An island of isolation in the fog.

I spent most of Tuesday on electric fence maintenance. One of the wooden posts had snapped at the base and I wanted to move the fence in a little from the edge of the dyke to give it some clearance from the overgrown grass.
During the summer I split the sheep field into 6 sections and rotate the sheep through them. But for the winter I remove some of the electric fence so they have two or three sections.

Now you may think that if an electric fence is going to kill you, it would do so with a short, sharp shock. But no. The sole purpose in life of electric fence wire is to tangle itself into a completely unfathomable knot so you are far more likely to die by long. slow torture trying to disentanlge it.

Of course my decision to spend most of the day down in the sheep field had nothing to do with yesterday's sighting of a Corn Bunting down there! Unfortunately today was even murkier than yesterday. I couldn't even see the house from down in the field, not for the whole day. I enjoy days like this, just working away at my own pace in solitude. I did hear the corn bunting in flight once, and I occasionally heard yellowhammer and reed bunting too, but spotting anything today was always going to be tricky.

I did however see this very welcome visitor, probably my favourite bird to visit the farm in the winter.

I didn't see it fly in. It was just there, perched on the tractor machinery which Don has parked at the back corner of my land. It looked massive perched there in the gloom, but just as I raised my phone to my telescope it flew off, bouyant on its long wings. I managed to find it again on the far side of Don's field, perched all fluffed up, but it really was sitting on the edge of the fog. Anyway, that explains the quality of the photo.

There's been a big influx of Short-eared Owls into the east coast over the last couple of weeks. I was lucky enough to see one come in off the sea a couple of weeks ago on the Norfolk coast. I was hopeful that this winter we would again have them on the farm and hopefully this one will stay for a while and maybe be joined by one or two more.

And back to that piece of tractor machinery sitting at the bottom of my field and a tale I forget to tell you. A couple of weeks back I saw a red landrover driving along the back dyke. This is not too unusual. The farmer at the back lets the shooters onto his land. I normally make lots of noise when I see them, just to annoy them. I start hammering something or clanging my shovel loudly. But this landrover seemed to be on our side of the dyke and when it continued across the bottom of my land and then pulled to a halt, I quickly headed down the land to investigate and challenge them.
As I headed down through the long grass and the young trees, I saw two blokes with shotguns and lurchers walking through the crop field next to my land. They called to me to alert me that they were shooting. Well, you can imagine my reply!!! I most certainly can't repeat it here. I started running towards the landrover, impolitely and loudly 'requesting' that they leave my land. Three guys were presumably waiting to shoot anything flushed up by the others. It was fortunate I was there, as I flushed up a small covey of grey partridges and a couple of pheasants from the long grass which I leave deliberately for wildlife.  I'm fairly sure that had I not been there these would have been subjected to a volley of bullets, right over my land and with the sheep there too.These people think they can do whatever they want wherever they please. I wonder too whether their intention was hare coursing, to drive the hares over my land and into the short grass of Don's field next door.
Anyway, these idiots obviously knew they were in the wrong, for once they realised I wasn't friendly they rapidly jumped into the landrover and scootled off back across the field, picking the other two up as they went. What a shame I couldn't get close enough to get their number.
I ran back to the house, hoping that they would come back past along the road, but alas they headed the other way.
So that's why the tractor machinery now blocks the gap at the bottom. Not that I think the same people are likely to try that again.

Six new chicks

Friday 11th May 2012

A fine start to the day, the first time I've seen the sun break the horizon for a while.

Half a dozen eggs
By the time I awoke there were two chicks, one of each variety, and through the course of the morning I was entertained by the emergence of a further four. Yesterday's chick was fluffy enough to come out of the incubator into a brood box... which I had not got ready! Oops!

We have a bit of a production line on chicks at the moment, from the incubator to the brood box for the new chicks, onto the box with the two French Copper Marans, who now have most of their feather and will be ready to go outside soon. And then there's the 'teenagers', as we have collectively called them. The four chicks with attitude in their own coup in the chicken enclosure. In between watching the chicks hatch and making a new brood box, I let them out for a run around. They pushed through the long grass exploring, every now and then coming face-to-face with a guinea fowl and invariably being put in their place.

Thus my morning was pretty much spent on chicks.

