Day 15 - The Kingfisher - 30 Days Wild

Day 15: Star Species

Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)

Without doubt, one of my favourite bird is the kingfisher. I haven't seen many in my life and it was only last year I saw my first one. A spectacular, colourful little bird that is so charming to see and I get so excited when I get a glimpse of one.

Recently on Facebook I noticed there had been a few spotted in a lovely little place called 'Forest Farm' in Whitechurch, Cardiff. A great place and a haven to wildlife with some really good bird hides. We got comfortable in one of the hides and waited; whilst waiting we meet a lot of lovely people all eager to to get a glimpse of this beautiful bird.

A few other birds made an appearance, including a grey heron, green woodpecker and moorhens:

Grey Heron

Adult moorhen

Juvenile Moorhen

It must have been well over an hour before we got our reward, my partner Dan spotted it in the back of the pond. It was quite hard to see at first, with the orange breast blending into the reeds. But as soon as he started flying, with that striking blue, there was no way you could miss him.

The beautiful kingfisher at Forest Farm

Unfortunately, he was only around for about a minute and never returned when we were there. We didn't mind, we saw him and that was enough to make us smile!

I will definitely make Forest Farm one of my 'go to' birding places, it's great! Here are some of the other treats we saw:

Closeup of a Magpie from one of the hides

Great Tit

Not far from the education building we discovered this little patch of wild flowers; isn't beautiful? I would much rather see flowers like this than a well mowed lawn :)

Red tailed bumble bee collecting pollen from a cornflower.

Interesting Facts about Kingfishers:

• Kingfishers nest in burrows in the river bank.
• The kingfisher's feathers are not actually that colourful; the brilliant blue of the kingfisher’s back feathers are not the result of pigment, but the result of light striking specially modified layers of feather cells.
• In Victorian times, many kingfishers were shot and stuffed to put in glass cases, while their feathers were widely used to adorn hats.

Day 10 - The Mute Swan - 30 Days Wild 2017

Day 10: Star Species

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)

Today we popped down to one of our local man-made lakes in Swansea - Fendrod. I had a bag of swan and duck feed in the car so thought I would see what waterfowl was there. There was quite a selection of breeds; mallard, coots, sparrows, swallows and a lot of mute swans.

What magnificent birds there are. Unfortunately, this time I couldn't see any cygnets. Last year there were quite a few little ones, including a few hitching a lift on mum's back...

Cygnets on the back of mum last year on Fendrod Lake

More about them - Mute swans are a familiar and impressive sight in Britain, often found on ponds and rivers in parks and other urban areas.

The mute swan is one of Britain's largest and heaviest waterbirds. Mostly white with a long S-shaped neck, and an orange bill. They have a wingspan of up to 2.4 metres, which can be intimidating when the males are threatened by intruders and protect their territory. They strike an aggressive pose with wings arched over they back, before charging at them and chasing them off.

The population in the UK has increased recently, perhaps due to better protection of this species. Locally there were a regular pair of swans that breed every year on the banks of the canal. Unfortunately, something happened this year and the pair vacated the nest whilst there were eggs there. No one really knew what had happened and it's sad we will not see cygnets on the canal this year. Below are some pictures of them from last year...

Interesting Facts:

• Throughout history, the Swan has been featured in many Russian ballets and fairy tales including Swan Lake and The Ugly Duckling.
• By tradition, all mute swans belong to the monarch; the Queen has a prerogative over all swans in England and Wales. 
• Aristotle and Socrates believed that swans singing was heightened as death approaches, giving rise to the idea of the swan song.

Day 9 - The Rabbit - 30 Days Wild 2017

Day 9: Star Species

Wild Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

This evening it finally stopped raining so we decided to stop by my local SSSi reserve; Crymlyn Burrows. I absolutely love this place, which is situated next to a very busy A road. Once you are there, amongst an array of unusual plants, mammals and birds, the traffic seems like miles away.

In the short time we were there we spotted: fox, green woodpeckers, long tailed tit, chaffinches and lots of rabbits. 

