60, 72, 73, 74, 66, 51, 58, 70 and so far this Month 58. Obviously dropped off a bit in July and August but starting to build up again with the winter birds flying in.

Hopefully November and December may become colder and I get some good garden birds like this Sparrowhawk below that sat on our birdfeeders in January and February this year.

Sparrowhawk preening

Sparrowhawk waiting on our garden birdfeeders

Another Mild October day

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I was up early again to take the dog for a walk, it was clear and there were many stars, I could see Orion and the Plough and it looked as if we were going to have another Sunny day, how long will this last? I have already heard Redwings flying over at night coming in from Scandinavia so are they ahead of the cold weather?.

This evening there is already cloud building up so maybe I will wake up to rain in the morning.

Cold front of cloud over small body of water.

Cloud over Roswell Pits, Ely

Wildlife can surprise you

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I am never surprised as to what can turn up where as far as wildlife is concerned, I have seen foxes in the centre of Cambridge, caught Badgers on my camera trap also in the centre of Cambridge, but this morning on my way to work it was not the fact I saw a Grey Heron in Cambridge, but the fact there were three sitting together on the cross bar of a goal on a football pitch, of course I did not have my camera to hand, which is always the case when you see something like this, so here is a photo of a Grey Heron from May along the river Ouse.

Heron in flight

Grey Heron in flight along the river Ouse, Ely.

Early Sunday Morning walk

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This Morning dawned grey and overcast but even though the clocks went back an hour a Border collie that needs walking still thinks it is 8am at 7am.

Shaggy Inkcap fungi

Group of fresh Shaggy Inkcaps

Lots of fabulous fungi out on the grass on the walk including Shaggy Inkcap like the ones above.

Single Shaggy Inkcap fungi

Lone Shaggy Inkcaps pushes up through the grass

Some in groups and some single.

Small group of brown fungi

So many Fungi some hard to name

Lots yet to be Identified in small groups

Large cluster of small fungi

Another group of fungi could all be same as fungi in previous image

And some in larger groups but smaller caps.

Decaying fungi

Fungi starting to turn

Some getting past their best

Shaggy Inkcaps decaying

Shaggy Inkcaps on point of turning and decaying

and some way past their best.

First Swan talk of the season

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This Saturday saw my first swan talk of the season at WWT Welney

Family of Whooper Swans

Whooper swans at Welney, Norfolk

WWT Welney And the the first family groups  of whoopers have started to arrive.

There are around 800 swans there now and numbers will increase over the next few days, the young swans like the ones above will have flown 1200 miles to get to Welney and they are only a few months old, 500 miles of their flight will have been over open sea non stop.

Pair of Whooper swans feeding

Whooper swans at Welney, Norfolk

The small Bewick swan will fly in from Siberia having flown a total distance of 2,500 miles, but as yet only 8 birds have been seen in the area but we know there are 1,000 birds in the Netherlands.

You can tell by the yellow bill pattern which is a Whooper and which is a Bewick swan.

The yellow on a Whooper is pointed like a ‘Wedge of cheese’ and extends beyond the nostril as seen in the photograph above, on a Bewick the yellow is rounded like a ‘Blob of Butter’ and does not extend beyond the nostrils.

I shall be doing my swan talk and feeds at Welney now most Saturdays and as yet the water levels are down but all too soon I am sure the floating wheelbarrow will be out.