It was interrupted once when I heard a Reed Warbler singing from the edge of the rape field behind the pond. A slightly unusual place for a reed warbler, but presumably it is freshly arrived and checking out the area to set up a territory.

Before I went to work for the afternoon, I went to round up the teenagers, only to find them back in their coup, inside, and huddled together in one of the nesting boxes. I guess something in the big wide world must have given them a fright!!

In the evening, a long overdue trip to Morrison's (we are not completely self-sufficient, especially at this lean time of year) was delayed slightly as we could not find Gerry to bring him in. He spends a lot of time in the dykes and in the fields, and if he is hunting he completely ignores us. After an hour of wandering around calling his name, he appeared from nowhere on the patio door step, with vole! After a successful hit on the Morrison's evening bread price reductions (freezer now topped up again - hardly worth making our own when we can get the nice loaves for 19p each), we returned home seeing two Barn Owls on the way, then a Short-eared Owl close to the road by Shell Bridge, just near the farm. It seems that some of these Short-eared Owls do not realise they should have moved way North by now. Maybe they are not going home.

On our return, two more eggs were peeping, with small holes pecked in the shells. But as the evening wore on, it looked less and less likely that these last two would make it out of their calcium coccoons. It is tempting to give them a helping hand, but this usually causes problems for them, so we now let nature take its course.

So, eventually, I went to bed on a cliffhanger!

Smash'n'Grab Waterthrush

Thursday 12th April 2012
Penzance



I travelled 370 miles to capture this sunrise!





Chris came round to the farm at about 6 on Wednesday evening. The Short-eared Owls put on a real show for the visiting birdwatcher, with one flying along the dyke, then another two giving excellent views in stunning light as they hunted over the bottom of the garden.

Our planned venture was risky and we would need this luck to stay with us if it was to be successful.

With a clear run, we covered the 370 miles from Lincolnshire to Penzance in under six hours. We parked ourselves up on the waterfront and settled down for a comfy night's sleep in the car, which got decidedly chilly about 4 a.m. Chris is retired now, and I think it's a few years since he has roughed it like this.

At least, being so far west, we had an extra half hour before the alarm went for sunrise. I drove round to Newlyn, where the rising sun would light the harbour, with St Michael's Mount and the bay in the background, and waited for the sun to peep its head above the horizon. We were not disappointed.

Back to Sullivans in Penzance for a morning coffee. Chris had some toast with his butter!

Then down to the booking office where we ambitiously booked a day return to St Mary's on the Scillonian III. This would give us just over three hours to find the bird, or 27 if we needed to stay over!

I used the 3 hour crossing as a chance to sleep, just in case we actually did need to drive back to Lincolnshire in the evening. It's amazing how the Scillonian can make a dead calm sea still seem rough and choppy. But this little boat has taken me to see many a rare and special bird, so it can be forgiven.



The weather was most definitely on our side as we approached the Isles of Scilly.

By just before 1 we had made our way through the 'secret' path into the back of Lower Moors. Thankfully we had a local to follow in there. As we ducked into the wet wood, a visiting birder informed us that our quarry had been seen earlier in the day. That was good news, but when I set eyes on the Waterthrush's favourite pool, my heart sank in dismay. A tiny patch of mud surrounded by dense foliage, with a vast expanse of similar habitat for it to lurk undetected. Anyway, birds are creatures of habit, so we clung onto hope.

We faced the prospect of staring at this muddy spot
for seven hours today and another eight tomorrow
... unless we got lucky.

Chris and Cliff, who we met on the boat, chose to quickly run off and see a WILSON'S SNIPE which was sleeping on the scrape in front of the ISBG hide alongside a Common Snipe, its European cousin. It was a lifer for both of them, so it made sense to tick it off quickly and come back to try for the Waterthrush, which we were fully prepared to spend two days trying to see if we had to.


As there were three of us left at the muddy pool, the visiting birder decided to check out another pool nearby.



Well, you can guess what happened about 2 minutes after Chris and Cliff left!! The Northern Waterthrush was located on the larger of the two pools. As I was steaking out the small muddy pool at the time, it was a nervous 20 yard walk to where it had just been seen. But it was still walking around by the base of the trees, dipping its tail slowly up and down, seemingly innocuous to our presence. After a couple of minutes it walked behind the trunks and into the irises and disappeared.

