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Showing posts from 2014

Another Cold Day of Birding

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Today I went to RSPB Pulborough Brooks. Once again it was a very cold and mist covered the fields and lakes. Just before I got there whilst in my car, a Buzzard suddenly appeared from nowhere and landed on a tree to side of the road. As I looked back I realised that it was feasting on a dead fox that had been run over by a car. I saw quite a lot of birds so I will list them here: 150 Widgeon  50 Black Tailed Godwit 100 Teal 10 Lapwing 3 Pied Wagtail 1 Snipe 2 Blackbird 15 Robin 25 Shoveler 6 Pintail 5 Moorhen 1 Stonechat male 2 Bullfinch 1 Green Woodpecker 1 Goldcrest It was the first time for me that I have seen black tailed godwits and that amount of teal and widgeon. Also I have never seen Pintail before even though I could only just about see them through my binoculars. So overall I think it was a great day birding! Black Tailed Godwit Black Tailed Godwit Teal Robin Widgeon taking off

Winter Birding

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Hi everyone! Today I visited Warnham Local Nature Reserve in Horsham, West Sussex. It was such a cold day that the lake had frozen there. Surprisingly for this time of year there were not many birds around the feeding stations as there normally is in winter. Also the Siskins and Redpolls have still not returned back there, which is probably because of the mild autumn. This time last year there were many Siskins and Redpolls and the odd Brambling. I saw 50 Black-Headed Gull, 55 Herring Gull, 3 Cormorant, 8 Mallard, 5 Robin, 20 Blue Tit, 10 Great Tit, a Coal Tit and 2 Long-Tailed Tits. A cold, frosty morning Male Reed Bunting Blackbird Flock of Black-headed and Herring Gull Blue Tit

WWT Arundel

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Hi Everyone! I hope you all had a great Christmas! Today I visited WWT Arundel again as it is a great place with many photo opportunities. I saw 2 Dunnock, a Grey Heron, 2 Little Grebe , 50 Mallard, 2 Mute Swan, 5 Robin, 20 Shelduck, 2 Teal and 6 Tufted Duck. I also saw a Buzzard circling around the sky, a Red Kite that I was surprised to have spotted and as usual 2 Kingfisher flitting around the lake. Male Tufted Duck Red Kite in the distance Here's a collage of what I think are my best photos of 2014. In case I don't post in the next week or so I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Buchan Country Park

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Today I went to Buchan Country Park. It was very cold but also sunny as well. I saw a Great-Crested Grebe, lots of black-headed gulls, a chaffinch, a treecreeper, 2 nuthatch, 6 blue tit and 5 coots. I also managed to get very close to 2 robins.  

Bird of the week: Long-Tailed Tit

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This week's bird of the week is the Long-Tailed Tit. The Long-Tailed Tit is a small bird which looks like a little ball of fluff with a very long tail! Usually seen in flocks, they are very noisy and have a very distinctive flight pattern. Their colouring is very recognisable and they're widespread across the uk.   The Long-tailed Tits nest is made of spider's webs, moss, feathers and lichen and is normally built in a bush, hedge, tree or brambles. Their diet is insects, spiders and also berries and you can also see them on feeders.  My Experiences I normally see them at Warnham Local Nature Reserve on the feeders or flitting around the trees in flocks of about 10. I can always tell them apart from the other birds because of their flight pattern.

Vote For Bob

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Hi everyone! Today's post is about the Vote For Bob campaign. Vote For Bob is about making politicians care for all our natural places and for the run up to the general election, we need to get nature on our politicians agenda. Nature in Numbers Since 1977 House Sparrow populations have declined by 64% 60% of the plants and animals surveyed in the UK are in decline Hedgehog numbers have halved in the past 25 years Scientists predict that by 2020 there will be fewer than 1000 pairs of turtle doves Representing the campaign is Bob the Red Squirrel. So far there is 51 politicians backing bob and 114,212 people have signed the petition.  You can help by voting for bob on  voteforbob.co.uk  and getting your Politician to back bob via the website.                                 

