Monthly Archives: November 2015

Nature Reserves, Wildlife

Storms, Fieldfare, Gadwall, Wigeon: Winter is Here

Goldfinches
Goldfinches

A twittering, constantly moving flock of a dozen Goldfinches greeted my arrival at Wraysbury. The wind was already keen and I was glad of my thick fleece and waterproof jacket. A few Wood Pigeons and a Crow or two blew down the wind, hardly needing to flap. Even a Heron, doing its best to flap downwind as usual, rocketed past in the swift airstream. A solitary Fieldfare chattered to me from a bare thorn tree, its chack-chack unmistakable.

Broken Willow
Broken Willow

The stormy winds of the weekend had broken several large willows including the big one just North of the bridge: two branches had fallen, cracking off what are now revealed to be fragments of the hollow shell of the trunk. Willows and poplars are dangerous as the trunks are short-lived and often rotten inside: and the fast-growing branches can be very thick and heavy.

Spectacularly rotten hollow willow
Spectacularly rotten hollow willow

This tree by the lake snapped its seemingly solid, reassuringly mossy trunk and fell into the water. It was quite hollow, filled with soft brown beetle frass with finger-thick borings. Notice, however, the bracket fungus near the base.

Lake covered in winter wildfowl
Lake covered in winter wildfowl – Swans, Geese, Gadwall, Wigeon

The lake was covered in winter wildfowl, as the Channel at dawn on D-Day was covered with ships. I gave up trying to count the hundreds of Gadwall; there were dozens of Wigeon and Tufted Ducks, and plenty of Mute Swans, Canada Geese and Coots too. A few Cormorants, some with very white bellies, and a Great Crested Grebe or two made up the numbers. As I raised my binoculars, a Kingfisher darted from the near bank and raced right across the lake, perching on the far side.

Natural History

Surprised by a Snipe … in Richmond Park

The woods of Richmond Park were full of Jackdaws, constantly jostling for whatever position Jackdaws have in their noisy gangs. And the even noisier squawkings and screeches of the Ring-Necked Parakeets, of course, high in the trees or dashing about.

Out on the quieter grassland and bracken, now dry and brown, a Stonechat perched on a prominent lookout, its red breast, white collar and dark head distinctive.

A Kestrel drifted past, tail fanned, its handsome rufous back and dark wingtips characteristic; it turned and powered the other way, flew all across the open space over the anthilly grassland, and rose into a distant tree.

The upper Pen Pond had at least 6 Mandarin Ducks, the males ridiculously decorative, dressed like dandies and constantly showing off, alongside a few Pochard.

The lower Pen Pond had perhaps 30 Gadwall, a dozen Wigeon, a few Tufted Duck, and – best bird by far – a single Snipe that got up from the water’s edge near my feet, called ‘Creech’ once, and zigzagged rapidly off across the water, up and over the trees and the upper pond.

Natural History

First Winter Thrushes at Wraysbury Lakes

Hawthorn Berries
Hawthorn Berries
Rose Hips
Rose Hips

No wisecracks about Hips and Haws and keeping warm on chilly winter days! This morning it was actually more autumnal than wintery, with bright blue skies setting off the deeply red berries, the rosehips scarlet, the hawthorn berries crimson.

The birdlife however did give a hint of winter to come. The first half-dozen Redwings squawked softly and burst from the bushes in their peculiar way, twisting suddenly in flight to get out from between the branches, flapping noisily as they accelerate out of cover. A single big Mistle Thrush flew from higher up in a different tree.

A flock of Goldfinches, some Dunnocks, a Robin or two, a Blackbird, eight Magpies, a rapid Ring-Necked Parakeet, a Carrion Crow or two, and a few Black-Headed Gulls appeared here and there. A Sparrowhawk searched over the Poplar trees for unwary prey.

Down on the lake, too, the winter ducks are starting to arrive. There are good numbers of Gadwall (maybe 30) and Wigeon (50 or so) as well as Tufted (50) and Shoveler (100). A dozen Cormorants, a hundred Coots, a few Mallard, a couple of Mute Swans (where did they all go?), a few Canada Geese (ditto), and a solitary Great Crested Grebe made up the rest.

Yellow Inkcap Coprinus auricomus
Yellow Inkcap Coprinus auricomus

As a final treat, there was a slender, delicate stalk of the Yellow Inkcap, Coprinus auricomus, in the grass.