I watched the bird for a couple of minutes walking around HERE.

I tried to ring Chris, but reception in Lower Moors is SOS only. After about 20 minutes he returned, happy with his Wilson's Snipe but not so happy at the news about the Waterthrush. I began to discuss the options come half past three, when a decision would need to be made about going back to Mainland. Chris might be travelling from Penzance by train!

But then I heard the Waterthrush clearly call about six times. I went to fetch the birder who was watching the other pool and when we returned Chris had enjoyed a brief but satisfactory view of the Waterthrush. Pressure off!

That was to be the last we saw of the Waterthrush for the rest of the afternoon. Cliff never did see it. I hope he enjoyed his night on Scilly and connected with the bird in the morning.

Meanwhile I had taken a stroll to see the Wilson's Snipe, which was still present, mostly asleep, in front of the hide. It looked good, noticeably greyer than its congener, though it never moved and only woke up briefly.

30 minutes peace and tranquility inside the ISBG hide at Lower Moors.

At 3:30 we left Cliff on his own in the wet wood and strolled back toward Hugh Town and the quay, enjoying a delicious toffee'n'hazelnut icecream as we went.

The Scillonian waits at the key to take two happy birders back to Penzance.

Along the way we met Spider, who informed us that photos of the Wilson's Snipe showing the underwing barring did not look good.


The pager later announced ...
Mysterious.

 The journey back aboard The Scillonian was not uneventful. First the announcement that we would be sailing with only one engine, delaying arrival by 40 minutes. Just what you need with a 6 hour drive ahead of you. Then, mid crossing, the announcement that we just needed to cut the engines for a while, but not to be alarmed. We drifted for a few minutes before the engine fired up again...for five minutes, then a repeat of the first announcement and another few minutes drifting. I glanced out of the window, but could not see the captain heading off in a lifeboat. Then both engines fired up and we were informed that the delay would now only be 20 minutes.

Off the ferry at 8ish, into Penzance 24hour Tescos (a strange, eerie place in the middle of the night, frequented by students and a lone security guard who has been there for years) for a much needed top up on crisps and coke (multipacks). A treat rather than a staple these days, and only when I need the fast fix to get me through a long drive.

At some time approaching 2 we rolled up back home in Lincolnshire (Chris still had a couple of hours back to Stutton Mill in Suffolk).

Four hours later the alarm went and I rolled out of bed to take this...



Friday 13th April 2012
I think we have had rain every day since the hosepipe ban!

 Then back to bed till midday! Ready for another adventure.

Farm Tick 98

Thursday 29th March 2012

"Forgot to mention, I saw a Red Kite floating over Wisbech yesterday. Surely only a matter of time before I see one in the skies over the farm."

That was what I wrote 3 days ago. Guess what I saw today! No, not kidding, nor suffering from delusion.

I got home from work at about 3.45, bringing with me two day old chicks which had hatched in the incubator at school. After introducing them to the others, I headed down to the chickens to collect the eggs and to see if Elvis' eggs were showing any signs of hatching.
As one of the resident buzzards circled low, my mind went to the possibility of a Red Kite drifting over on a day like today. The time of year is good, the weather has been perfect and today there was just enough cloud to ensure that not all migrating raptors would pass over as unseen dots in the sky. I scanned around with my binoculars on the off chance, as I so often have, and there, over by Coy Bridge, was a Red Kite not six feet off the ground.

Farm Tick 98!

It went out of view and I presumed it had landed. Whether to risk losing it by driving round for closer views, or to view from the farm. I attended to the chickens, then scanned again. Just over the bank of South Holland Main Drain, I saw two huge wings flap and was just able to see the bird on the ground. However, without my scope views were never going to be great, so I dashed back to the house. I returned and climbed up onto the haystack for a better view. As I did so, the Red Kite flew and steadily gained in height as it circled, before gradually heading off over Holbeach St John's. All in all I watched it for about half an hour.
I'm sure it won't be the last I see here, but it is the first. And that's the most important!

The Goldcrest (or another) was around again today too.

ed. This evening I watched 2 Short-eared Owls hunting and tussling over the back fields. More of a surprise were 9 Redwings in the Ash trees as the sun was setting. I've only seen a couple in the garden all winter. They'll be well on their way to Scandinavia by tomorrow morning.

