Hempstead Meadow - Pulling the Balsam.

A couple of years ago, I spent a couple of mornings pulling Himalayan Balsam from the Hempstead Meadow nature reserve, run by Uckfield Town Council.  I thought we had done a pretty thorough job until the next time I travelled by train and saw a band of pink at the far side of the reserve. At the time, it felt like it was taunting me.

Himalayan Balsam - pretty but invasive.

You know what they say about revenge? It's a dish best served cold. Today I, another volunteer and the Town Ranger, removed significant quantities of Balsam from two good sized areas of the reserve.  I was particularly pleased that I created spaces for seed from the pretty, frothy Meadowsweet to fall into.

Meadowsweet (centre) and Black Poplar (left back).

I knew that the Black Poplars (see back left of photo) that grow in the reserve are rare and special but I didn't know that they were such tricky breeders. Our knowledgeable ranger, Geoff, explained need a male and a female tree close enough together for pollination, then the seed must fall into ground that is "anerobic" because it has been flooded. With modern farming methods, there are few places that meet these conditions.

He also pointed out the different types of willowherb in the reserve. There is Rose-bay Willowherb near the railway, some Great Willowherb near the stickleback bridge and, new to me, Hoary Willowherb near the places where we were working.

Pink coloured Rose-bay Willowherb near the railway.

The time just whizzed by. While I was at the reserve, I saw several butterflies including colourful commas, pretty little moths and all sorts of intriguing insects.

A weird little Tortoise sheildbug.

As a gardener, I'm not a big fan of molluscs but I was rather taken with the golden coloured snails I found in the Balsam.

Marsh snail.

When I had had enough, I pottered off home, stopping briefly to check out the spot where I had previously seen a stickleback nest. I didn't see any fish this time but there was a variety of flowers including yellow loosestrife.

Yellow loosestrife near "stickleback" bridge.

30 Days Wild - Free the Human

It's just a few days since I finished my 3 days wild. I've seen so many surprising and lovely things, from Bee Orchids on waste ground in Birmingham to the creatures that visit our Uckfield garden.

I wouldn't be me if I didn't reflect on and analyse my 30 days wild. So here is a wordle based on my #30DaysWild tweets.


As you can see, I've been observing nature in my home town of Uckfield (in Sussex) and my current place of work, near Birmingham. Although the weekly commute is a chore, it's given me a chance to be wild in both the city and the countryside. Given the challenge to find wildlife every day motivated me to really look at places near the office and hotels giving me some unforgettable encounters.

Young house martins at the Arden Hotel

I notice that two words I used a lot were love and enjoy. I had an absolute ball trying to find nature every day. It gave me the impetus to explore new places. It also gave me a reason to really look at familiar friends like my favourite bee.

Patchwork leaf cutter bee in my Uckfield garden.

All this searching for wildlife is a pleasant way of taking exercise. Tiny interludes, like a teleconference taken outside or visiting a pond next to the office, can make the working day less stressful and more fun. At work, we recently received an email suggesting we spend a few minutes outside in the sun each day to top up vitamin D levels. Who am I to argue?


Topping up vitamin D as per my employer's instructions.

I've been exploring outside wherever I find myself - not just waiting for holidays. In Birmingham, I discovered a huge park just opposite one of the hotels I use. Closer to home, I visited Chailey Common properly for the first time. I hope to be exploring both places much more in the future.

Ellie-May and Hamish bracken rolling at Chailey Common.

Some of my wildlife encounters came about because others were generous with their knowledge. When a fellow commuter at Uckfield station realised I was interested in the local wildlife, he told me where to look for a pair of grey wagtails. In turn I showed some of my colleagues where to find orchids in a surprising place.




Bee orchids at Trinity Park business park, near NEC Birmingham.



I just have to do it - 30 days wild in numbers:

• 76 Tweets
• 12 blog posts
• about 100 photos shared out of a thousand taken
• 3 drawings.

Drawing of Tern in front of an NEC hotel.

I've learnt so much from 30 days wild. Obviously, I've learnt about the wildlife around me but there is much more. Just one example - getting the photos that told the stories I wanted to share, really pushed my photographic skills.

