North West Surrey RSPB at Papercourt Sailing Club

SAILING BY - Alan Pugh ( North West Surrey RSPB Local Group.)

“Can you deal with this Alan, I’m going on holiday” were the words in Dave’s message.  It turned out to be an enquiry from Papercourt Sailing Club via our website asking for some help with providing an interpretation board and some posters to go in their club house.  No problem I thought, sadly it turned out to be a little more difficult than I imagined.

The obvious first step was to find out a little bit more about exactly what the sailing club were after. It transpired that the club had been given some money by Volvo to spend on providing something to show their support for the local wildlife.  After some discussion with the Club, it was concluded that a couple of interpretation boards located on the grass in front of the clubhouse, a couple of posters inside and a few nest boxes would fit the bill.  Still quite easy I thought especially as we already had some nest boxes which Ron had made earlier.

A few phone calls later and I was beginning to become a little concerned, there weren’t any readily available posters and no interpretation boards to fix them on to that came anywhere near fitting within the budget.  Clearly, this was going to become a DIY project.  Quietly panicking, I phoned the RSPB’s Media Services who arranged for me to have access to the line drawing database, another phone call to Pulborough Brooks staff resulted in some extremely helpful advice.

The next step was make a list of the birds that are likely to be seen in the area.  Having done this, one poster became two! I sent my bird list to Peter Hambrook to check. Peter very politely pointed out that I’d missed out a significant number of species and so, two posters suddenly became three!  After a couple of hours playing on my new computer, the result was 3 A3 size posters showing all the likely species.  These were subsequently printed A1 size by a local printer viz. Blue Mushroom.  They looked so good, I was almost impressed with my efforts!

One problem down and another to go i.e. where could I get the interpretation boards from?  The answer, ask Ron “I can make anything” Jackson!  As always Ron’s response was “no problem, just send me a drawing of what you want”. 

The final step was installing the interpretation boards and locating the nest boxes at Papercourt Sailing Club which we did on a Saturday in late November.  As no suitable post holes were available locally, it was another d-i-y job!  The gang of labourers consisted of Dave Braddock, Ken Sutton, Peter Hambrook, Graham Horsburgh and myself all supervised by Ron and photographed by Mary Braddock. 

The location of the interpretation boards in front of the clubhouse is a very attractive area not just for homo-sapiens but also for numerous Canada geese who had left enough deposits for a Chris Packham “poo-fest”. 

So what have we achieved with this little project?  We’ve stepped up for nature (or should that be dug down?)  The Group has been able to raise a modest amount of money for its’ funds but, much more importantly, we have established a good relationship with Papercourt Sailing Club.  In the future, we plan to take some of their members on wildlife walks and hope that we can encourage some to join the RSPB and also our Group.  For myself, it has reminded me how unfailingly generous the Group members are with their time and expertise.  Lastly, I’ve also learned the need to synchronise my holidays with Dave Braddock!!!

Oare Marshes October 2011

Oare Marshes in North Kent on a sunny day with a rising tide has to be a great place for close views of waders. Flocks of golden plovers, avocets, dunlins, lapwings and black-tailed godwits gave fantastic views in the autumn sun. With no signs of predator activity, these birds seemed to fly just for the sake of it. The golden plovers looked almost electric as they turned this way and that, the sun catching the gold, then the white contrasting with the lapwings that joined them. “Scar-face” a regular little egret was most confiding at the edge of the tide while the avocets stayed slightly further out in the scrape.

Deer of Autumn 2011 - pictures include Red Deer stags and Fallow Deer

Bushy Park has been the site of some very busy Red Deer stags this autumn. The weather has been dry and not particularly cold although the temperatures on one or two mornings have been low enough for a foggy start. This makes for an unnerving time, listening to the baying of the stags as the dawn begins to break behind a curtain of fog… in other words it is really difficult to work out where these creatures actually are. A high level of caution is required to maintain safety but the draw of that ever elusive picture can have photographers going one step too close to these magnificent animals. As the Red Stags begin to quieten at the end of October so the Fallow deer take over and provide their own spectacle.

Bushy Park – 2nd October 2011

I decided on the spur of the moment to go for photos of the Red Deer in Bushy Park… it was 5.00 am Sunday! The air was still and the sky clear, I felt that there could well be some good atmospheric conditions around the lake and with the deer in full rut, I might get a few shots. I was not disappointed, the colours changed every moment and the light on the deer varied depending on the directions they were facing. It was a great morning and by the time the cyclists and dog walkers were up, I was heading home for coffee!

