nature notes II

[Rhiannon]

I love wading through cow parsley on a sunny day, or just after rain. In combination with the hawthorn blossom it's just heavenly.

I fantasise about having a little shop called Shabby Parsley.

[floo]

There is plenty of cow parsley along the bridle path, which is at the back of our property. I can't say I like it much and smite it with my walking stick if it is too intrusive.

[Rhiannon]

There is plenty of cow parsley along the bridle path, which is at the back of our property. I can't say I like it much and smite it with my walking stick if it is too intrusive.

Oi. This isn't the place for anti-cow parsleyism.

[cyberman]

I can't say I like it much

To put this in context, floo doesn't like anything much.

[floo]

Untrue!

[wigginhall]

Talking about cow parsley still, we walked past a ton of it on Sunday, near the river (Thames), and I also noticed a clump of plants quite similar, but with yellow flowers.  I think it's alexanders, which used to be used in cooking.  Presumably it's one of the umbelliferae, which is a massive family, including things like chervil, cicely, angelica, and of course, who could forget,  pig-nut. 

[Rhiannon]

Could be Alexanders, which is indeed edible. The flowers are greenish. I used to have some plants bought from a specialist nursery; given the number of highly toxic umbellifers, foraging any of these from the wild isn't recommmended.

I also used to grow sweet cicely, which us very pretty and gives an aniseed sweetness to fruit puddings and the like. And I still grow angelica, mostly because of its stature at the back of a border. And fennel of course. Best plant for hoverflies that I know.

[wigginhall]

I have a lovage plant on the allotment; a big plant, about 7 feet tall in summer.  Smells and tastes delicious, like a mild celery, and a very handsome plant.   I think this is also an umbellifer, although I think the family is now called Apiaceae, for some reason.  Yes, water dropwort is poisonous, and grows next to wild celery.  They say that one root can kill a cow.

[Rhiannon]

Ooh yes, lovage soup is a real treat. I used to grow all kinds of old herbs at my old cottage, but haven't got round to it since we've moved.

Hemlock is also similar to cow parsley. Once my daughter's friend sneaked some cow parsley into a salad as a way to trick her mum. Both girls are it and when I found out I went ballistic. Luckily the mum was able to check that the plant from which she'd picked it really was cow parsley. Thank god for the internet.

[wigginhall]

I used to live near a big council estate in Fulham, and I used to take the dog round it, and one day, noticed there were patches of deadly nightshade growing!  Quite a handsome plant actually, with pretty flowers and berries; I think it does grow on rough ground, etc., although maybe it is naturalized rather than native.

[SusanDoris]

A Song Thrush has taken up residence in the trees in the large gardens in the road behind. It is singing its heart out and must be going through the whole repertoire I think!! Lovely.

[Enki]

A Song Thrush has taken up residence in the trees in the large gardens in the road behind. It is singing its heart out and must be going through the whole repertoire I think!! Lovely.

I agree with you Susan. Just returned from holiday, and the first sound that struck me was the beautifully rich and varied notes of a song thrush. What I like about a song thrush's song is that it often repeats a short phrase perhaps three times leaving me waiting for the next phrase which could be entirely different.

Incidentally I also came back to news that a pair of Mediterranean gulls are nesting in a colony of black headed gulls about 10 miles from where I live. They are very rare breeding birds in Britain so I'm quite chuffed.

[drepf]

3 Golden Eagles socialising on the thermals in Glen Mhiabhaig on Harris last week. I thought at the time (apart from intense joy and gratitude at seeing them at all) that three would surely be a crowd amongst nesting eagles, and an email to/from the ranger at the N Harris Trust confirmed that they would have been juveniles which haven't formed pair bonds yet and so are still just about tolerated by the resident adults. What Golden Eagles do in the five or so years between fledging and breeding apparently remains largely a mystery.  Red deer,  but a long way off high on the ridges. Red grouse which simply dematerialise while you get your camera ready.
Harris is the best place on Earth, but can that be our secret please?

[Rhiannon]

Sounds amazing, Drepf.

Saw a yellowhammer today. I know it's not as exciting as a golden eagle, but I've never seen one round here before. I made sure I pointed it out to the dog.

[Gonnagle]

Dear Drepf,

Harris is the best place on Earth, but can that be our secret please?

To late my friend, Harris is like God, words fail, okay I will try , wild and Majestic ( stolen from Byrons Dark Lochnagar )

Gonnagle.