I've even found that I am using my senses more.  I like to observe things but my observations have tended to be visual. Over the 30 Days, I've been listening much more to the twitter of house martins arriving at their nests, buzzing bees and swishing grasses. I've enjoyed feeling the wind and rain on my face, tasting the sweetness of strawberries eaten straight from the garden, touching rough barked trees and soft fur.

Taking a few minutes out of the working day to get wildlife photos.

So will I continue my wild life? Of course I will.

30 Days Wild - Days 29 and 30 - Journey's End

This is the last blog of my 30 Days Wild Series.  My wildlife journey is coming to an end.

Monday, 29th June

This was a busy, busy day. I had planned to do a particular piece of work that needed a whole day's clear run. I had everything planned - but, as they say, if you want to make God laugh, make plans.  There was a crisis, not a huge one - but enough to get me and others scrambling round sorting things out for much of the morning. After all that, I just had to get outside to shed some of the stresses that had built up.

Me out in the sunshine, with wildflowers in my Uckfield garden.

As I listened to the buzzing bees and grasses swishing in the wind, I spotted a number of butterflies and wondered vaguely why I hadn't seen any in Birmingham. There's certainly no shortage of flowers for them to visit.

Tuesday, 30th June

Tuesday saw my last run up to Birmingham for a while. I met a few human and animal acquaintances on the way up including the grey wagtails that I first saw a couple of weeks back. This time they were dipping in the River, in sight of the station platform.

One of a pair of grey wagtails dipping in the Uck.

I took a few moments at lunch time to check out the pond by our office. The coot was still defending its patch and the tufted duck had 7 little fuzzy ducklings.  Over the past couple of weeks, the white water lilies and yellow monkey flowers had started to bloom.

Tufted duck and ducklings

After work, a colleague and I went exploring. We found another house martin nest at the front of the hotel. It must have been there a while because the fledglings had left the nest and were lined up on the edge of the roof. On the way to the station, there are still plenty of flowers at the roadside.

Roadside roses.

We decided to have a look round the NEC park, and crossed the Pendigo lake using the boardwalk.  We expected to find a few ducks and maybe a coot or moorhen. However, 30 Days Wild had saved one of its biggest surprises until last. I was looking up at the house martins prospecting round the upper floors of the unfinished Resort World Hotel. I don't suppose they had much luck, the walls look too smooth for them. Then a flash of white. An impossibly elegant tern was swooping over the water, occasionally dipping for food.

Look carefully on the right of the photo to see the tern.

We spent time watching the tern and then moved on, passing the Crown Plaza, which was set up for a rather grand function. Within a few yards of the tables with their fancy floral arrangements, simple ox-eye daisies drew my eye to the Hilton Metropole on the other side of the lake.

Ox-eye daisies in the fading light.

A pair of ducks kept pace as we drifted along the footpath. After a few minutes, we decided that the Arden's restaurant was calling us, and turned back. As we returned along the boardwalk, an untidy, almost primeval, flurry of feathers announced the arrival of the heron, which settled into its lakeside home.

Not far from the roadside roses we passed earlier, I saw my first Birmingham butterfly, a meadow brown, settling on wayside flowers after a busy day fluttering around. Like my 30 days wild it had reached the end of its journey but will set out on a new one soon.

30 Days Wild - Days 27 and 28 - Keeping it Local

30 Days Wild is drawing to a close. I wondered about trying to do something special for this weekend but, in the end, I had too much stuff that just had to be dealt with so I just kept it local.

Saturday, 27th June

For some reason I decided it would be a really good idea to go butterfly hunting before I was properly up, so apologies to early bird neighbours 'treated' to the sight of me chasing butterflies round garden while still in my dressing gown.

Um. Sorry.

All I can say in my defence is that it is from the excellent Carvills in our town, so I'm supporting local independent shops. Also I managed to get my first sighting of a meadow brown this year, 2 weeks later than in 2014.

Meadow Brown.

Once I was properly up (and dressed) I went across the road for a newspaper and enjoyed the sight of the Brighter Uckfield/The Uckfield Singers Community Choir planter in full bloom. Even better, there were two white-tailed bumble bees feasting on the flowers.

Planter outside Tesco Express on Manor Park, Uckfield.

White-tailed bumble bee on begonia.

One of the big treats of the weekend was opening up my Trail Camera to find out who has been visiting.

Another day-time visit - this time in good light.