British Columbia September 2011 - pictures inc wolf, sea otter, black bear, orca, Gray jay, Juvvie bald eagle

We took the ferry to Vancouver Island where we spent the first fortnight of September enjoying warm breezes, calm seas and the fantastic wildlife that this amazing place has to offer. We were travelling with Speyside Wildlife International, with 2 great guides Roy and Julian. The Pacific temperate Rainforest is a magnificent place where trees grow huge, lichens drip off every branch and ferns grow high and bears witness to the usual amount of rainfall that falls in this location. Birdlife was spectacular with ospreys giving competition to bald eagles and their young while out at sea the sooty shearwaters flashed past tufted puffin, black oystercatchers, Heerman’s gulls, Rhinoceros auklet and the like. Grey whales, Humpback and Orcas jostled for attention while the Sea Otters played it cool lying on the surface of the ocean. Steller’s sea lions honked on the rocks and Californian sea lions played in the kelp while the fast moving Dall’s porpoise leapt through the waters. On the beach the Black bears taught their cubs how to forage and Grey wolves looked for meals. Inland the Douglas firs grow to immense heights and salmon run the waterfalls. The mountains are spectacular with snow caps still in September and the summer flowers carpet the alpine meadows. The water that cascades from these mountains is crystal clear and provides fantastic environments for creatures like beaver and River otters that also use the inlets that are fed by these rivers. Returning to the mainland a walk around the Riefel Migratory Bird Sanctuary gave us views of some great birds and we caught up on some species we had missed out on the trip including a most confiding great horned owl. A fantastic trip – “Beat that Speyside”

Quick Weekend Trip to Norfolk - pictures include Morston, Leafcutter bee, Sunflower, woodpigeon, Roe Deer

A weekend journey to North Norfolk in August does not usually go without traffic jams and long queues, but having left Surrey at 6.30pm on the Friday we were at our destination by 9.45pm – amazing! Even more startling was that we were still on Wells-next-the-Sea at 6.30pm on the Sunday and walked in home at 9.40pm! A lovely weekend in warm weather with long coastal walks and all spent in great company. The next morning I found the Roe Deer asleep in the field…

Local Patch 12th August 2011 pictures include Roe Deer, Willow Warbler and black arches moth

Out walking around the Patch recently, I came across the Roe Deer buck. Roe deer are one of Britain's native deer species and have become the most widespread. They became largely extinct in the 1700s and were only later reintroduced. Before 1960 they were treated as vermin owing to the damage they cause to the forestry industry. Unlike other deer, they do not live in herds, but are most often seen as solitary individuals or as a family group of a mother and her offspring. Does gives birth to one to three fawns in May or June. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Roe_Deer accessed 12/8/2011) They are notoriously difficult to get close to but as the weeks have gone by I feel that this particular buck has got used to seeing me as I wander around the area. I was able to walk towards him without him running, as you can see from the photographs he was well aware of my presence. The rutting season is between mid July and the end of August and there was a female just behind the hedge, she was far more skittish and ran off for cover before I could get a picture. They were both looking in the peak of condition. The juvenile willow warbler was seen on the same morning and compared nicely to the chiff chaff that was in the same piece of hedgerow, the chiff chaff was displaying the downward tail with the characteristic “bob”. The black arches moth has been included because I like the way it looks like a sheep’s face with horns!

Thundry Meadows, Surrey pictures include Banded Demoiselle male and female, Forget me Not,

A beautiful Sunday morning at the end of July found us wandering around this Surrey Wildlife Trust site. Disappointingly, there were not many dragonflies to be seen, but we enjoyed exploring this rich SSSI and will be a place to return to. Named after the God Thor, Thundry Meadows is a picturesque stretch of land running alongside the River Wey, which forms the southern boundary. A site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), it consists of unimproved wet and dry meadows on Folkestone Beds (Lower Greensand series), alder carr, farmland and ditches. It hosts several rare plants and sedges and is one of the few remaining wet meadow complexes left in the county. The variety of alluvial soils enhanced by moisture from the river and spring waters and riverbank, support a rich vegetation. Over 100 plant species have been recorded including bog bean, climbing corydalis, Dyer’s greenweed, golden saxifrage, heath spotted orchid, lady’s smock, marsh cinquefoil, 14 species of sedge and southern marsh orchid. The riverside vegetation includes amphibious bistort, dame’s violet and musk (monkey flower). The ditches attract dragonflies – over 24 species have been seen – and damselflies and a number of butterflies. The small alder carr is rich in mosses. Through the wood is a small area of heathland noted for many wetland plants, it has 18 species of sedge and 24 species of dragonfly. Five species of bat have been recorded here. (http://www.surreywildlifetrust.org/reserves/show/72 accessed 31/7/2011)