A sunset pic for a change.

A Couple More Cute Piglet Pics

Monday 26th March 2012
Another murky March morning.

 

Mum's tipped over the water trug again. Looks like a good place to sleep.

The misty morning gave way to a fine day with temperatures reaching 20. Unfortunately I was stuck at work for much of it, but the change to British Summer Time does mean I get a few hours to work in the garden when I get home. Reshaping veg beds was the order of the evening, interrupted by a Short-eared Owl hunting along the dykes. You're probably getting tired of me telling you every time I see an owl, but I just find them remarkable creatures and think they deserve a mention whenever I am lucky enough to see one.

Forgot to mention, I saw a Red Kite floating over Wisbech yesterday. Surely only a matter of time before I see one in the skies over the farm.

Short-eared Owl upgraded and the First Chiffchaff

Friday 23rd March 2012

This morning the first Chiffchaff of the year was singing loudly from a small isolated willow next to the orchard. Bees buzzed around the pollen-filled catkins. In the background, a Yellowhammer belted out its song from the top of a bush.  Two tortoiseshell butterflies cavorted in the meadow and a brimstone fluttered through the garden. Spring is most definitely arrived.

Short-eared Owl Upgraded
I'll jump straight to the most exciting event of the day. As I returned from work, I was scanning the ducks in the dyke when a Short-eared Owl appeared to spook the teal. I never tire of watching owls - there's something very magical about them. Anyway, I lost it behind a copse, so carried on along the road. Shortly after, a second owl crossed the road in front of the car. I pulled up and watched this one land in a small bush. I put the scope up, intending to snap a picture, but by the time I got set up there was a crow in the bush where the owl had been. I scanned around searching for the owl, only to spot it perched on a white post. Hang on a minute! That post is on my land. The bird flew off straight over the forest of plastic tubes on my farm. Short-eared Owl has been getting closer and closer to the farm, but finally one was briefly on the farm. As it flew over the rape field next to my land, it sped up its flight and flushed a female Hen Harrier from the field. This then also flew straight through my land. Only the second hen harrier of the winter. After both birds had departed in opposite directions, I continued along the back road, wishing I had actually been on my farm when these birds flew across. The views would have been amazing. Shortly after crossing Coy Bridge, a third Short-eared Owl was hunting over a field by the road.  Three Short-eared Owls and a Hen Harrier on the way home from work. Not bad.
And when I got home, the Chiffchaff was still in the same small willow, five hours after it had first flown in there.

This tiny willow held the year's first Chiffchaff for five hours today.

This was all after I had dropped in to see a Great Grey Shrike in a small copse by the A47 at Thorney. It was distant and not in good light, but it's a scarce winter visitor and one which I would love to find on my patch.

Record shot. If only it had sat the other side of the copse.

Meanwhile, back on the farm, the piglets continue to grow at an astonishing rate. They are intelligent, inquisitive creatures. Most have now grown into their saggy skin and they are starting to play, climb, poke and prod. I think we have six or seven boys again - I do know how to tell the difference, but counting them is proving difficult.
Hopefully they can move outside next week, when it will be easier to count them and separate them.

"I wonder what's in here."

"Look, green stuff. Must stand on it, then eat it."

And finally...
The white linnet put in another appearance. Feeding on the ground in Don's orchard, it was more reminiscent of a Snow Bunting. This bird is so distinctive, I don't give it long given the number of raptors around here. Odd birds like this tend to get snapped up quickly, though it's managed to avoid capture thus far.

Spring Equinox

Tuesday 20th March 2012
A beautiful start to a beautiful day.
The first day of Spring.

A Message From Chick of Elvis

translated as I'm sitting on eggs, I'm not budging for no-one, go away!

I Never Tire of Watching Owls.

Today I spent another glorious day stuck inside at school. When I returned home, I was keen to get out on the land. Foremost in my thoughts was the possibility of a migrant bird choosing my farm on which to feed up. On the way round the land, I took the opportunity to check the new trees for signs of growth and to check for rabbit damage. All was well and most of the young trees seem to be budding up ready to burst into life. 

