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Birding on Scout Scar

26/10/2022

Chiaroscuro over Kendal Race Course

Hearing geese calling, I looked up to see chevrons in flight over Marks and Spencer. Late that afternoon, from my study window, I saw large flocks of small birds flying south. Redwing I thought. And the RSPB report sightings of numbers arriving in the UK.
So yesterday I headed for Scout Scar, saw little but heard a flock of starling babbling in a sheltered hollow of woodland-fringe. Today, I returned- seeking autumn migrants, winter thrush. Large flocks of starling will have flown in from Continental Europe, so they're migrants too.

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Boris Johnson at Halloween?

22/10/2022

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Yew arils

For 31st October, Halloween

Boris Johnson, trick or treat?

At Halloween bright and colourful berries might seem attractive but Beware! You cannot trust them. Fieldfare and redwing gorge on red yew arils without harm because the toxic black seeds pass whole and undigested through the gut. The birds excrete red-jelly where they've fed, leaving blobs of it beneath yew trees.

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Bearded tits at Leighton Moss

18/10/2022

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Bearded tits are a speciality at Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve. On a beautiful October morning there are many visitors here in the hope of seeing them. I hear bearded tits calling from the reed beds as we walk toward the Causeway Hide. We stop to listen and the birds flit about the tall reeds and settle in the top of a small willow tree. The sun lights them beautifully. It's a perfect photo opportunity to present them in different aspects.

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Sizergh Gardens in October

13/10/2022

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Maples in SIzergh Castle rock-garden

Season and weather interact in an alchemy that always surprises. We come to SIzergh Gardens on an October day when vegetation is drenched from yesterday's rain and now there are blue skies and the day grows warm. It's a day of strong sunlight and deep shadows, warm enough to bask in the sun.
In the rock-garden there's a splendid display of maples. We often visit Sizergh Gardens and in autumn we make for a spot where we find shrubs of guelder rose and spindle, to see how they fare this year.

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Bees, Red admiral and Comma in Sizergh Gardens

13/10/2022

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Red admiral on ivy flowers

Sizergh Castle vegetable garden is a work of art and we may sample its produce in the cafe. Between vegetable garden and orchard are bee hives amidst summer flowers gone to seed. Today, there's a rich source of nectar in late-flowering ivy masking the orchard wall and the bees love it. So do butterflies. The ivy-flowers are alive with pollinators and we stand with the sun on our backs watching bees and butterflies, shedding garments because it's so warm. The high wall is hidden in thick-flowering ivy and amongst the dark green leaves there are Red admirals and glimmers of red- an autumn leaf or a butterfly with wings closed? I puzzle over what seems to be a Green-veined white, or a sun-blazed leaf. Discovery is infinite and that's how I like it.

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Scout Scar escarpment in October

8/10/2022

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Whitebeam rising above the cliff of Scout Scar escarpment

There's a dome of blue over Scout Scar and the warmth of the sun is a surprise, a drop in temperatures was forecast. A history of weather and season lies before us. Squally winds and rain in early October have brought forth fungi and the distribution of fruit-bodies indicates the hidden mycelium. A scatter of golden fungi resembles late flowers.
In spring, the weather must have been just right for the pollination of whitebeam as there's a splendid crop of berries.

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Birding on Scout Scar

Boris Johnson at Halloween?

Bearded tits at Leighton Moss

Sizergh Gardens in October

Bees, Red admiral and Comma in Sizergh Gardens

Scout Scar escarpment in October

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