More about them - The rabbit are one of the UK's most commonest and most widespread mammals. They live in burrows, otherwise know as a warren. It can be found in a number of different habitats: grassland, cultivated land, woodland, farm land and coastal cliffs - infact anywhere it can breed and find food.

Wild rabbits live in large colonies and up to 200 individuals can be in one warren. They only live for approximately 18 months in the wild but can breed throughout the year. They can produce around 7 young each time and one  pair of rabbits can produce up to 1000 rabbits within a year.

Rabbits have many predators; stoat, fox, birds of prey and of course man. Their long ears are adapted for detecting nearby predators.

Skomer Island - I have been to Skomer Island in Pembrokeshire many times and the rabbits on the island always interest me. In the 13th Century rabbits were brought to the island where it was used as warren knowing the rabbits could not escape. Today, the burrows are shared between rabbits, puffins and the manx shearwater.

A pair of rabbits on Skomer Island

Interesting Facts:

• Rabbits are not native to Britain; the Normans brought them here in the 12th century from Spain and South-West France. They were mainly used for fur and meat, but many escaped into the wild, eventually becoming one of our Nations' most common mammals. 
• Rabbits re-swallow up to 80% of their faeces to use their food more efficiently (yuk!)

Day 8 - The Shieldbug - 30 Days Wild 2017

Day 8: Star Species

Green Shield Bug (Palomena prasina)

This time every year my garden is full of these lovely bugs; they spent most of the time mating in bushes throughout the garden. I love watching them (that sounds odd, sorry) and taking pics of them, they are also fascinating creatures. 

More about them - Coming soon...

Shieldbug eggs

Interesting Facts:

• It is often called the Green Stink Bug - it produces a foul smelling liquid when in danger and only has a few natural enemies.
• They mate by contacting their rears together .
• It's hard to tell the difference between the males and females
• In Mexico they are eaten both live and cooked - their pungent odour gives a dish an aromatic flavour. (yuk!)

Day 6 - The Blue Tit - 30 Days Wild 2017

 

Day 4: Star Species

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)

The last few days I have had a few Blue Tits visiting the garden with their three fledglings. It was another horrible cold day today, but managed to get a few snaps of the fledglings in my neighbours tree.

More about them - The Blue Tit is a colourful little bird; made up of a mix of blue, yellow, white and green. It was one of the most regular garden birds with numbers increasing in the UK. 98% of British gardens have reported having a Blue Tit in them, especially in winter.

They usually breed the third week of April and can lay anything from 7 to 13 eggs. The chicks hatch naked and blind and as they grow the parents have the hard task to feed them. Their main diet at this age is caterpillars and each chick can eat up to 100 caterpillars each day; if there's 10 chicks that's 1000 caterpillars a day!

When they ready to fledge it becomes am extrememly dangerous time for them. They will stay with the parents for a few weeks and learn how to find food and avoid predators quickly. Unfortunately starvation kills many young birds after fledging and the domestic cat is a major cause of mortality.

Fledgling in the tree (notice how it's cheeks are yellow, not white like the adult)

Interesting Facts:

• An excited blue tit can be recognised by erect, short crest on the nape.
• Hawks, sparrows, magpies and cats are predators of adult birds, while squirrels also attack chicks.

Day 5- World Environment Day - 30 Days Wild 2017

Day 5: World Environment Day

Unfortunately no 'Star Species' today; the rain hasn't stopped all day. it's really cold and very windy too. Is it June? You could have fooled me!

I was stressing what to do for today's #30DaysWild so I discovered it was 'World Environment Day'. I haven't picked up a pencil or paintbrush for the last few months, so I took the plunge and created a quick sketch.

World Environment Day is one of the biggest annual events for positive environmental action, it takes place on the 5th June every year.  The theme this year was 'connecting people to nature'; this is to encourage people to get outdoors and appreciate nature's beauty and importance (very similar to what #30DaysWild are doing).

Day 4 - The Small Magpie - 30 Days Wild 2017

Day 4: Star Species

Small Magpie (Anania hortulata)

Dicovered a small moth in the garden today, did a bit of research and discovered it is called the 'small magpie' moth. 