Red Squirrels

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Today's post is about Red Squirrels, which are one of my favorite animals. Red Squirrels are an instantly recognizable mammal with their red fur, ear tufts and long, bushy tails. They are native to Britain although now you can only see them in certain places. This is because of the introduction of grey squirrels. There diet is seeds, fungi, fruits and sometimes bird's eggs. Key Facts There are an estimated amount of only 140,000 red squirrels left in Britain and over 2.5 million of their rival Greys. Their young are called Kittens They build large nests called dreys. Grey squirrels transmit squirrel pox virus to the Reds, but the greys are only carriers of the disease and are immune. A Red Squirrel at the British Wildlife Centre

Bird Of The Week: Robin

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This week my bird of the week is the Robin . Normally associated with Christmas it is well known for it's bright red breast. The Robin is widespread and you can normally spot it in your garden or in the park. It eats seeds, fruit, insects and worms and will also take crumbs that have been left behind. Although its cute appearance it is very aggressive and territorial and will quickly drive intruders away. My experiences: At WWT Arundel, a very tame robin comes in and out of the hide, whilst we are still in it, searching for crumbs. I managed to get some very close-up photos of him and I could of touched him he was that close!

WWT Arundel

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Hi everyone! Today, after two weeks without going birding I finally went to WWT Arundel. :) My list of what I saw there today is: 10 Blue Tit, 3 Chaffinch, 15 Coot, 2 Cormorant, 1 Dunnock, 3 Great Tit, 2 Grey Wagtail, 1 Little Grebe, 3 Long-Tailed Tit, 20 Mallard, 10 Moorhen and 2 Mute Swan. I also saw 10 Shelduck and 2 Kingfishers that I nearly got a photo of but they were just too quick! As well as that I saw 2 Water Voles that were eating as usual! My Highlight of the day was taking photos of a Robin that was not scared of people at all, as it came in and out of the hide looking for crumbs left behind. Robin Water Vole Mallard Cormorant  Shelduck

Wildlife For the Future

Hi Everyone! As I have not been able to go birding for the last 2 weeks as I have been ill :(, I thought I would blog on my view about wildlife for the the future. My view is that in primary and secondary schools I think they should educate us more on how to look after our planet, which I think should be taught in Science or as a separate subject. This way children would be far more educated on how to not destroy our planet, but keep it thriving with wildlife and nature. Also I think that wildlife should get far more funding from the government, which www.voteforbob.co.uk  is already trying to do. This would give more money to projects to save individual species that we have lead to near extinction. Another issue is that TV Shows such as I'm a celebrity (which I do watch) are using animals as entertainment, recently giving a mutton bird (known as the declining species of the short-tailed shearwater) for the camp as dinner, which most of them did not eat any way. I hope you find

My Wildlife Art

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Hi Everyone! Today's post is on my wildlife art. As I love art and enjoy it a lot I would like to share with you just some of the pieces I have done. I will be posting more of my art soon... Drawing of the Red Deer Rut Drawing of a Murmuration of Starlings Watercolour of a Pied Wagtail Watercolour of a Puffin

More Fungi

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Today, whilst taking my dog for a walk I found this mushroom, a Fly Agaric (commonly known as a toadstool) I managed to get down low to take a photo of it.

Bird Of The Week: Kingfisher

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My bird of the week is the Kingfisher . The Kingfisher is a small, bright blue and orange bird that you will find in lakes and slow-flowing rivers. You will usually see them as just a very fast flash of blue making a shrill whistle: zee or zee-tee. To tell the male and female apart the male has a all-black bill and the female has a reddish colour to the bottom of the bill. My experiences of the Kingfisher are very rarely seeing them closely, they have only been close enough to photograph twice. Normally I just see them flying around the lake.

Warnham Nature Reserve

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Today I went to Warnham Nature Reserve in Horsham. My list of birds I saw there are: 10 Chaffinch, 3 Coal Tit, 2 Coot, 2 Cormorant, 10 Goldfinch, 2 Great Crested Grebe, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, 3 Grey Heron, 2 Nuthatch and Tufted Duck. I also saw a Sparrowhawk being chased by a crow which was quite of a surprise.

Fungi Hunting

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Over the last two weeks I have been hunting for fungi. Surprisingly it was harder than I thought! Some of them were hard to find as they were hidden under fallen autumn leaves and trees. I did manage to take some photos of what I found:

My Blog

Hi Everyone! Welcome to my blog! This is where I will be posting about what Wildlife I have seen and the photos I have taken. I hope you enjoy looking at my blog!