Starlings Roosting

Watched the starlings coming in to roost at Ham wall reserve down on the Somerset levels about a mile from our house. Talking to the RSPB man there about the different reed beds that are being used by the starlings and 'Countryfile' are coming to film them next week. It seems that the starlings come in and once down into the reeds they then sometimes flit along amongst the cover to settle in the adjacent beds. Watched the murmeration for about 20 minutes as it coiled and fed back on itself low in the sky with Glastonbury Tor in the background. Tried to shoot a little footage but its hard to capture the scale of the events as birds are coming in from all directions and video just isn't as sharp as your eyes at picking out the thousands of little birds. Watched the starlings from about 4 until 4.20, noticeably later than even a week ago.

A trip to Horsey

Over the christmas break we undertook our first combined 'Hedgefinders' outing, accompanied by some of the family, to the beach at Horsey Gap, one of the main North Norfolk seal pupping beaches.

It has apparently been a bumper year for grey seals locally, with over 300 pups at Horsey and some 700 at Blakeney. It is a real privilege to be able to get so close to these normally sea-bound mammals, as they haul onto the beaches to pup and mate at this time of year. Most are on the beach (roped off to prevent interference which can result in abandonment), but some pups come into the dunes, where one can inadvertently almost stumble on them, especially on the foggy day that we visited. The presence of fog also exacerbated the unearthliness of their calls. The strange wailing that drifted towards us through the winter mists was at times canine, at other times almost human, and often quite eerie as you can hear in this recording:

Here are some links to other recordings:

• Various Cub Noises 
• 2 adult females squabbling
• Other recordings here

Although I have recorded a lot of music, this is my first attempt at field-recording wildlife, and although there is a lot of background noise (the sea, passing children, camera noises etc), I'm pleased that I've managed to get a discernible recording of what I was trying to capture. For the record, I was using a Zoom H4n, and slightly EQ'd and compressed the recordings subsequently in order to optimise the seal noises, although the range of frequencies that the sea presents makes this a challenge. In undertaking this enhancement, I noticed that within the adult noises I recorded, there are two clear frequency 'spikes' at around 500 and 1200khz simultaneously, which I imagine with the right equipment and enough recordings, one could use to identify individual 'voices' through their signature frequencies. Hopefully in due course, I shall be able to improve the quality of my recording, as I learn more about both how to capture and enhance the sounds.

All in all, a highly enjoyable and memorable experience, both for being so close to the animals, but also because of the opportunity to share it with family and friends.

Seals

A great morning watching seals at Horsey Gap on the North Norfolk coast. Astonishing haunting calls between the adults in the fog with the background noise of the sea and the calls of geese and other birds. Pups completely trusting as they roll about in the dunes, and on the beach, as their mothers fish out at sea to return later to feed. Wonderful to watch with my own children and friends and to be able to listen to the seals and to witness them interacting at such close quarters.

Green shoots (2)

The thaw allowed me to get out to chop kindling this morning, having depleted our supply over this ice-bound holiday season. Though winter's a long way from gone, the very distant echo of new life can be discerned in the incipient hazel catkins and the tentatively stemming bulbs, and gives the merest hint of rebirth in the deadest corner of the year.

Green shoots

A slight thaw, and visitors from Claxton. Duncan and the kids walked over, reporting a Green Woodpecker in the field topping our garden. I've only seen a Great Spotted up there (he's made some serious inroads in the telegraph poles), so this was news. I strolled part way back with them, before heading for home,  where I disturbed said yaffle on the ground which, now thawing, may yield him some no doubt much-needed insects.

That my fellow 'hedgefinder' alerted me to this gives me immense pleasure for some reason; somehow the sighting of this bird and the sharing of such things increases my delight.

Raptors

Birds of prey see to continue to thrive. On the Christmas Journey between Somerset and Norfolk we saw a number of different species from within the chaos of our car packed with presents and excited children. On the A303, between Street and Stone Henge , we saw 4 buzzards either circling above the trees or sitting on posts at the edge of fields. Somewhere on Salisbury Plain we saw two red kites, one shortly after the other, low over the hedges and clearly recognisable with their sleek shape and distinctive tail . The second kite was flying straight towards the road using its split tail to trim its flight carefully as it slowly approached the field edge. This second bird was quite close and I was surprised at how large it was. We didn't see any barn owls over the snow but we did saw one tawny owl, sadly battered and dead in the snow slush at the road side. Once past London and onto the M11 and A11 coming into Norfolk we saw three kestrels, two hovering and one on a wire by the road side. All of these birds presumably benefitting from the seasonal roadkill buffet during this time of particular cold weather with the buzzards in the west country being replaced by kestrels in the east.

Snow on snow

Snowing for four days now, all very unusual in the West Country and especially so before Christmas, about 8 inches or so. Daytime dominated by taking straw, water and food to animals, cutting logs, clearing paths, drying clothes and trips out sledging around the village. There are lots of little birds, that are suddenly easy to see against the snow, all eating the chicken and duck food and I'm now generously accounting for this when I'm feeding, although I'm sure that rats are benefitting also. Seen many starlings, pied wagtails, blackbirds and sparrows (*and other small brown birds I need to identify ?) Jackdaws are the other main visitors, boldly striding about the chicken run eating everything. It's snowed all morning today and we're off to the big hill at the back of the village to sledge after lunch, once the bigger children have flattened the runs a bit. On Saturday we walked a long way only to have the sledge sink into the soft snow and not really go anywhere as the deep snow goes over everyone's boots. The robin in the Bridgwater Sainsburies has the right idea as it seems to be living inside amongst the fruit in the food isle and no one seems to mind too much, quite right too.