Two young foxes have visited 3 times in the last 2 weeks.

It was particularly nice to see the young foxes visiting as, on Saturday afternoon, I found some soft, almost downy, brown fur. My guess is that the young foxes are beginning to shed their baby fluff.

Sunday, 28th June

Since we replaced the back window, we've had some birds hit it, including the unfortunate blackbird that I mentioned in 30 Days Wild - Days 7 to 12 - Travelling. I've added some stickers (from Allsorts in Uckfield) to try and prevent collisions.

Butterfly stickers on our back window.

After arranging my stickers, I did a little potting up and was amazed and delighted to see the tail-end of a bee disappearing into a small volcano-like hole in the earth between some paving slabs. I've seen various mining and leafcutter bees around the garden so it is good to see them making nests.

I spent most of the day editing the wild-life friendly part of the garden at the front. There is a fine line between a fairly natural-looking space and a mess. Part of that is keeping paths passable. The red-valerian is now more-or-less upright rather than sprawled over the paving, the forsythia will no longer whack tall people when they walk to our door and the lilac is now tree-shaped. While I was doing all this, I found an assortment of insects - so I'll leave you with some love bugs.

Mating Hawthorn Sheildbugs.

 

30 Days Wild - Days 22 to 26 - Bee Orchids and Fledging House Martins

For this run of days through the working week, I expected a quiet run of everyday nature spotting. It started that way, but after dutifully noting snails and foxes, all I can say is "That escalated quickly."

Monday, 22nd June

Who knew that common garden snails were this colourful in the rain?

Deep colours and intricate patterns on snail shells.

Tuesday, 23rd June

Looking out of the train window on the way to Birmingham, I noticed that haymaking has started. Just a couple of days after the solstice it feels like the year is turning. As I was gazing at ripening wheat, there was a roe deer up to it's chestnut coloured back in the crop. A few miles on, just before Hever, a fox nimbly scaled a steep bank. On the other side of the track, as the train was pulling into South Croydon, I saw another nosing round the trackside brambles.

Once in Trinity Park business park, I momentarily startled a bunny, which soon went back to the important business of eating the local greenery.

After, I checked into the Arden hotel I was pleased to get a room with a good view of the house martins nest I photographed a couple of weeks ago. I was happy to see that they were still visiting the nest. Before I headed down to dinner, I was treated to a fabulous flying display by these incredible little birds.

Wednesday, 24th June

I left the hotel early, intending to walk round the area for a bit and glanced rather casually at a piece of waste ground in the business park where I work. I was stunned by what I saw. 

Bee orchids in Trinity Business Park, in sight of Birmingham NEC.

There were 14 lovely flower spikes. I may spend much of my life in Sussex, looking at the local nature reserves and other beauty spots but I have never seen bee orchids before. At lunch time, I took some colleagues out to see them.

In the evening, I went exploring. The footpath I had intended to follow was trapped between high security fences and rather too intimidating to tackle by myself. Instead, I meandered along some of the cycle/walkways by the main roads. As I was coming back I surprised an adorable family of young bunnies and just managed to get a photo on my phone as they hid under a privet bush. 

Family of rabbits hiding in bushes, just below flyover.

As I passed the tunnel that leads to the NEC's Genting arena, a colourful pair of bullfinches caught my eye. Approaching the disused ground in Trinity Park, I alarmed a green woodpecker, which shot into the trees between the empty area and the Arden Hotel. When I say empty, I really mean full of wild plants and inhabited by a family of rabbits.  I looked across hoping to see them. There were a couple of good-sized bunnies but, even better, there were dozens more orchids, taking the number of flower spikes up to 50.

Detail of a bee orchid.

After the important business of dinner, I flopped back into my room and watched the house martins flying in the fading evening light.

Clouds in fading, evening light.

Thursday, 25 June

It was before seven when I checked what 'my' house martins were doing. There seemed to be a small group of birds going between the nest and the main group, which was now about 10 birds strong. My house martins had fledged! I breakfasted and checked out as quickly as I could and spent some time watching and photographing the birds.

3 house martins close to the nest.

I was a bit puzzled about what was happening. There was clearly a bird still in the nest - you could just see a head looking out. But who were the other birds? Were they prospective mates? Birds wanting to take over the nearly empty nest? 

