Friday 30 March 2012

The Nesting Season begins in earnest.









Today a visit to our Feed Merchants to stock up meant that we passed by the wetlands and so we took the opportunity to take Tess for a walk there. During April and May visitors are discouraged from walking on some of the paths because of ground-nesting birds, so bearing in mind that it was still March we walked them for the last time, being careful to keep Tess on a short lead.

There were hundreds of geese of various kinds, many all ready paired up and they all watched us carefully, giving out various alarm calls as we went along. The sun shone, there was little or no wind and it was a lovely walk.

Flowers are always out early here. These are old quarries which have been filled with water and the position is quite sheltered. I managed to take one or two photographs of flowers. The first germander speedwell I have seen, although the sun was so bright that it has more or less washed the deep blue out of the flower. Coltsfoot everywhere. Plenty of stonecrop leaves but no flowers yet.

At one point a goose marched in front of us calling loudly, as if warning his wife to lie low on her nest. If I had been on my own I would have turned back because I expected him to turn and attack us. But then he took to the water and swam off, still calling loudly.

What a lovely place for birds to nest. Curlew and Oyster Catchers were calling as well as geese, ducks and swans. But as the farmer rightly pointed out - there would still be predators here. The foxes would no doubt know exactly where the place was.

Moles had been active everywhere and many of the molehills had been dug into by rabbits. A perfect place to spend an afternoon. Now, if it is cloudly and cool tomorrow, I shall feel fortified by today!
Moles had been very active and there were mole hills everywhere

15 comments:

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

This season practically buzzes with new life, doesn't it? It's almost like Nature is laughing.
It's so beautiful where you are!
Edward and Apple send love to Tess!!

Heather said...

What a beautiful place for a walk - thankyou for remembering to take your camera with you!
After doing the weekly shop yesterday we bought sandwiches and took them to the Forest of Dean for a quick picnic lunch. It was glorious there too but I had foolishly left my camera at home.
Even in our suburban garden there is activity on all fronts - a lovely time of year.

Unknown said...

It sounds like a really beautiful place - though I'd have been a bit startled by that goose myself!

The birds around our house have been busy chasing each other through the air and hedges and searching out nooks and crannies along our roof for possible nesting sites. I wish I were a bit more knowledgeable when it comes to identifying species though.

BilboWaggins said...

What a lovely place for you to visit.

We've had curlew overhead for a couple of weeks now and some garden birds are nesting ... note to self, must try and take some photos without disturbing them.

MorningAJ said...

I love the new header photo! Blue sky and blossom.

John Going Gently said...

The Nesting Season begins in earnest.
tell me about it
3 broody hens only this morning

Dartford Warbler said...

A lovely place to walk and I`m sure it is a welcome refuge for nesting waterbirds.

I saw a few early flowering cuckoo flowers in the Hampshire Avon watermeadows today. It`s such a beautiful time of year.

H said...

We could hear curlew and peewit and lark singing up on the moors by the Bridestones last Sunday. Wonderful sounds.

Irene said...

What a lovely place to go for a walk. It reminds me of the place where I grew up. The same sort of surroundings. It's great that you post so many photos. You get a real feel of the area.

Elisabeth said...

Such lush landscape, Pat. It positively ripples with life. It's the green in it all, that lovely light new born green of springtime that I relish here. Thanks for taking us with you.

angryparsnip said...

I must blog about this ... your spring is lots of green grasses, flowering trees, nesting birds and mine starts with Rattlesnake warnings. Not that we don't have spring flowers but the rattlesnake warning is the first reminder of spring.

cheers, parsnip

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

I love watching geese. the constant battle between their wariness and curiosity is always a delight to see. It's all happening out there at the moment, isn't it?

Dominic Rivron said...

I've driven past these wetlands loads of times recently, for one reason or another. Have not had time to stop though. Clearly I should make it.

Dave King said...

Lovely images. And, yes, we've been seeing signs of nesting activity of late - not the least of which has been the theft of moss from wherever they could find it! A gorgeous time of year.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thank you for coming to look at the wetlands.