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Heron watch 14^th April 2013 – Dick Beeden

The weather was ok this year but still pretty cold. There were reasonable numbers of people about. As last year the herons had decided to nest out of sight of the causeway although there are still plenty nesting around the lake with several flying past just a few yards away. Anna and I decided to set up telescopes in Shoveler hide from where some 9 nests could be seen across the lake. We posted notices from the causeway in the hope that some of those walking the Aquadrome might extend their walk to our hide but no-one said that they had. None the less we were kept busy most of the time with people having a look with a good few “ooh”’s and “ah”s as they saw herons up close for the first time. Most were surprised that they were looking at the far side of the lake. Despite the cold spring most of the birds had mated and laid in January and February and the chicks were nearly as big as their parents. A few had already fledged. (You can tell them apart by their grey crown rather than the black crown with a white centre on adult birds). We managed to hand out some 20 or so recruitment leaflets. It will be interesting to see if any bring us new members.

The small birds, tits, chaffinches chiffchaff and dunnock, kept us entertained as they flitted in and out of the trees and bushes to either side of us. In fact there is a pair of chaffinches nesting in the ivy of the tree that has fallen over just at the entrance of the hide. A blackcap sang strongly for a while. Terns, house martins and swallows were seen over the lake as well as a kingfisher. There were quite a few ducks out on the lake (tufted, mallard and shoveler) as well as coots, mute swans and Canada geese, two of whom had a battle royal for over 5 minutes holding each other’s necks and clearly trying to drown each other. They eventually drifted out of sight. Surprisingly there were still goldeneye (2 males, and half a dozen females). One would have expected them to have migrated by now. We saw a red kite out over by the motorway. So there were some interesting things to see apart from the herons.

Wildfowl walk 17^th February 2013 – Dick Beeden

What a contrast to the walk this time last year when the lake was frozen solid. Last year there were just four people on the walk; this year there were six or seven times that many. The weather was ok, a bit dull but not too cold. However as in January there were not great numbers of birds on the lake. I am grateful to Anna Marett and Ian West for their assistance again and Christine Crowther for keeping the list.

So what did we see? On the lake, not a lot. The dabbling ducks were represented by some Mallard and Shoveler and a few Teal, Gadwall, Wigeon and Pochard. The diving duck representatives were Tufted Duck and Goldeneye both male and female. We saw some interesting mating behaviour with one male goldeneye surrounded by four females all displaying to him! The only sawbill (duck with teeth) this time was a male Smew. (There may have been two birds on the lake given where and when we saw it/them) and some saw a female. No goosander this time. The lake also produced Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Lapwing, Grey Heron (some on nests in the trees), numerous Black Headed Gull (some gaining their black heads as they come into breading plumage) and a couple of cCommon Gull.

So much for the lake what about in the trees? A couple of Siskin were flitting about the alders near the causeway along with Blue, Great and Long Tailed Tits further along. Woodpigeon, Carrion Crows and Jackdaws (flying) were seen in the trees along with Ring-necked Parakeets, Magpie and Jay. We also saw and heard Blackbirds and Song Thrushes, Goldfinch and Goldcrest, Robin seen and Chaffinch heard. Great Spotted and Green Woodpecker were also seen.

All in all not a bad morning given how quiet it was ornithologically with a tally of 40 species.

Wildfowl walk 13^th January 2013 – Dick Beeden

We got this walk in this year before the ice and snow. The weather had been relatively mild over the previous week or so and consequently wildfowl were in short supply and probably some of the more northerly species had not migrated this far south. None the less we had a good walk and saw a good range of birds. About 30 people met us on the causeway so it was a fairly large group. My thanks to the several people who helped with the spotting and identifications and to Christine for keeping the tally; some 36 species in all.

Wildfowl numbers were a bit thin although most species one might expect to see at this time of year were present. There were good numbers of Tufted Duck and Coot. There were respectable numbers of Pochard and Shoveler (many displaying). There were small numbers of Mallard, male and female Goldeneye dotted around the lake, Moorhens, Great Crested Grebe and Wigeon. Oddly no Gadwall. The sawbills (they look like large ducks but have teeth and eat fish) were absent this year except for one hard to see goosander tucked up under the bank in the area nearest to Stocker’s House that a few of us spotted on our way back to the car park after the walk had finished. Such is birdwatching. We also saw Canada Geese and Mute Swan.

There were large numbers of Black Headed Gulls (though none had yet got their black heads) plus a few Common, Lesser Black-backed and at least one Great Black-backed Gull. There were plenty of Cormorant and fair numbers of Grey Herons with a few in the trees looking as though mating was on their minds. There were several sightings of Lapwings. No Reed Bunting though.

The woodland birds were a bit sparse too. However there was a pretty wide variety. We saw Nuthatch near to Tern hide, Great, Blue and Long tailed Tits all around the lake, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Robin, Wren, Woodpigeon, Starling, Fieldfare and Redwing all put in an appearance at some point. Carrion Crows and Magpie were around in reasonable numbers. We managed a few Siskins but no sizable flock this year. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen and heard and the Ring-necked Parakeets put in a brief appearance.