Two Mute Swans had taken up residence in the field just a few yards beyond the end of my land. As I sat on the banks of the dyke watching them, a Barn Owl came bouncing along surveying the dykes. If you look carefully, it's in the picture above the swans, up in that glorious blue sky. I watched the owl following the system of dykes, when suddenly into my binocular view flew another, but this one larger with slightly less stiff wing beats - this one a Short-eared Owl. One or two birds have clearly taken a liking to the area as sightings are getting more frequent and closer and closer to the farm. To see these two birds together in such clean light was a privilege. The Barn Owl then flew directly to the owl nestbox which stands on a pole next to South Holland Main Drain,  where there was quite a lengthy tussle with a pair of Kestrels, clearly with their eyes on this penthouse residence.

Equinox - an explanation
And now, since the sun is such an important part of my life this year (not just because it keeps me alive!), from tomorrow's Guardian (I travelled in time to get this article):

Spring equinox heralds official end of winter

The Earth drifted through a major astronomical checkpoint at 5.14am GMT on Tuesday, marking the official onset of spring in the northern hemisphere.

The spring, or vernal, equinox marks the point in space and time when the sun moves across the celestial equator, an imaginary circle projected into the sky above the real equator.

... ... ...

Seasons on Earth are driven by the planet's orbit and 23.5 degree tilt from the vertical axis. As the Earth circles the sun, it can show more of its northern or southern poles to the sun. But when the Earth passes through an equinox, both poles receive equal sunlight, because the planet is tilted neither towards or away from the sun.

The next part of this article explains something that had been puzzling me. Howcome sunrise and sunset are more than 12 hours apart on the equinox, and howcome the day lasted 12 hours a few days ago?

While the equinox signals a time when day and night are equal, the moment when both share 12 hours apiece happens days earlier, because of atmospheric effects.

"The Earth's atmosphere delays the sunset and makes the sunrise earlier," said Robert Massey at the Royal Astronomical Society. "When the sun is on the horizon, light is bent round because we have a thick atmosphere, and that appears to raise the sun in the sky. So when the sun appears on the horizon, it would actually have set if we had no atmosphere."

Fascinating!

In short, IT'S SPRING and we get more than 12 hours of light every day from now till September.

Tomorrow sowing begins in earnest outdoors.

Swan Love

Monday 9th January 2012 Dramatic                        

                                                                                   Tuesday 10th January 2012  Undramatic


Piglets still growing, hens still popping out plenty of eggs, trees still waiting to be planted. Limited time on the farm due to work commitments. Got to earn money somehow and the smallholding still consumes considerably more than it earns, although monetary value isn't everything by any means. The pay packet will cover the new rotavator I plan to buy in the next couple of weeks.

Herd of Swans?
On the way home from work I often take a slight detour along the small road which runs through the back fields and crosses South Holland Main Drain.Last year a herd of swans wintered here. The familiar Mute Swans (same as the ones you might see on your local lake or river) were joined by northern wild swans, Whoopers and the occasional Bewick's. These elegant birds lounged and fed in the same fields every day, announcing their early morning arriving with honking and trumpeting and their wings whooshing them away at sunset. I guess they roosted with the wild swans at Welney WWT. http://www.wwt.org.uk/visit-us/welney
On one occasion they were joined by a Black Swan, an antipodean escape from someone's exotic collection.


This year there are 32 Mute Swans in the fields, though they have moved their favourite field to the other side of the river. Back in December they were joined one morning by 62 Whooper Swans (a sizeable flock in this country), presumably fresh in from their long migration - amazing to think  that these birds migrate at 30000 feet. Unfortunately they quickly dispersed and I'm hoping for their return if the winter ever bites hard.


Another Owl Surprise
As I  drove along the back road, a large bird flew up from the dyke into an isolated bush. I raised by binoculars to see, there not more than 20 feet away, a stunning Short-eared Owl staring straight at me. It then proceeded to hunt along the dyke, floating right next to the car. Towards the end of last Autumn there was a major influx of these owls into Britain over the North Sea from their Scandanavian breeding grounds. So it is that this winter has provided us birdy people with the best chance ever of encountering one of these masked hunters. This was my third one so far this winter, but I'll never tire of watching owls.


MEGA
On Tuesday night something happened which meant that all farm work was abandoned for Wednesday...