Big Garden Birdwatch - 2022

I did this morning's #BigGardenBirdwatch from 8:20 to 9:20am. It was bright but cold. I melted the ice in the bird bath, put some seed on the bird table and got going.  I didn't even wait to get inside, I heard the 'teacher, teacher' cry of the Great Tit and spotted a bunch of fat Woodpigeons dozing in the Oak and got recording.

Woodpigeons dozing and preening.

Then some small brown jobs are tumbling through our hedge - 3 cheeky House Sparrows. Scanning carefully with my binoculars I found a Dunnock. Far above, at the top of one of our birches, a Magpie. Then, for a long time, it seemed to go quiet.

Where are all the birds?

I prowled round the house, straining to see movement outside. Nothing around except the pigeons.  A movement in our birches caught my eye. Three little balls of yellow fluff - Bluetits - had appeared amongst the stunning black and white branches and trunks. They were soon joined by the Great Tit that I had already counted. Even so, I took a moment to admire its smart plumage against the white trunks and blue sky.

I moved to the back of the house to see if there was anything there.  A few starlings on the phone wires - but I can't count those. Then one drifted down into the Magnolia tree. The rest stayed stubbornly on the wire. A charm of Goldfinches flew straight past our garden into our neighbour's. A strong throbbing song from the top of our conifer drew my attention to a Robin. One of our usually reliably greedy Blackbirds had finally appeared to claim one of the grapes we had scattered outside earlier.

With the end of the hour coming into view, a shape appears in the Robinia and promptly disappeared behind a thick branch. Another pigeon? Then a pointed beak appeared followed by a bright blue eye. I added the Jackdaw to my list.

I give the Oak tree one more look - and found a Jay perching close to the group of Woodpigeons.  It has been visiting the garden for sometime.  In the Autumn, I spotted it caching acorns, so maybe it is back for a snack.

The final score.

I saw 20 birds from 11 species - very slightly more than last year.

New Year Plant Hunt 2022 - Uckfield North

 Last year I started my post about the BSBI New Year Plant Hunt by saying "I was in two minds about doing the BSBI's New Year Plant Hunt this year. Covid-19 levels are running high and there is a new, more infectious strain around." I could have started this year's post with the same two sentences. However both Mum and I have had our vaccinations and boosters and we understand more about transmission so being amongst people outside is less worrying than a year ago. On the botanical side, I wondered what effect the relentless rain had had on the flowers I was hoping to find.

Winter Heliotrope, London Road side of Manor Park

I rushed to London Road (a bit South of the Ringles) to note the Winter Heliotrope (Petasites fragrans) that grows on the London Road side of Manor Park.  On the way, I saw many of the usual weeds such as Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris), Daisy (Bellis perennis) etc. 

Pellitory-of-the-wall, corner of Regency Close

I headed directly down the High Street, recording species as I went. At the corner of Regency Close, I found Pellitory-of-the-wall (Parietaria judaica), a plant for which the word non-descript could have been invented.

Pellitory-of-the-wall closeup

I had to use a hand lens to reveal the tiny flowers. A quick nose round Holy Cross's churchyard gave me a Yellow Corydalis (Corydalis lutea).

Bush Vetch, Belmont Road

Belmont Road is a lovely old lane leading from the Church to the Oast House and allotments. It was a real pleasure to see the Bush Vetch (Vicia sepium) blooming for the third time since I started doing the New Year Plant Hunt in 2015.

Dandelion, Uckfield Fire Station

I checked the hedge round the allotments but, in spite of the Hawthorn having buds, there wasn't a single flower. However there was a cheeky Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) near the Fire Station. 

Lesser Celandine

As I headed along the path towards the Meads, I spotted a Lesser Celandine, my first since 2018. 

Hazel, star-shaped female flower top left, male catkins just lengthening

At first, I thought that the Hazel (Corylus avellana) in the strip between path and bypass was going to let me down but I went and had a closer look.  Just a few of the male catkins were lengthening and one tiny female flower enabled me to add Hazel to my list. The fact I was knee-deep in brambles peering into a bush also attracted some friendly curiosity. We chatted about which flowers I had found and shared a smile when a Robin decided to check us out.

Gorse, Bellbrook Business Park

They say "When gorse is out of bloom, kissing is out of season." and sure enough, I found Gorse (Ulex europaeus) blooming on Bellbrook Business Park. 

Annual Mercury, Bellbrook Business Park

Just round the corner, I found a number of Annual Mercury (Mercurialis annua) plants not far from when I found it in 2017.

Fools Parsley, Bellbrook Business Park,

A little further along, there were some Alder trees with lengthening, pollen-laden catkins. While I noted these down I noticed a miserable-looking plant at their feet. I couldn't make anything of it at the time and had to take a piece home for proper identification.  After much peering at books and keys, I ended up with Fools Parsley (Aethusa cynapium). Tim Rich of the Sussex Botanical Recording Society and Moira O'Donnell of the BSBI 2022 #NewYearPlantHunt team kindly confirmed this.  

At this point the clouds began to roll over and, conscious that my three hours was nearly up, I made for home and set about untangling my results.

2022 - 45 species of which 5 were naturalised garden plants that had 'jumped the fence'

2021 - 46 species of which 6 were naturalised 

2020 - 36 species of which 4 were naturalised

2019 - 45 species of which 4 were naturalised

2018 - 28 species of which 3 were naturalised

2017 - 23 species of which 2 were naturalised

2016 - 34 species of which 4 were naturalised

2015 - 21 species of which 2 were naturalised 

Species found in bloom - Wildflowers

Species found in bloom- naturalised