WATER VOLES 30 JULY 2011

These pictures have been taken today of water voles living in the wild, a good sight to see considering the huge decline in their numbers. Water voles are widespread around Europe, living in the banks of slow moving rivers, streams and other waterways. The waterside burrows of these strong swimmers have many floor levels that hinder flooding, as well as nesting chambers and a food store for the long winter months. Although water voles are a quick meal for many predators, the UK population suffered a catastrophic level of predation by the American mink. Water voles are often mistaken for rats. Ratty, in Kenneth Grahame's 'The Wind in the Willows', was actually a water vole (Accessed from http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/European_Water_Vole 30/7/11) Water voles were once common on waterways across the country, but their numbers began to decline in the 1990s and, by 2005, 90% had disappeared. The Environment Agency, which carried out the survey, said this makes it the UK's fastest declining mammal. The agency added that its recovery had been stimulated by an improvement in river water quality. (Accessed from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10345086 30/7/2011)

Hungary Photo Trip 2011 - pictures include sparrowhawk, black-winged stilts, spoonbill, bee-eater, roller

This was a photographic week organised with Balazs, from Ecotours Wildlife Holidays http://ecotourswildlife.co.uk/. The view from our lodge over the marsh at Tiszaalpar was amazing with hundreds of different herons, spoonbills and pygmy cormorants. With a black woodpecker, tree sparrows, long-eared owl, hobby, sparrowhawk, quail, golden oriole, barred warbler and cuckoo for company in the garden it was likely to be a good week. An evening drive to the white-winged black tern colony also gave a great flying display of a family of 5 sakar falcons. Early morning photo opportunities from “Hide 1” deep in the marsh included spoonbills, whiskered terns, little-ringed plover, common sandpiper, great white egrets, night herons, greenshank, black-winged stilts, pygmy cormorants and a young yellow wagtail that eventually joined us inside the hide! We took an early morning journey to Utassy Gyuri, the man with the roller and bee-eater hides. We got amazing pictures but his can be found at http://ugyfoto.uw.hu/pixelpost/index.php?x=browse Our journey home took a detour round a red footed falcon site and it was worth noting that there were 10 kestrel chicks and 5 red foot chicks all in the same group of trees..the food source must be tremendous on the puszta plains of Hungary. We were taken to the other side of Budapest to Palankai Zsolt with the drinking pool and we were safely installed by 5.00am. and it wasn't long before marsh tit, greenfinch, great tit were regularly visiting. Suddenly a large bird flew in and it took us both a few seconds to realize that a sparrowhawk was looking at us. This beautifully marked male drank and washed and spent about 15 minutes totally unaware that we were watching it from less than 6 feet away. Zsolt has a superb website that is well worth a visit http://palankaizs.blogspot.com/2010/05/nos-nehany-szo-lesrol-es-2-alkalom.html . Thanks to the guys from Ecotours Wildlife Holidays: Belazs, Istvan and Attila for a great trip

La Brenne, France 2011 - pictures include Blackcap, greater butterfly orchid, hoopoe, dark green fritillery

La Brenne 2011 Having had such a great 5 days there in 2010, we set off again this June for La Confiance http://www.laconfiance.net/ Our first morning walk around the block gave fantastic views of stone curlew and montague's harriers, red-backed shrikes, melodious warbler and turtle dove. Another morning we set off in a different direction towards Le Grand Village and walked around the two lakes there, this gave us new species of birds including common redstart, savi's, cetti's and great reed warblers. Another morning found us with one of the other guests who had brought his moth trap and the magnificent array of moths that he had caught during the night, including two that we had seen at home...goat and white point. His comment about the sheer numbers of moths was that "he felt totally overwhelmed". The flowers which had been so fantastic in 2010 were in short supply as France had been having a dry spring just as we had in UK but it was the butterflies we enjoyed this year having 45 species over the week. A short walk south of Martizay at Le Budiniere proved to be the best place all week for butterflies and it was a really lovely walk amongst meadows and mixed woodland. We found the large tortoiseshell, woodland brown and ilex hairstreak amongst the array of fritillaries and whites. A new fritillary for us was the marbled which was really common there. We found Tony Williams at Parc du Nature http://www.parc-naturel-brenne.fr/ and once again got some useful information from him about the species in the area. We found a pond tortoise laying her eggs in the sandy hedge whilst on a walk from here, spotted flycatchers and golden oriole were also in the area and the dragonflies were everywhere. It was going to be a challenge to identify them but digital photography is really helpful. Once again we thoroughly enjoyed our time at La Confiance, the hospitality there is fantastic and the food left us wishing we had taken clothes with expanding waistlines! It is a great place to stay with the whole area of La Brenne on your doorstep. It has its own varied wildlife in the garden to enjoy and walks from there give great views of some really rare species. Thanks to Sue and Chris once again for this opportunity to explore this amazing area of France.