Nature Notes January 2023

Nature Notes January 2023

On a very dull and windy day in early January we decided to visit Sculthorpe Moor, a nature reserve manged by the Hawk & Owl Trust near Fakenham. It had recently doubled in size and work is ongoing to put in new paths and hides, all of which are wheelchair friendly. On looking out of one of the latter, we were thrilled to see a Kingfisher sitting on a perch in the middle of the nearby pond. It had its brilliant azure back to us, but as it turned its head, we could see its orange face with white spots on either side of the beak. It sat for a while before flying across the rough grassland to another pool out of sight.

All the hides have huge seed feeders in view and these were extremely busy with small birds. We were pleased to see Greenfinches and Bullfinches, as well as many Chaffinches, Blue and Great Tits. One feeding station even had Marsh Tit and Nuthatch coming amongst the melee of bird activity. High in Alder trees, a flock of about a hundred Goldfinches were busy winkling the seed out of the spherical cones. They were later joined by fifty or more Siskins. These smaller finches have a rounder profile, forked tails and a greenish tinge to the grey-brown streaked plumage. They are also much more likely than Goldfinches to hang upside down when feeding. The continuous twittering of the combined flock was a joy to hear on a drab, damp day.

The highlight of the visit however, was being shown the owl box attached to a tree set well back in the woodland, in which a Tawny Owl was standing in full view with its eyes closed. It was on guard, but resting. When we got back to the Visitor Centre, we realised that the box was monitored by CCTV, as the volunteer on the desk said she had been watching when the second owl, which had been in the deep base of the box, had shuffled up for some air, displacing the one on guard, and looking much more alert than its mate.

Nearer to home, we have had a cock Pied Wagtail visiting the garden since the period of sharp frosts in December and he now regularly takes mealworms from a tray attached to the linen post, when not being harassed by Starlings or Blackbirds. When out on her walks Jane has found some beautiful Collared Earthstars growing alongside the Marriotts Way. These belong to the puffball family and the round spore bearing body gives off very satisfying puffs of spores when poked. Before Christmas, Jo was pleased to have had a flock of Fieldfare tidying up the windfalls under her apple trees.

Do let me know if you see any interesting wildlife (rachel.42rr@btinternet.com)