I've not got the energy at the minute to think of a neat title or chose a themed track.
I emptied the moth trap this morning to the chirpy repetitiveness of a
Chiffchaff on the embankment next to the garden. I wonder if any other early
warblers had arrived, so between medical appointments and other tasks I nipped
to both Jubilee Park and Everards Meadows for a quick walk through.
Jubilee Park was quiet, no sign of the Oystercatchers and nothing else new in.
A quick look at the new 'scrape' gave up nothing but wagtails. Everards
Meadows was busy around the car park/cafe area, but as ever it doesn't take
much to walk away off the main paths and avoid people. The scrubby cover
between the meadows were alive with birdsong, but aside from another couple of
Chiffchaffs no other warblers. Not surprised as it's early, but this will be
the best chance on my patch of picking up Garden Warbler I reckon.
Who doesn't like a smart Pied Wagtail in spring though? I also found a fallen
dead ash tree covered in Cramp Balls. You would be amazed what I found on
that.
Back at home, the garden Snakes-head Fritillaries have pushed through and not
far from full flowering, so it can only be a matter of days before the first
Scarlet Lily Beetles show up.
The moth trap incidentally was devoid of anything new, but this Red-green
Carpet is from Sunday night.
Another day, another place, another walk. This morning though I had no real
constraints, so I fancied heading out for a longer walk than I've been doing.
It was a frosty start with remnants of Sunday's snow still lying, but the
forecast was for a dull day with rain from mid-morning so I opted to head out
early. I needed to fill up the fuel tank and sort my tyre pressures out anyway
so headed to Sainsbury's at Fosse Park (where I usually fill up as it has pay
at pump) and then parked up at the newly-established Everards Meadows site on
the other side of the big junction. This site is within my pre-defined Soar
Valley South patch, but back then it was not opened up and accessible like it
is now though some of the area beyond it along the Soar and Grand Union Canal
was accessible from the other side. On the aerial map, the area is a swathe of
green sandwiched between urban areas.
The red dot is the car park for Everards Meadows; the blue dot is where I
joined the canal tow path after crossing the River Soar on a newly constructed
bridge; the cyan dot is where the canal and river pass underneath the Soar
Valley Way (which is the northern boundary of my patch) and marks the southern
boundary of Aylestone Meadows; the yellow dot is Kings Lock; the magenta dot
marks the point where the River Soar and Grand Union Canal converge, and the
orange dot is as far as I walked before heading back.
Right from the start it looked like it was going to be dark all day, with a
hazy sun rapidly disappearing behind cloud.
This frozen over area is not a pond, it's where a patch of osier and rush has
been flooded. There was a handful of pipits and wagtails pottering about over
the ice, but nothing other than Meadow and Pied.
Meadow Pipit about to try for a triple-salchow
The river was flowing okay, perhaps flowing a bit faster and deeper then usual
after the floods and thaw, but the canal was frozen over. Hopes of a
Kingfisher faded quickly.
I picked up a few nice binocular views along the way, including a small group
of Bullfinches, Reed Buntings, and a couple of Goldcrests actively working the
under-hang of a lichen encrusted hawthorn. A couple of Great Spotted
Woodpeckers were partially obscured by twiggery during the walk but I gave it
a go.
The shot below is looking north-ish towards the Soar Valley Way roadway, the
patch boundary. Immediately the other side of this marks the start of
Aylestone Meadows, but along this stretch at least the habitat is the
same.
The following are both looking west-ish from the canal tow path, the first
south of the Soar Valley Way and the other across the southern end of
Aylestone Meadows.
Pylons are worth looking at along here for Peregrine - but today the only bird
perched on these structures was a Cormorant.
Redwing and Fieldfare always seem more relaxed in smaller groups, more
flighty in big flocks.
The following is looking south at Kings Lock Cottage and the frozen lock.
This is bridge allows access across the western side of Aylestone Meadows, an
area I'll have a good look around later in the year. The bridge goes over the
River Soar, which then joins the Grand Union Canal. It was amazing how the
canal was frozen over to the south of this point and rapidly changed to
free-flowing after the convergence.
A bit further on was a very confiding drake Goosander, which was very nice but
also helps to show how shocking the light was - a cracking subtle bird made to look monochrome ....
By the time I got back to the car I'd been walking for c3hrs. It's not a
massive distance walked, but it's the furthest I've done so far and I was
feeling it where I'm still healing up. Not a drop of rain all the time I was
out, but just a few minutes after arriving home the first drops came although
that soon stopped and we've just had a drab day with occasional drizzle.
Nothing like the drizzle at the end of this quirky vid ....
Early this evening I had a leisurely and relaxing amble around an area of what was wet grassland / marshland which has now been opened up and made accessible as a leisure area with cycle tracks/paths etc. It's also part of a complex associated with the building of the newly located Everards Brewery, and accordingly it's been named Everards Meadows. It's easily big enough to walk away from the flat grassy picnic area, cycle shop and coffee house and find nice open areas with potential. It runs into the Soar Valley and you could easily walk from there onto Aylestone Meadows.
I took a sweep net, but the camera didn't get any use. Although it was reasonably warm and sunny there wasn't a lot flying or active, but the sweep net yielded lots of hemiptera. In particular, I found lots of Damsels, the Nabidae. Having potted them, by the time I'd got home and eaten etc it was too late to try and photograph them properly, so I've had to anaesthetise them, plonk them on card and grab a shot with flash. You get the gist, but they're not pretty to look at and are more like damsels in distress.
Tree Damsel Bug - Himacerus apterus
Broad Damsel Bug - Nabis flavomarginatus
Field Damsel Bug - Nabis ferus
Which Nabis?
I believe it's a nymph, though it superficially resembles Marsh Damsel Bug - Nabis limbatus
And a couple of leggy Miridae, same shape different family:
Miridius quadrivirgatus
This turns up in moth traps a fair bit in VC55, but not sure there are any other 'in the field' records
Phytocoris varipes
The damsel distress didn't stop there either, as on checking whether I'd seen Nabis limbatus before I realised that I had Himacerus apterus listed twice. Arse, -1 for the list.
"I just wanted somebody to caress
This damsel in distress
I just wanted somebody to undress
This damsel in distress
I just wanted somebody to bless
This damsel in distress"
