April 2008

The beginning of April brought a sudden stream of flowers including the first greater stitchwort, honesty in the garden, hedgerow crane’s-bill, yellow archangel, wild strawberry, toothwort and some yellow corydalis in Back Drove. On the 7th I made my first journey of the year down to Blackmoor Copse to see the willow tits and fallow deer, both of which were in good numbers. The next day I saw a little owl just outside our house when we started our journey down to Portsmouth for a day where I saw my first orange-tip of 2008 as well as more yellow archangel and smooth newts!
On the 9th Mum and I cycled through Tytherley and back through Bentley Wood where I found ‘my much sought after’ coltsfoot by the side of the track, but unfortunately I had forgotten my camera so I had to go back the next day! Good job I did, because I chanced upon a stinking hellebore beside the road – an unusual find – and saw my first swallow of 2008, only a day earlier than last year!
Then, on the 12th we left for our weeks holiday in Pembrokeshire which was absolutely amazing! We saw 63 species of bird over the week, including 7 new species to add to my life list and 13 for 2008. There were 5 different species of gull altogether: herring, lesser black-backed, greater black-backed, common and black-headed though strangely we only saw a couple of black-headed gulls, the majority being herring and lesser black-backed. From the cliffs we saw gannets, guillemots and razorbills and of course the sandwich terns over the sea. There were only a couple of waders: common sandpiper (easily identified by its bobbing tail) and oystercatchers. We watched swallows, house martins and sand martins flying over the fields on the cliffs and stonechats, linnets and wheatears were in their hundreds (we saw more of each of these than great tits, blue tits and greenfinches put together!). We had a good time identifying the pipits, eventually working out that they were all meadow and rock pipits – no tree pipits unfortunately! There were cormorants and shags flying over the sea too – shags were new for me.
The birds of prey ‘won the show’ for us that week. We saw a few kestrels, loads of buzzards, about 10 peregrines (again, more than great tits, blue tits and greenfinches put together). We had great views of the Pembrokeshire peregrines with brilliant displays of them sitting on the wind (which led to a funny moment when Dad sat on the gorse…..ouch ), diving down the cliffs, male and female together and then one of the best sights I’ve ever had when one flew right over (2 or 3 meters above us!). Then the merlin at Martin’s Haven and finally the female hen harrier over Marloes Mere – that was brilliant, just a shame we didn’t see the male! We completed the BOP list, much to our delight, with a red kite!
Marloes and Martin’s Haven provided very good views of choughs (the bird I most wanted to see that holiday). We saw them just sitting on the cliff, flying around, calling and feeding! It was brilliant! As well as the choughs there have been rooks, jackdaws, carrion crows, magpies and ravens, to make up the list of corvids.
Only a few warblers, but we had really good views of blackcaps at Martin’s Haven and also at Marloes. Finally, just the one goldcrest that hopped around in the gorse, in front of the ducks we watched at Marloes Mere: mallard, teal, shoveler and shelduck.
The birds were great, but we were a little too early for the puffins on Skomer unfortunately, but we will be going back in May next year so I expect we will see some then. Bird of the week for me was shared between the hen harrier and all the peregrines and choughs. It was brilliant.
Even though it was April, there were huge numbers of wildflowers out, on the cliffs and inland. On the cliffs, the main flowers were beautiful banks of thrift and gorse as well as english scurvygrass, sea campion and kidney vetch though I did find the first few spring squills coming up on the coastal path at St. Brides, sea mayweed and sea mouse-ear. Inland, there was a totally different set of flowers! The roads were lined with alexanders, red campion, greater stitchwort, marsh pennywort (though without the flower – too early), ivy-leaved speedwell and toadflax, early and common dog-violets, one pink sorrel, common vetch and both butterbur and coltsfoot at Druidston as well as a false oxlip (I had to suffer for that one…..thorns…..ouch…). Also, there was even one small-flowered crane’s-bill on the spit at Dale and lots of ramsons and opposite-leaved golden saxifrage at St. Ishmaels. I found common scurvygrass at the information centre at Martin’s Haven. Flower of the week had to be the false oxlip at Druidston despite the pain I had to go through….!
Additionally, we saw four butterflies: peacock, a very early small skipper, a small copper and a small tortoiseshell, and 3 beetles: Gastrophysa viridula, the green tiger beetle at Martin’s Haven and a couple of beautiful oil beetles on the coastal path.
Only a couple of reptiles which is more than I expected. There was a stunning adder on the coastal path at Martin’s Haven leaving us all stunned as it slithered through the grass up a bank and also a young common lizard at Druidston.
Again, only two mammals that are worth writing about (i.e. not everyday mammals): the harbour porpoises off the Haven and Skomer as well as one grey seal that swam around beneath us, giving us an amazing aerial view off the end of the peninsula.
The best moments of the holiday were watching peregrines, choughs and the hen harrier, finding the false oxlip, seeing the harbour porpoises and grey seal, the adder and definitely the green tiger beetle. There will be even more out next May and I just can’t wait…….!
So, returning home, I went down to Hound Wood on the 26th, almost a year since our encounter with both a pearl-bordered fritillary and broad-bodied chaser at Blackmoor Copse the previous year. It was 20+ degrees but because of last years wet summer, the butterfly numbers were low but the flowers were thriving! Among the carpets of bluebells, wood anemones and celandines I found my first cuckooflowers of 2008. There was bugle, wood forget-me-nots and bitter vetch. I found the beginnings of the orchids as well with common and heath spotted leaves everywhere. There were lots of warblers around and I got a fantastic view of a blackcap and there were lots of buzzards around and a single sparrowhawk flew over too. Later, I spent 5 minutes watching and photographing a common lizard that settled a metre away from me. On the way back I happened to see some coltsfoot on the roadside which was brilliant – it means I don’t have to cycle all 10 miles (there and back) to see the Bentley Wood lot . That evening Dad and I went down to the Bentley Wood bird song walk. We didn’t hear much, however because everyone was talking  but we managed blackcaps, goldcrests, willow warblers and my first garden warblers!
On the 27th we had the first orange-tips in the garden this year and we found out that the great tits were using the nest box this year, having made the hole bigger so they could fit in! It was a grey day but I went down to Bentley Wood nevertheless and saw what could only be a red-backed shrike (definitely not a kestrel, but I’m not entirely certain so leaving it out of the records…) as well as a willow warbler in full song and hairy bittercress.
Finally, on the 29th, the deer visited the garden again, but this time we had a young male with them. Its antlers were half grown but still impressive.