A pretty good morning.

Butterfly & Dragonfly Walk 19^st August 2012 – Wendy Wilson

Six of us set off on a scorching hot day in search of dragonflies and butterflies. As it was so hot, we decided not to attempt a circuit of the lake but just to concentrate on the meadows between the river and the

lake. Numerous blue damselflies, including two mating pairs, were very active in the heat but zoomed about too fast for us to identify which species they were. Brown hawker dragonflies made some rapid passes along the river but, disappointingly, we did not spot any other dragonfly

species. Butterflies were also rather thin on the ground; perhaps they had fed earlier before it got so hot and were lying low. However we had a nice sighting of a small copper basking near the causeway. Other butterflies included several small whites, 2 holly blues, 2 small tortoiseshells, a meadow brown and a speckled wood. We also saw a butterburr moth in the water meadow. Nearby were some orange and black striped cinnabar moth larvae feeding on ragwort. They imbibe poisons from the ragwort which they retain to adulthood to protect them

from predation by birds.

I enjoyed the walk and meeting other members in spite of the

dearth of species. When I got back to my car in the car-park,

the nearby buddleia bush had several red admirals,

tortoiseshells and peacocks on it!

Wild Flower Walk Sunday 10th June 2012 - Christine Crowther

Nine of us met on the causeway at 2pm with the heartfelt hope it wouldn't actually rain. It didn't but there were a few spots at the end of the walk! Libby Gower from The Friends of Cassiobury Park very kindly offered to be our "expert" as we had drawn a blank the whole year.

Libby talked a bit about flower families and that most of what we could see around us was a flower even if it didn't look like one. On the Causeway we looked at buttercup and daisy, bramble in flower and a glorious dog rose bush. There were lots of germander speedwells, purple vetch and yellow iris by the water's edge. Greater and ribwort Plantain, lacey cow parsley and white campion completed our first bit of floral detective work.

A tramp through the meadow gave us lots more flowers and grasses like yorkshire fog, wall barley and ryegrass and cock's foot. On the flower side a lovely clump of Oxeye Daisies and red and white clover was to be seen. Also lesser stitchwort, potentilla with their bright yellow flowers and silvery leaves, hawkbit and sticky cleavers and a nice clump of water mint smelling just like their more domestic counterpart. A field rose white counterpart to the pinker dog rose was our later find.

One or two sightings back on the main path of herb bennet and herb robert, hedge mustard and garlic mustard. As the clouds were suddenly gathering overhead we walked on briskly round to the canal side of the reserve where less trees gave us a glorious display of wildflowers. Some new, some seen already. Plenty of red campion and more unusual hybrid pink variety. White dead nettle which doesn't sting and beautiful creamy common comfrey and cranesbill. Bittersweet looks like deadly nightshade but isn't, woundwort and plenty of prickly thistles to finish with. About 40 different flowers in all. Not bad for a short walk!

Thanks once again to Libby and to Peter who told us which warblers we were hearing as light relief from flower spotting.

Warbler walk 6^th May 2012 – Christine Crowther

Twelve people met at half past eight on the Causeway on Dawn Chorus Day. The weather was a bit dull and chillier by the time we finished but enjoyable for all that. Some trees in leaf but others not fully out which might help with spotting birds hiding in trees!

A good start to the walk with a Cetti’s warbler‘s sudden song in a bush on the causeway. A pair had been spotted nest building the previous week - then a flash of yellow nearby and a good view on the ground – a yellow wagtail, a first for several of us. Swallows, swifts and martins hunted for flies low over the lake and a grey heron stood patiently waiting for breakfast in shallow water. Reed bunting gave us a good view perched on some reeds before we set off along the side of the meadow into the reserve. Garden warbler was heard then a chiffchaff and several blackcap at shoveler hide and throughout our walk. The many-faceted song of a song thrush sang from a thicket and greenfinch, chaffinch and robin followed us on our way. Not to be outdone a lone carrion crow sat on a treetop and those ubiquitous ring necked parakeets flew over bickering and green woodpecker chuckled nearby. We stopped quietly by the reeds at the side of Stockers for a rest and to see reed and sedge warbler displaying and a whitethroat flew across to complete our list of warblers,

Not so much on the water today. We saw just Coot, mallard, cormorant and tufted duck and a lone pochard. Two great crested grebes sat cosily on nests with their bright summer heads tucked behind them. A greylag goose glided in the distance as did the mute swans and those Canada geese, seeming always to be arguing; a lone common tern and black headed gulls on the rafts squabbling as usual. We quickened up on the homeward side of the lake with less to see. Quiet trees then call of blue and great tits, small wren and tiny goldcrest near the last hide. Someone saw a jay flash by and cooing wood pigeons and staccato voice of a magpie from a treetop.

Raptors we saw two! A sparrowhawk flew out of a tree near the bridge to Springfield Lake and a buzzard was seen cruising over the canal. A final scan from the bridge by Stocker’s House only gave us a house sparrow for the list. We saw about 42 different bird species seen in all. A warm thank must go to Peter Jenkins for leading our interesting walk, and increasing our knowledge of bird song.