My World Of Wildlife

Just a quick update on what I have been up to for 30 days wild, although I have been busy this week I have managed to fit time in for nature every day so far! Day 2- An afternoon walk around my local park, Buchan country park. I also took time to stop for a minute and listen to the melody of nature which is bird song! Day 3- A rather close encounter with a red admiral which kept on dive bombing me and then decided to land on my shoulder for photo! Day 4- I visited my nearest RSPB Pulborough Brooks with fellow young birder James McCulloch. It was quiet in the way of birds although there was plenty of insects around and therefore lots of swifts, house and sand martins on the wing. RSPB Pulborough Brooks Day 5- Having lots of homework to do doesn't always have to draw you away from nature as I found out the other day. Currently I have been studying Lucienne Day, who's work was inspired by nature, especially plants. For homework I had to create a do...

A bit of a delayed blog post about a visit to Rye Harbour Nature Reserve a couple of weeks ago, which is about an 2 hour drive. The first bird I saw was a dunnock singing from the hedges in the car park. Walking down the path, a couple of common terns flew over my head, one with a fish in its beak. Reaching the first hide I spotted quite a few avocets, one right in front of me and one with a chick in the distance. As you can see from the second photo there is heat gaze due to it being so hot! Avocet Avocet with chick Further along the path we stopped off in another hide where starlings foraged in amongst the grass.  I could also see little terns and oystercatchers in the distance that were sitting on nests. As I scanned the landscape with my binoculars I spotted a small, fluffy bird running around the edge of the water, this was a ringed plover chick! This was followed by the parent making an appearance as well. A rather cute ringed plover chick Ringed plove...

Today marks the 1st of June and of course the first day of 30 days wild, a challenge run by the Wildlife Trusts. For every day of the month you need to do something wild! This can range from a simple task of taking a 5 minute break out of school or work to listen to bird song or a trip to a nature reserve around you. This is a great idea because it reminds you to stay connected with nature even on busy days! I have decided to take part this year and I am looking forward to keeping you updated with photos, blogs and tweets (@MyaBambrick1)! Although it will be difficult due to school work I am hoping to blog at the end of each week to show you what I have been up to. Day 1 Today I started the challenge at home, checking out my garden to see how my plants are getting on. I have a rather compact garden but have managed to squeeze in more plants that ever this year. This shows that whatever size outside space you have you can always grow something and do your bit for nature! ...

Yesterday I visited Pagham harbour and Church Norton. Whilst the weather was not great on the journey there, I was hoping it would brighten up later on in the day. Well I was wrong and my mum and I got soaking wet! Starting of at RSPB Pagham Harbour Nature Reserve, I had a quick look to see what was on Ferry Pool. There was 2 avocets swishing there beaks from side to side in the water, catching tiny morsels before they flew off. 2 Common Terns were sat on the ground, beside the water. They elegantly lifted into the air before flying around, with one landing on a pole. Avocets Common Tern (awful photo due to the lack of light) Also there were a couple of Lapwing, Shelduck and Black-Tailed Godwit. We then drove to Church Norton, which is when the weather took a turn for the worse! Battling the wind we tried to walk along the beach, whilst keeping a look out out to sea for anything that could be passing by. A few cormorants coming in to land was the best species I could see....

As the weather was ok and there was no rain on the forecast yesterday I spent a couple of hours at the Old Lodge, a Sussex Wildife Trust nature reserve in Ashdown Forest. Having been there before I decided to visit again and I wasn't disappointed! From the car park we walked a big circuit around the reserve. Bird song was at its peak with chiffchaff heard all across the reserve. As we walked along the top, past many bright yellow gorse bushes, we reached a wooded area. As I scanned around I noticed a flick of bright orange and as I looked closer I realised it was a beautiful male redstart, my first of the year! Male redstart record shot Walking further along my attention was caught by a brown streaky bird which was perched on a tree alongside the path, as it moved into view I could see that the bird was a Tree Pipit. Also around were 2 or 3 treecreeper which moved from one trunk to another, coming quite close to me at one point. A chaffinch also was perched up on a tree as...

At the weekend I visited Millers Wood, near Handcross in West Sussex for the second time (see my blog on the first time I visited here: ( https://myathebirder.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/bird-photography-workshop-with-john.html ) to photograph the many species of birds that visit the photography hides built by the owner and photographer, John Stanton. It is a great place because it offers a reflection pool, many feeding stations and cosy hides with one even being heated with a wood-burner! This time my aim was to try and photograph the Crossbills which now visit quite regularly, but unfortunately when I was there they didn't come to drink from the reflection pool. However with species such as Great Spotted Woodpeckers coming down frequently I managed to get some photos I was pleased with. Another bonus was that I saw a brambling for the first time, a bird that I had been trying to see for a while! Brambling Blue Tit Blue Tit Chaffinch Great Spotted Woodpecker ...

The weekend before last I went up to Cissbury Ring for my first ringing session of the year. It was very foggy and you couldn't see into the fields that surround the main path! Walking up the path I managed to see a glimpse of a Yellowhammer which was surprising as I normally just hear them singing. It was quite a quiet morning however catching a Redwing was a surprise as it was only the second for the site this Winter. Also 2 Long-tailed Tits were nice to see up close in the hand. Long-Tailed Tit Redwing Overall we caught 18 birds, consisting of 15 new birds (un-ringed birds) and 3 retraps (ringed birds). Moving on to this weekend, I went for a walk at the Old Lodge Nature Reserve in Ashdown Forest. It was a lovely walk and I saw 4 Stonechat, a Kestrel, Goldfinch, Chaffinch and Redpoll. After seeing the sighting on social media on the way back I stopped off at Weirwood Reservoir to see the drake Goldeneye that had been seen there. With help from a fellow bi...