Saturday 26 December 2009

Boxing Day walk



Went out for a Boxing Day walk with the family across the fields to Madingley and back today. A beautiful day, bright and sunny, and a good 5 degrees warmer than at any time over the preceding week. Lots of redwings and fieldfares around - I wonder if we've more at the moment because the bad weather has pushed them south to us? Also some signs of Spring (catkins and pussy willow buds) alongside the remnants of snow, and berries left over from the Autumn - a strange mix of the seasons!












Friday 18 December 2009

A walk in the snow



Out for a walk through the 'new' woods this morning to enjoy the snow and the bright sunshine. A joy to be out.









Thursday 10 December 2009

Robin's Pincushion Galls


I've noticed that a lot of the wild roses in the 'new' wood (the Histon WI wood) have Robin's Pincushion galls on them. I've known for as long as I can remember that these are caused by a gall wasp (Diplolepis rosae), but what I didn't know is that apparently they are most common on plants that are under stress (such as from drought, waterlogging, or hedge-cutting). I wonder what particular stresses these plants are under? They appear to me to be growing vigorously and look very healthy. Anyway, whatever the reason for their relative abundance, the galls are wonderful structures to look at.



Sunday 6 December 2009

Article for village newspaper, December 2009


Warring Factions In The Heart Of Histon

Winter is coming in, and once again a bitter dispute is being conducted along my garden fence. The opposing factions hold territories either side of the Pages Close footpath, and the area being contested is one rich in food resources – my back garden, with its bird feeding station.

The protagonists in this ongoing conflict are robins. At this time of year we seem to see them just about everywhere we look – on Christmas cards and wrapping paper, and in magazine, newspaper and television adverts. They’re portrayed as cheerful and cheeky little individuals, and it’s easy to forget the real creature behind the icon.

Robins are familiar visitors to our gardens. Whereas on the Continent the robin tends to be a shy woodland bird, here in the UK it’s a common garden resident, feeding off insects and fruit, and often becoming very tame and confiding towards humans. A village like Histon and Impington, with many good-sized gardens offering food and shelter, plus plenty of friendly humans who feed the birds, is ideal robin country.

Robins are not so friendly towards one another, though. They are fiercely territorial birds, holding individual territories from late summer through to Christmas, then pairing up and holding a territory together as a mated pair for the breeding season. Boundary disputes are frequent and can be lengthy, with lots of loud singing, posturing, and puffing-up of red breasts, leaving you in no doubt as to the seriousness of the conflict underway. Very rarely, a robin may even kill its opponent – not something usually depicted on our Christmas cards!

A good way to help the robins in your garden is to supply food. Turn over an occasional spade of earth in your vegetable patch to bring up the insect larvae they love, or put out food at a feeding station. My robins take seed from the bird feeder, but what robins like best are mealworms, live if you can stand them, or dried if you can’t, available from garden centres or from online suppliers such as the RSPB or bird food companies. Offering food is a good way to draw robins in for a closer look, and if you attract more than one, you may also be lucky enough to observe some classic territorial behaviour.

Finally, how have we come to associate the robin so strongly with Christmas? The answer lies back in the 1860s, when a robin first appeared on a Christmas card. In the picture the robin was shown delivering an envelope, a direct reference to the postmen of the time who wore red tunics and were known as ‘Redbreasts’. The rest, as they say, is history.

Just remember: if ever you see a Christmas card with more than one robin on it, peace and goodwill towards one another is unlikely to be what’s uppermost in the robins’ minds!

References for the resources used in compiling this article are available on request.


Tuesday 1 December 2009

Starlings!


The starlings have found the bird feeder. I know they're loud, quarrelsome and messy, but I find them so entertaining on the feeder that I can forgive them the mess they make - besides, what they spill provides food for the chaffinches and dunnocks on the ground below.

Monday 30 November 2009

Hawthorn berries


Lots of hawthorn berries still around, a gorgeous rich colour against the drab browns and grays that predominate at this time of year.



Friday 27 November 2009

Linton walk


This year my partner and I made a New Year's resolution to get out for at least one good walk together every month. With November fast running out, and kids' sporting fixtures taking up most of the coming weekend, we decided to take a day off and go out mid-week. Due to time constraints (i.e. having to be back before the end of school) we couldn't travel far, so we parked at Linton, just south of Cambridge, and walked from there, out across the fields and back via the Roman road, 10 miles in total.

We were very lucky with the weather - bright and cold, if a bit windy. The wind kept the birds down, but we saw Red-legged Partridge, a Sparrowhawk, Pheasants and Bullfinches, plus most of the other common species you'd expect. We also saw Fallow deer, and Muntjac footprints, plus a rabbit or two.


Windfall apples from a tree growing wild by the path.


In places the track was clearly quite an old one, slightly sunken and tree-lined.


Lots of Old Man's Beard around (Traveller's Joy, Clematis vitalba).


The mildness of the weather so far this autumn means that the winter wheat (big fields of it around here) is sprouting well already.


Snowberries (Symphoricarpos) are an introduced species, but grow very freely in the wild on the edges of woodland.


View across the stubble.


Starlings flocking on the telegraph poles.

Wednesday 25 November 2009

Ducks on the village green


Can't quite identify the last species, though...

Monday 23 November 2009

Plane tree


Some beautiful colours and shapes from a small grove of plane trees in a park here in the village.