Natural History

Wraysbury Lakes

Drowsy Bufftail Bumblebee Queen on Perennial Sow-Thistle
Drowsy Bufftail Bumblebee Queen on Perennial Sow-Thistle

A quiet walk today around Wraysbury lakes: no birds sang, but at least 55 Mute Swans, 110 Canada Geese and dozens of Wigeon sat out on the eutrophicated water amidst masses of weed that has been there for months. A few very shy Gadwall, and some distant Shovelers dabbled; hundreds of Coots and Tufted Duck swam about everywhere; a few Great Crested Grebe were dotted about, one quite close and not shy.

There were plenty of other interesting wildlife sights, though. A Kestrel rose from a tall willow, screaming its high bell-like call repeatedly. Long-tailed tits chased in and out of the hedge bushes. Best of all, three Partridges, I presume Frenchies, raced off from the horse meadow. They’re a welcome sight; whether they’ll now be resident or just winter visitors is an interesting question.

Snowy Waxcap Hygrocybe virginea
Snowy Waxcap Hygrocybe virginea

A single loose cluster of four or five Snowy Waxcaps grew in the short, clover-rich grass; the species is said to be edible and good.

Pignut in flower in November
Pignut in flower in November

The meadow was longer than usual, rich in Yarrow, with quite a few stands of Pignut, both (remarkably) in flower in mid-November.

Plant stars in moss beside path
Plant stars in moss beside path

In the short mossy vegetation beside the path, these little blue-green plants formed elegant stars in the brighter, more yellow-green moss, a very delicate pattern.

The Crack Willow with its long leaves and incredibly delicate twigs (well named) was covered in small stinkbugs, like overgrown aphids, blackish and slow-moving but full of red ‘blood’, presumably enabling them to ignore most predators; I squashed half-a-dozen on my hand by accident while examining the leaves.  The Sallow too was still in yellow autumnal leaf, but without evident resident herbivores.

Conservation, Natural History, Nature Reserves

Late Autumn: Fungi, Coppicing, Weaving a Fence

Raisa finishing woven fence with birch brash
Raisa finishing woven fence with birch brash
Brown Birch Bolete, Leccinum scabrum "Edible but worthless"
Brown Birch Bolete, Leccinum scabrum “Edible but worthless”
A delicate Ink Cap, Coprinus sp.
Marasmius sp
Marasmius sp
Candlesnuff or Stagshorn, Xylaria hypoxylon
Candlesnuff or Stagshorn, Xylaria hypoxylon
The Deceiver, Laccaria laccata
The Deceiver, Laccaria laccata
Fly Agaric Amanita muscaria (13 November)
Fly Agaric Amanita muscaria (13 November)

More Fungi at Gunnersbury Triangle (25 October 2015)  including Collared Earthstars

Conservation, Philosophy, Politics

Sustainable Tuna, eh?

On the naughty step

Greenpeace have just published a fold-out poster listing how well the British supermarket chains have done with their supposedly “sustainable” Tuna in cans. There are no percentage scores, though some must have been calculated: instead, the supermarkets are ranked from deepest green (presumably near 100% sustainable, i.e. you could go on doing that forever – isn’t that the only plain meaning of the word?) through to brightest red, cheerfully labelled “Unsustainable and harms marine life” (one might say that applies to all scores less than 100%, no?).

In the green corner is Waitrose, “Your go-to #JustTuna brand for 2016”, I guess that hash sign is a snappy little address for some American web gadget or other, maybe a teenager can help me out on that one.

In the red corner (boo! hiss!)  is an old-established brand, John West. According to the poster, “More than 98% of John West’s tuna is caught using destructive fishing methods”. Naughty step: copy out “I must not use enormous nets that catch sharks, turtles and rays” 1000 times neatly without smudging now.

Seriously, it’s disgraceful that a famous old company should be taking so little care of a resource on which its commercial well-being, its very existence as a company, depends. Properly managed – truly sustainably – Tuna fishing will last forever, or until the human race wipes itself out (delete as preferred).  Badly managed – as now – the ocean’s Tuna fisheries will go the way of Cannery Row in Monterey (now the marvellous aquarium there), of the Tonnara of Scopella in Sicily (remembered wonderfully by Gavin Maxwell), indeed of Britain’s long-gone North Sea tuna fishery —and yes, it sounds unimaginable now, doesn’t it? That’s how “canned tuna” will sound in a few years’ time if we don’t sort our ideas on sustainability out.