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Birding on Scout Scar

26/10/2022

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PictureChiaroscuro 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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PictureYew 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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Picture

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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PictureMaples 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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PictureRed 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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PictureWhitebeam 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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    Jan Wiltshire is a nature writer living in Cumbria. She also explores islands and coast and the wildlife experience. (See Home and My Books)

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