This weekend saw me in South Devon on a bird ringing course. Not directly related to my work at Beale Park but it's here that I got the idea into my head I'd like to learn more.

The weekend was gorgeous but not great for birds as there was quite a breeze. The friday evening saw us at a swallow roost by the sea - there was a bit of commotion with mackerel driving in whitebait which had become stranded on the beach by their thousands:

This meant I spent a lot more time rescuing the fish than at the bird mist nets. I also had to rescue a mackerel who'd been over keen and had got himself stranded as well. Later a seal came in to eat the mackerel so it was all go. Birds ringed that evening were swallow (all juvenile), one starling, a reed warbler and that was about it. A hobby was flying overhead trying to chase any unsuspecting juvenile swallows.

Every day was a 06.45 start  - the saturday we walked down to the spit area where the mist nets are:

and each had a turn in ringing. We practiced on wire legs first before the real thing. Most birds caught were reed warbler:

a couple of sedge warblers:

A blackcap which I ringed and a lovely little robin which of course, Robin ringed:

By 08.30 on each day the birds were drying up. The trainers said it was the slowest for a long time, perhaps because of the late cold spring. Just as things were starting to get slow, a sparrowhawk came in:

A beautiful juvenile, probably female.

The weekend was great - good company, good accomodation and great trainers. I learnt all that I had gone for, from setting up a net and dismantling to how to ring birds. We also had classroom sessions on migration and data inputting plus the reasons behind ringing in the age of new technology. I wouldn't say I am confident enough to ring birds and may stick to wild flowers but as the training is a minimum of 2 years, watch this space.

Perhaps I should practice on my chickens.....

I last visited the lake area a couple of days ago after an absence of 2 weeks. The purple loosestrife was out on show:

As well as the water mint:

The swallows were still making an appearance and there were a lot of small jumping fish today. A few more butterflies including the usual whites - green veined whites and small whites:

A bar-headed goose who had strolled over from the bird park was making its way around the lake feeding on the grass. I have seen this bird quite a few times here over the last couple of years before it wanders back:

 

By the rivers edge, a heron was fishing with just it's head poking out of the undergrowth:

A little rabbit was here to greet me this morning, sharing the grassy area with the juvenile green woodpecker:

There was also a solitary cinnabar moth caterpillar on a ragwort nearly stripped bare by it:

These guys turn into beautiful red and black day-time flying moths which are poisonous. The caterpillars feed off the poison in the ragwort and store it in their bodies and this gets transferred to the moths as well. A study shows that with all of the ragwort clearance in horse fields and pastures, the cinnabar moth is declining.

The smell of the water mint was very strong today - a few butterflies were about, mainly green-veined whites but also this ringlet:

A very tatty looking small tortoiseshell:

And a few meadow browns by the river. The usual mix of birds were around but no sign of any Canada geese today. Three lapwing flew very high up overhead and there were also a couple of juvenile mistle thrushes.

By the woodland, there is now a mass of wild parsnip which wasn't as widespread last year:

And a long-tailed tit family were busy in the trees:

 

The mute swan couple were busy looking for water weed this morning:

There was also a green woodpecker hopping nearby in the grass. It was by itself  - I haven't seen or heard any signs of a family this year which was very active last summer.

In the wood, a froglet was crawling among the leaf matter:

A few damselflies were around and this black-tailed skimmer:

 

 

These are quite common around the lake but I made the mistake of looking at my dragonfly book at other species and saw what looked very similar, a keeled skimmer. It isn't really the right habitat as they like damp heathland but there are a few localised patches of them in Berkshire. I would say this is a black-tailed skimmer as it has faint orange arcs around the edges of its tail if you look carefully.

Again, very few insects around - this small tortoiseshell:

And the common soldier beetle was everywhere today. These are also called blood-suckers:

The garden warbler family were in their usual spot making a lot of noise calling to each other. Other warblers seen and heard were chiffchaff, black-cap and willow warbler. These will be off in the next few weeks as will the swallows who regularly come here to drink from the lake.

The kestrel was hovering over the grass when I arrived but kept getting in the way of a group of swallows who were visiting. The kingfishers were also very active scooting past me but as usual, I couldn't seem to get a good shot:

Again very few insects around, although I did see a solitary small tortoiseshell. The pyramidal orchids are doing well:

And there are still a few patches of ragged robin:

Self-heal is everywhere on the grassy areas. There were a few in the woodland as well - I presume it is self-heal as I can't identify it as anything else, but it was much taller than I was expecting which threw me a bit:

The mullein plant has flowered as well:

This is in the same area I watched a female terrapin dig her hole for eggs last year:

 

 

 

My favourite area is looking good at the moment and is usually teeming with warblers, tits and kingfishers. I couldn't spot any tadpoles today but it was quite weedy:

Further along there were a family of garden warblers. These sound very similar to blackcap but their song is longer and I think, scratchier. The family were busy looking for insects, preening and just enjoying the sun. They appear much yellower in these photographs - they are much browner than this:

 

My favourite hoverfly was out and about this morning - the marmalade hoverfly or episyrphus balteatus. These are very common and can be found in large numbers - some years, huge numbers migrate here from the continent and feed along our coastline:

There were also others around - eristalsis pertinax, again very common:

and eristalsis intricaria, usually found around damp places. This one is a male, with a reddish-brown  tail:

It seems very quiet for this time of year. I'm not sure why, whether it is all the rain or whether the trimming around the lake area has had an effect. Many flowers and reeds have been cut down where last year the areas were alive with bees and other insects. There were a couple of blue-tailed damsel flies:

 

But no butterflies at all today despite it being dry.

The hedge woundwort is out:

And there are a lot of pyramidal orchids now - more than last year:

The branched bur-reed is also out now:

The Canada Goose nursery is still going strong but the coot family are now down to one chick. I haven't seen any great-crested grebe chicks at all this year. A raven cronked near the river but I didn't catch sight of it today. I have only ever seen one around here, this time last year, flying over the lake.

The pied wagtails were also around the car park:

I thought it might be an idea to take a picture of the lake area today and then at each season from now on:

The Thames is on the left hand side past the woodland strip and the car park on the right. Fields are behind me and Beale Park on the far side.

There was lots going on today - I counted over 100 Canada Geese with 28 gosling:

A coot family was on the water, the first I've seen this year. Not the prettiest of chicks but I don't suppose they can help that:

 

As I was watching them I looked down and saw a huge grass snake coming out of the reeds. It was very relaxed and didn't seem too bothered with me at all, but glided through the reeds into some cover. As you can see, it was pretty long:

I was beginning to think that I wouldn't see one this year - the normal sunbathing spot of last year is completely covered in tall nettles and another reedy area which was a favourite for basking has been hacked back.

The terrapins were out and about as well:

 

And the grey wagtail was busy chasing flies:

There were a few tadpoles in the stream in between the lake and the Thames. Not many but very big and fat. I saw my first pyramidal orchid today as well, this one in a different area from last year:

There were a lot of bees out today but not many hoverflies. Carder bee was common:

And the buff-tailed bumblebee: