Fresh flowers after late June downpours: betony A glimpse of secret lives- that's the best there is, a thrilling glimpse. If we hope for more we delude ourselves. Wildlife has its own imperatives, distinct from ours.
In early spring, I listened to a stonechat singing and his display flight won him a mate.. Through the season I've followed their progress. Alarm calls alert me to their presence and I always stop to see what I might discover. And on a morning of louring cloud with interludes when the sun broke through, here they were with their brood. I knew they were raising a family but this was my first glimpse.
In early spring, I listened to a stonechat singing and his display flight won him a mate.. Through the season I've followed their progress. Alarm calls alert me to their presence and I always stop to see what I might discover. And on a morning of louring cloud with interludes when the sun broke through, here they were with their brood. I knew they were raising a family but this was my first glimpse.
Stonechat warning calls came from bushes either side of the path their territory straddles. Fledglings were hidden in hawthorn and juniper and they flitted amongst the bushes with their parents. Fledglings lively and venturing through the scrub, learning the stonechat habit and habitat. I heard redpoll and scoured the bushes but dark cloud drained colour from the scene. I focused on the male stonechat and several birds close to him in the top of the hawthorns. I might have inferred their behaviour but didn't see the intimate moments of parenting until I was home with my cache of images. There were surprises in store.
We're watching parents supervising flying lessons. Skills fledglings with new feathers and untried wings must learn quickly. They're keeping close to their parents, and just look at the posture of that young bird nestling close. Nestling, as it would have done in the nest. The adults are still feeding their young, showing them how to find food and what's good to eat. A bird's bill suggests its diet and helps to identify fledglings. There's little to show the fledgling stonechat is kin to its parent, beyond bill, eye colour and confiding posture. The images show how closely both stonechat adults are committed to rearing their young. When the fledgling flies it appears to be heading for the ground! The structure of those young wings shows clearly.
Learning flight is full of hazards for fledglings. There were many small birds moving through the scrub and fledglings do not yet have the distinctive plumage of their parents. So I was surprised to find (amongst my photographs) a linnet with a fledgling caught at the split-second of crash landing, Squashed shapeless and clinging on, it looks stunned, recovering through a sequence of images, lifting its head and sitting upright, taking a tiny flight to come close to the adult male linnet. Somewhere secret in the bushes, the linnet family is taking flying lessons. I had been listening to redpoll so linnet was a surprise.
It's a motif of the season, adult birds and their fledglings venturing into the wider world. And as the breeding season comes to a close there are gathering flocks of small birds. Being a nestling is not unlike lockdown. The nest is a safe place, your parents find food and bring it to you. Fledging brings the freedom to venture forth but the wide world is full of danger
. For us, seeing this sudden eruption of the new generation of birds is exciting.
Learning flight is full of hazards for fledglings. There were many small birds moving through the scrub and fledglings do not yet have the distinctive plumage of their parents. So I was surprised to find (amongst my photographs) a linnet with a fledgling caught at the split-second of crash landing, Squashed shapeless and clinging on, it looks stunned, recovering through a sequence of images, lifting its head and sitting upright, taking a tiny flight to come close to the adult male linnet. Somewhere secret in the bushes, the linnet family is taking flying lessons. I had been listening to redpoll so linnet was a surprise.
It's a motif of the season, adult birds and their fledglings venturing into the wider world. And as the breeding season comes to a close there are gathering flocks of small birds. Being a nestling is not unlike lockdown. The nest is a safe place, your parents find food and bring it to you. Fledging brings the freedom to venture forth but the wide world is full of danger
. For us, seeing this sudden eruption of the new generation of birds is exciting.
A morning for great spotted woodpecker, we found three. And flocks of small birds moving through the scrub. Always redpoll calling, but I'm seeing them only in flight. Goldfinch in the flock too.
The last week in June was exceptionally wet and the flora of Helsington Barrows is a delight. Yellow flowers of Lady's bedstraw has a lovely fragrance and it is a motif of the season. Purple flowers of betony appear.
As we sat amongst the anthills on Helsington Barrows the sun warmed the fragrant herb layer and brought forth butterflies: fritillary, meadow brown, small white, tortoishell and six-spot burnet moth. The sound of grasshoppers filled the air. A fritillary vanished into a juniper bush and, seeing a slight movement, I found not the butterfly but a grasshopper.
The last week in June was exceptionally wet and the flora of Helsington Barrows is a delight. Yellow flowers of Lady's bedstraw has a lovely fragrance and it is a motif of the season. Purple flowers of betony appear.
As we sat amongst the anthills on Helsington Barrows the sun warmed the fragrant herb layer and brought forth butterflies: fritillary, meadow brown, small white, tortoishell and six-spot burnet moth. The sound of grasshoppers filled the air. A fritillary vanished into a juniper bush and, seeing a slight movement, I found not the butterfly but a grasshopper.
Rona and I stopped to study stonechat. I was intent on photography . She was observing the scene entire, So I asked her to reflect on the stonechat interlude.
'Wednesday was a day of quiet, still weather, but this was not reflected in the behaviour of the birds. Great comings and goings, chattering, and occasional disputing, kept us entranced and sometimes not knowing which way to look. Small flocks took to the air, individual birds dived and swooped, too fast for me to identify, but occasionally a stonechat would perch, making sure he was visible on a bare branch, announcing his presence. It was an experience that really took one ‘outside of oneself’, watching a world of creatures other than ourselves, who yet inhabit this same world, going about their lives, aware of us I’m sure, but generally unconcerned at our presence. It was an experience made all the more special by the presence of someone to share it with, illuminate it, and add the knowledge acquired over many years and so generously shared.'
Rona Wilson
'Wednesday was a day of quiet, still weather, but this was not reflected in the behaviour of the birds. Great comings and goings, chattering, and occasional disputing, kept us entranced and sometimes not knowing which way to look. Small flocks took to the air, individual birds dived and swooped, too fast for me to identify, but occasionally a stonechat would perch, making sure he was visible on a bare branch, announcing his presence. It was an experience that really took one ‘outside of oneself’, watching a world of creatures other than ourselves, who yet inhabit this same world, going about their lives, aware of us I’m sure, but generally unconcerned at our presence. It was an experience made all the more special by the presence of someone to share it with, illuminate it, and add the knowledge acquired over many years and so generously shared.'
Rona Wilson
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