Hunter C(o)untry

Yesterday late afternoon I dropped into Jubilee Park on my way back from shopping at Fosse Park. I hoped that arriving later in the day might throw up some movement of birds in/out of the area, and I was not far off right although nothing spectacular. Whilst mooching about a redhead Goosander dropped in, Wigeon were constantly milling about between feeding on the grassy area and dropping into the pool, and several large gulls and cormorants arrived. The pair of Oystercatchers were still around, the Tufteds were up to five, and a number of Greylag Geese were 5MR yearticks. A quick walk around didn't throw up much else, and after a last scan of the pool I was about to head off when local birder Pete Asher popped up. We had a good natter, during the course of which the pair of Oystercatchers departed, a Chiffchaff flew across and into bushes behind us and - at last - two Kingfishers flew past over the field, short-cutting the path of the river.

I also had a quick look at the balancing pool at Grove Park which was almost literally devoid of wildfowl save for four pairs of Mallards and a pair each of Coot and Moorhen. On Friday a quick scan over the flooded fields off of the Guthlaxton Trail yielded some Teal for another patch yeartick.

Today I've had Goldcrest calling and moving through the embankment adjacent to the garden, and a few more spring insects have popped up including Tree Bumblebee, Peacock butterfly and Common Wasp.

Moths over the last couple of nights have included both Chestnut and Dark Chestnut - nether in their finest livery ....

This afternoon I headed for a quick walk along the lane and carried onto Whetstone Gorse Lane. I just had my bins, sadly, as once I'd got to the area that is (mis)managed for Pheasant shoots I could hear someone yelling at their dogs. Sure enough, after loitering for a while, a pair of typical Cuntry folk appeared some way behind their trio of small terriers: one of which was completely loose and two were tethered together but free to drag each other along. They appeared to be being used illegally, as evidenced by a Muntjac bounding away from the tethered pair only to be chased avidly by the lone dog. As far as I understand, a single terrier may be used by gamekeepers on shooting estates to eg force a fox out of a hole to enable it to be shot; the Hunting Act 2004 doesn't allow anyone to run their trio of terriers through gamebird cover and leave them free to chase and get whatever they can. Neither of the folk were carrying a gun, so no legal shooting of 'pests' disturbed by a lone terrier, let alone three of them. When it was clear that they had little control, I shouted that the dogs seemed more interested in hunting. I expected some sort of comment that there was no hunting going on etc, but the response was bold as brass "that's their job". Cuntry folk eh.

Rutland Water 04/01/2009

After a busy Christmas and New Year break, I was keen to get out and about and half decided early yesterday evening that a day in Norfolk would be great. That went to the wall though after a late night playing Wii games and the voice of sanity (ie - the wife) pointing out that we had other stuff that needed doing before the kids go back to school etc. So, I opted for a more sensible couple of hours pottering around the non-Egleton parts of Rutland Water. I started off at the dam - and it was fecking freezing. There is always a wind in your face along the dam and today was no different. After a short 'stop-scope-stop' walk I picked up a pair of Scaup - nice. No signs of any divers from the dam though, so I opted to head to Whitwell Creek. After scoping for 10 minutes or so, looking out to the open water from the creek, I was surprised by 2 Great Northern Divers that popped up fairly close in the creek. Bloody typical - camera was in the car. By the time I'd legged it back with the camera the divers had moved further out so only a poor distant record shot possible. Great Northern Diver - no fecking loons at RW today I then bumped into Matthew Berriman, Allan Pocock, Andy Forryan and Ben Croxtall who were returning from the other end of Whitwell. I quick chat and exchange of news and I was off to scope the open waters. A few minutes later, I'd added Red-throated Diver to the list for the morning, and then a drake Red-crested Pochard lingering on the opposite coast of the Hambleton Peninsular. By now I'd noted most of the common and regular wintering wildfowl and waterbirds, and also a few other species like flyover Golden Plovers and a small Dunlin flock. And it felt like my toes were missing. A half-arsed look from the end of Barnsdale Avenue failed to produce the two Black-necked Grebes. I nipped into the Egleton reserve with the intention of getting an annual permit - but soon abandoned that idea when I realised the cost had now escalated to £25 (for LRWT members like me who have already paid £18, or £50 for non-LRWT members). Fucking hell - put this into context by thinking of the number, diversity and excellence of the RSPB reserves you can visit for your £34 annual membership. You could even go to Loch Garten and see real Ospreys. Anglian Water can kiss my my big fat arse. A free glance at the feeders produced a handful of Tree Sparrows amongst the common finches and tits - always a favorite. I was now thoroughly chilled and decided to have a quick look at Eyebrook before heading home. EBR was partially frozen over though and not much about. I spent some time scoping the loitering large gulls in vain, and a busy Redshank on the island. Wigeon - add in the evocative whistling yourself I called it a day and headed home, where a quick check revealed a modest list of 58 species for the morning. More importantly, it felt good to feel toes again.