More about them - There are 2 magpie moths in the UK. The one I spotted is the 'small magpie' which is classed as a micro moth. It's common in Southern England and Wales, although it is the first time I have spotted one in my garden. A day flying moth that spends a lot of it's time in nettles and mint plants.

Interesting Facts:

• The small magpie moth gets its name from the black and white markings on the wings.
• The caterpillars remain hidden from predators by feeding inside a rolled up leaf.

Day 3 -The Spoonbill - 30 Days Wild 2017

Day 3: Star Species

Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)

For the last few weeks there have been numerous sightings of Spoonbills in my local Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust in Llanelli. Infact at one point there were 4 - making it a centre record. The Spoonbill is very uncommon and I was lucky to spot a few on my Day 3 of 30 Days Wild: making it my Star Species of the day!

More about them - This species is almost unmistakable to identify. Almost as big as a heron, these tall white birds have long black legs and an impressive long spatulate bill. The adults have a black bill with a yellow tips, whilst the juvenile has more of a pink coloured bill.

They feed in an elegant way, sweeping their bills back and fro in the water for food. Their diet consists of mainly aquatic insects, newts, frogs, tadpoles, crustaceans and small fish. Check out the below video of a juvenile and adult spoonbill searching for food (check out the colour of their bills.)

The spoonbill is a regular but scarce bird in the UK. They were once hunted so heavily that they were virtually wiped out of Britain.  Numbers are increasing though, in 2005, there were under 20 of them but in 2016, their numbers have grown to over 60. 

This is a juvenile spoonbill with a few black headed gulls & lapwings

Amazing spoon-like bills!

Interesting Facts:

• The latin name: Platalea means 'broad' referring to the shape of the bill. Leukos 'white' and erodias 'heron' - Broad white heron.
• In October 2014 - A rare sighting of the largest flock of Spoonbills ever seen in Britain was recorded. 47 birds were sighted at Brownsea Island Lagoon in Dorset. 

Day 2 - The Starling - 30 Days Wild 2017

Day 2: Star Species

Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

Love them or loathe them there is no denying the starling is an amazing bird and regulars in my garden. For many years they have been coming everyday and around about this time every year the kids join them! Today I spent almost all day trying to catch a pair of blue tits with 3 fledglings on camera, but they were proving difficult - so instead I want to concentrate on the starling and the first starling fledgling that showed up today.

More about them - A lot of people think starlings are just dark, dull birds but if you really look at a starling (especially in sunlight) you will be surprised how beautifully colourful it is: glossy with a sheen of purples and greens (see for yourself with the below video...)

Juveniles however are dull brown in colour, some with a pale throat. They moult completely in the autumn to reveal the spotty adult plumage. The chicks are fed an all-invertebrate diet by both parents before and after they fly the nest in around May. 

Adult & juvenile together

Unfortunately Starlings have had something of a bad press. Some people see these birds are bullies and noisy, plus when they visit gardens in groups means they can empty bird tables in minutes, making them appear greedy. I on the other hand welcome them and love to see them. 

Starling singing it's creative song "whistle, click, whistle..."

They are an extremely intelligent and adaptable bird that has the ability to mimic other bird calls and machines (such as car alarms and telephones) - they haven't really got a 'song' just a medley of squeaks, clicks and whistles.

"Safety in numbers..."

Murmurations - Have you ever seen a starling murmuration? If you have, you know how spectacular it is. If you haven't I can't recommend it enough - it's nature at it's best. Starlings are highly sociable and flocks of 1000s gather in the evening and perform fantastic aerobatic displays before dropping into their roost sites. They gather in these huge numbers for safety as predators (such as sparrowhawks) find it hard to pick out an individual bird - they also benefit by keeping warm amongst the other birds and exchange information.

Below is a video I filmed at The Wildlife Centre in Cilgerran a few years ago (a fabulous place to see the spectacle in the winter.)

"they need help..."

