Tag: long-tailed tit
January 2016: Spotlight on.. Winter Tit Feeding Flocks
In the Spring and Summer, members of the Tit family – Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit and Coal Tit – pair up to breed at St Nicks. Some of them occupy the numerous nest boxes scattered around the reserve. But, in the Autumn and Winter months (October through to February) members of this bird […]
October 2014: Spotlight on… Long-tailed Tits
After the Robin, the Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) is probably Britain’s favourite bird! Charismatically cute (!) this small bird is a frequent visitor to gardens – and to St Nicks! We possibly have between 3 – 5 breeding pairs on the reserve. Nest building starts in March, usually fairly low down in thick shrubs or brambles. […]
Wildwatch: August 2014 Sightings
Highlights Pineapples, Lettuces and a lone Artichoke.. Butterflies disappoint, bugs abound, heaps of hoverflies, shieldbugs shine.. and what’s that “mouse” creeping up a tree? Weather A somewhat cooler August, but temperatures still reaching 20C. The Wildwatch Wednesdays enjoyed sunny intervals on all four days. Invertebrates Butterflies were very disappointing in number. Our August 7th blog […]
Wildwatch: June 2014 Sightings
Highlights A Southern Hawker Dragonfly on the Butterfly Path, well away from water.. one of the most poisonous moths in Britain photographed.. another two sightings of an increasingly rare (for St Nicks) warbler.. loads more butterflies.. lots of juvenile birds.. and an increasingly rich flower meadow! Weather A very wet start to the month on the […]
Wildwatch: May 2014 Sightings
Highlights Evidence of Water Voles breeding.. Sightings of Garden Warbler and Whitethroat.. Nine species of butterflies seen in the month.. First damselflies of the year seen. Weather Dry for the first three Wildwatch Wednesdays, with some sunshine, and temperatures rising to 23C on the 14th. The final Wednesday was very wet, which depressed sightings of birds and […]
Wildwatch: February 2014 Sightings
Weather: in a wet and relatively mild month, Wednesday mornings were mainly cold and dry, though very muddy. Water in the becks was high early in the month, but kept below flood level. Observers: numbers have remained high, sometimes running to three groups. Birds: the previous month’s high bird counts continued, with a maximum […]
Wildwatch: 29 May 2013 – Flowers, breeding birds – and the 2nd largest in the world!
Weather: Cloudy, breezy Northerly, 11 to 13 C but felt colder Observers: Carrie, Ian, Kaye Ian did his usual pre-Wildwatch perambulation, but drizzle then persuaded him not to carry his camera out on the Wildwatch patrol. Fortunately, Carrie and Kaye were able to take some interesting close-up photos of plants and other small things! We […]
Wildwatch: 13 March 2013 – More “firsts” and mysterious footprints!
Weather: Sunny intervals, but mainly overcast later on. Light, cool breeze. 0C – 5C Observers: Cavan, Doug, Eithne, Ian, Janetta, John, Kaye, Kaj, Linda, Steve A record turn-out (10 people) required us to split into two groups. Eithne, Janetta, John and Linda went round with Kaye, whilst the rest went round with Ian. And the […]
Wildwatch: 7 November 2012 – “Siskin Season” not “Silly Season”!
Weather: Cloudy, fresh cool breeze Obesrvers: Diana, Ian, Janetta, Kaye, Kaj, Linda, Tom – and “Chairman Meow” (aka “Ginger the Cat”)! OK, not as silly a session as we reported on last week – except that, thanks to some local people, we found out that Ginger the cat, is actually called “Chairman Meow” – if we […]
Wildwatch: 28 March 2012 – Spring! But more like a Summer’s day
Weather: Sunny with clear skies. Cool early morning but warm later Observers: Ian, Kaye, Linda, Lindsay There were sights and sounds of Spring everywhere, but the warmth, sunshine and light made it seem more like a summer’s morning! With the recent dry weather, the water levels in both becks had fallen since last week, but […]