A "House Martin Diary" BTO newsletter from 2011 explained what was going on. "First group ... has fledged today, taking short flights in and out of nests ... [A few days later, after bad weather] the recent fledglings have remained secure in their nests relying on parents to continue feeding them."

So that was the answer, the young birds had fledged but were still using the nest as a base.

Friday, 26 June

First thing in the morning after getting home, I had to get a young magpie out of the conservatory. Third time in a couple of weeks. This is getting silly

Finally, to round off the working week, a sunny display of birds-foot-trefoil from a no mow area of our - ahem - lawn.

Birds-foot-trefoil.

30 Days Wild - Day 21 - Working Horses at Chailey Common

Day 21 gave me a chance to see some old friends. Monty, Ellie-May and Hamish are three Ardennes horses that I have previously seen logging in Wilderness Wood. They belong to the Working Horse Trust and can be seen doing various types of work around the area. This weekend they were bracken rolling at Chailey Common.  The Uckfield FM article, Working horses join the fight against invasive bracken, explains this conservation work.

Saturday, 21st June

I parked on the road just below Chailey Memorial Common and enjoyed seeing the wild flowers along this peaceful stretch of road.

Foxglove by huge oak trunk.

 Swinging off the road, I encountered a dampish patch full of lush ferns and red campion and caught a glimpse of a female blackcap.

Ferns and red campion.

I followed a little path through some woodland and up a slope covered in bracken and heather. I was just beginning to wonder where the horses were, when I saw them. The people from the Trust were putting their harnesses on, ready for work.

Monty - nearly ready.

I enjoyed watching the whole patient process sheltered from the wind by a sturdy oak. While I waited, I could hear a family of blue-tits calling to each other from within its welcoming branches.

Monty (Nearest) and Ellie May - Chailey Heritage in the background.

Monty and Ellie May (Nearest) rolling bracken.

The teams walked up and down, pulling the rollers that crush the bracken stems and weaken its growth. The drivers exert amazing control over these powerful creatures using just a few words and gentle touches on the reins. I was briefly distracted when I heard a shrill cry overhead and saw three buzzards overhead.

Hamish with the other team in the background.

Hamish up to his knees in bracken.

I managed to get a bit lost on the way back to the car but fortunately the Working Horse Trust people are as patient with daft, stray humans as they are with their horses and they got me back on course.

30 Days Wild - Day 20 - Where are all my Hoverflies?

Day 20 was about trying to track down some insect life, specifically hoverflies.

Saturday, 20 June

This morning, I had an online conversation, in the Facebook group UK Hoverflies about how few hoverflies we have been seeing recently. Until today, I had been assuming it was just me seeing so few of these insects. So I decided to keep my eyes peeled for insect life throughout the day.

Ichneumon Wasp

First thing, when I went to get the newspaper, I saw a gangly black and yellow creature in the wild flower patch I mentioned at the end of yesterday's post. I just managed to snap a rather iffy photo with my phone - I though it was a field digger wasp.  However, a verifier on iRecord kindly pointed out that it was an  Ichneumon wasp - possibly Ambylytes.

On the way back from the town, I went through the Hempstead Fields nature reserve. 

Hemlock water dropwort - alive with honey bees.

The reserve was full of hemlock water dropwort, which was alive with honey bees. For a while, I followed a small tortoiseshell butterfly. It looked very fresh and bright but, encumbered by shopping, I couldn't get a photo. Butterfly 1 : Wendy 0.

Back at home, I had some clearing up to do in the garden and looked out for insects. There was one early and a few white-tailed bumblebees. There were also 3 honeybees on the borage. I had another look round and found a distinctive black and yellow sawfly on a rose bush.

Sawfly - probably Allantus cingulatus

Finally, I found some hoverflies. There were four of the wonderfully named marmalade hoverflies stationed round the garden and a Syrphus ribesii.

Syrphus ribesii

Otherwise the insects I saw were too tiny or too fast to photograph. The last creature I found was a hawthorn shield bug, which fell into my hand while I was tidying our hop and refused to let go when I was trying to put it back where I found it.

Hawthorn shield bug.

Oh, and earlier on, I bought this bee house when I was shopping . The green token went in the East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service section. These were the people who took in an injured wood pigeon from our garden.

So, not a huge number of insects but a fair amount of fun and interest.