Unfortunately the number of starlings have dropped dramatically in the last 30 years - in the UK this result is almost an 80% population decrease. They are now on the red list and even though they still seem a garden regular they have decreased in other areas - they need help. There are several causes of the decline: including loss of invertebrates through the use of pesticides, fewer nesting sites in urban areas and changes in farming practices.

What can we do to help?

• Starlings eat lots of insects, so it's important you keep your lawn: they love leatherjackets (the larve of crane flies) and dig in the grass looking for them. 
• Plant a berry tree (such as an elder) - they love to eat the berries 
• Erect a large nest box with a 45mm diameter hole high up on a shady wall of your house. 

Some of my regulars on a neighbour's aerial

Interesting Facts:

• The word 'murmuration' is used to describe their aerial display, but originally referred to the sound of wings rippling through the flock.
• Do you know how starlings got their name? In winter starlings have lots of pale spots all over their dark bodies. The white spots on dark plumage were thought to look like the night sky - so they were named 'Star'ling (sweet!).

Day 1 - The viviparous lizard - 30 Days Wild 2017

Day 1: Star Species

The viviparous lizard (Lacerta vivipara)

Today is fitting to focus on the viviparous lizard (common lizard) as my footage was featured on tonight's 'SpringWatch' - it was in the segment with Iolo Williams & Martin Hughes-Games talking about sand lizards in North Wales (Episode 4, 2017). 

Where I have seen them? I live in South Wales, near Swansea and I have seen lizards in many places. Along the Gower coast path, next to cycling paths and along boardwalks in nature reserves. Alot of people I know have never seen one, but if you know where to look (and the conditions are right) you can spot them quite easily.

More about them - The common lizard is the UK's most common and widespread reptile. It is found across many different habitats including moorland, woodland, sea cliffs, dry stone walls, urban areas and railway banks. If your garden backs onto any of these habitats then there's a good chance you could have these lizards living in it. They spend a lot of time basking in the sun to warm up enough to be able to hunt. Their prey usually consist of insects, spiders, snails and earthworms. Unfortunately they are vulnerable to a number of predators including foxes, crows and domestic cats.

"Creepy, but clever trick..."

If the lizard feels threatened by a predator then they have a creepy, but clever little trick called autotomy: this means they can shed their tail at will. The tail is able to move up to half an hour after separation, the idea is the predator will attack the wriggling tail, enabling the lizard to make a quick getaway. Here is a video (the one that appeared on Springwatch) of a lizard I came across last year which had done the exact thing...

Luckily the tail will regenerate and grow back - this usually leaves a scar and grows back a different colour and usually shorter.

Common lizards come in various colours (browns to grey) with darker markings along the back bordered. Males tend to be spotty and females tend to be stripy.

The young are mostly all black or brown.

The Common Lizard hibernates and after emerging the males defend breeding territories from other males. They mate in April or May - If the female is not interested she will bite the male fiercely. They mostly breed during April and May and they give birth to an average of seven live young. The adults can grow between 13-15cm and have a life span around 5-6 years.

Interesting Facts:

• The species is unusual among reptiles for 'giving birth' to live young rather than laying eggs. 
• Autotomy is from the Greek auto - "self and tome - "severing"  

Day 28 - 30 Days Wild - Pond dipping

* Today's random act of wildness - Pond dipping *

Day 28 and what horrid weather - it had rained almost all day! Finally at around 7.30pm the sun began to come up so we decided to go to Penllergare Valley Woods, a local woodland to see if there was any activity in the small pond there. Earlier in the year when we visited there were lots of tadpoles, so hopefully we would see some frogs or toads.

This is what we discovered...

The small pond full of lilies

A young toad in the grass

Young frog with water boatman 

Damsel Nymph

Newt Larvae - you can tell it's a newt tadpole because of the feathery gills around the head, distinguishing them from frog and toad tadpoles.

An adult newt, the water was too murky to tell if it was Palmate or smooth (definitely not great crested)

Another newt larvae

Young frog...

...this one still had it's tail

A huge dragonfly nymph

The sun starts setting and we decided it was time to leave.

Wildling enjoying climbing trees!