[SweetPea]

3 Golden Eagles socialising on the thermals in Glen Mhiabhaig on Harris last week. I thought at the time (apart from intense joy and gratitude at seeing them at all) that three would surely be a crowd amongst nesting eagles, and an email to/from the ranger at the N Harris Trust confirmed that they would have been juveniles which haven't formed pair bonds yet and so are still just about tolerated by the resident adults. What Golden Eagles do in the five or so years between fledging and breeding apparently remains largely a mystery.  Red deer,  but a long way off high on the ridges. Red grouse which simply dematerialise while you get your camera ready.
Harris is the best place on Earth, but can that be our secret please?

Oh, wow..... lucky you, drepf. Living in Gairloch, Wester Ross, my parents would talk of seeing golden eagles. I was too young to remember. Harris and Lewis.... places that can challenge anywhere on earth.

This afternoon I caught two Canada geese with three goslings, on camera, at a local lake. There was a guy, with a tripod and a looong lens, filming great-crested grebes that were on the opposite side of the lake. He let me have a view..... 'dad' had been fishing and was returning with goodies to the nest which was beautifully placed on a lily-pad.

[wigginhall]

A Song Thrush has taken up residence in the trees in the large gardens in the road behind. It is singing its heart out and must be going through the whole repertoire I think!! Lovely.

I agree with you Susan. Just returned from holiday, and the first sound that struck me was the beautifully rich and varied notes of a song thrush. What I like about a song thrush's song is that it often repeats a short phrase perhaps three times leaving me waiting for the next phrase which could be entirely different.

Incidentally I also came back to news that a pair of Mediterranean gulls are nesting in a colony of black headed gulls about 10 miles from where I live. They are very rare breeding birds in Britain so I'm quite chuffed.

I always like to see the Med gulls.  They sometimes breed at Snettisham, and you can spot them a mile away, as one of them will stand at the edge of the colony, looking very superior and bossy, and sort of huge, although they're not that big.   Wonderful bird.

[wigginhall]

Incidentally, some nice birds around N. Norfolk at the moment, for example a hoopoe at Holkham, and the usual spoonbills flying around. 

In Cornwall, 44 red kites at Pendeen!  Plus a black kite.

12, 000 posts!  Yaffa-maffa-gaffa - that is the sound of the Oldham clog-dancers celebrating.

[torridon]

I love wading through cow parsley on a sunny day, or just after rain. In combination with the hawthorn blossom it's just heavenly.

I fantasise about having a little shop called Shabby Parsley.

like that 

[Enki]

Although there have been a small group of cranes in the U.K. for many years(around Horsey in Suffolk mainly) they haven't bred in western Britain for circa 400 years. All this could change however, as a healthy wild chick has been born to hand reared parent birds at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire. Cranes were once plentiful but hunting and a loss of habitat in the 1600s led to their demise. Last year they did manage to  rear a chick but it died before leaving the nest.

If anyone wishes to see live webcam of the adults and chick, follow this link:

http://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/experience/webcams/slimbridge-rushy-pen/

but, be warned. You may be underwhelmed by a lack of action for long periods. This site also caters for live webcam of ospreys and badgers at Caerlaverock and beavers at Martin Mere.

[SusanDoris]

The Song thrush I thought had taken up residence appears to have gone. Pity. However, the Blackbirds are singing particularly well this, year I think.

[wigginhall]

Orchids emerging now; I just saw southern marsh orchid, bee orchid and spotted orchid on my route.  The bee is like a tiny jewel; fortunate, as some primitive barbarians dig them up for their garden, but can't find them, and I ain't telling.

[Enki]

A pair of cranes are nesting presently circa 15 miles from where I live. Also, quite close, is a kingfisher's nest, with the parent birds busily feeding young. Unfortunately, at another area that I visit, the avocets have lost most of their chicks so far to predation.

About 12 years ago I was a voluntary warden near Spurn helping to guard a little tern colony. They nest out in the open on sandy areas. We had no problem keeping the  holiday makers/visitors away, and we set up an electric fence to dissuade foxes. Unfortunately a pair of merlins moved in, and they simply picked off the chicks one by one. So the idea was mooted that some form of chick shelters could be used, such as plastic pipes, and little wooden shelters that the chicks could hide under if under threat. Although that year we lost nearly all the chicks(I think only two survived) the next year was far more successful, and the little tern chicks used the wooden shelters to hide not only from aerial predators but also when the weather was particularly windy, wet or hot.

[wigginhall]

antithesis

Yes, my local WWT place has used little wooden shelters to protect little ringed plover chicks, who were getting a hammering from crows and herons.  They also started shooting a lot of crows as well.  This did work, although unfortunately the LRPs are not hanging around in spring, as they used to.   The lapwing chicks use the vegetation  likewise, plus of course, the parents attack any aerial predator. 

Brilliant about the cranes; I sometimes go to Lakenheath to see the pair there.

[RobM]

There are also a few nesting sites for Black-winged Stilts this year including one not far from me.  Another effect of climate change?