A new normal for Nature

So as lockdown ended I returned to my favorite passion on the river on my journey with my kayak on my back I found mess and disturbance in wild places where people normally never tread from campfires with rubbish to new biking paths ripped through bluebell forests. 

As the lockdown madness ends hopefully people will leave my local wild places and return to places further afield. The river was quite busy with old and young swimming and sunbathing in the river and on the banks so the nesting water birds are being very secretive.  I always have a rest on the end of my kayaking trip and park up on a sandbank to soak up some sun have a rest and see what birdlife shows up. I've been watching a pair of Little-ringed plovers hopefully breeding and nesting on the low sandbank but with disturnbance to be high on the sunny days and on the wet day's risk of flooding I don't see much but we shall see and I will update in the future.

 Hanky panky on the sand bank

 I had a few wild swims in the river on the hotter days on my walks home from work made the pressures of working in retail melt away in the clear flowing rivers where Mayflies and Dragons dance on the surface and the fish swim below the surface waiting for an easy meal.

 One place that has been keeping me sane is the peak district and we heard and saw a our first Cheshire Cuckoo of the year in a quiet valley away from all the people enjoying being released from there homes and local patches. I never want to leave the secluded valley on the sunny days as the mossy ledges make the perfect sunbathing spots and with water flowing close by its easy enough to cool off after a long walk or a quick nap.

 Next time: Sorrow once more and my need for the sea....

 With regards

Mike

Off to find my snood but we found so much more

As I dropped my snood while on the walk the other day, I decided to head that way again to check out the other areas and to see if I could find my missing snood. We arrived at the area and I quickly found it by a kissing gate then we headed over to where we saw the Foxes hunting in the sun the other day.

While heading over I spotted something fly out from some logs near some Rabbit holes. I quickly realized it was a Little Owl and luckily it landed in a nearby tree where there were lots of hollow branches. I am thinking the Little Owl may be nesting in the tree so I will be checking the area a couple of times a week. I managed to get a few photographs before it disappeared into a hedgerow on private farmland.

Hiding in the tree you can just about see him

He seemed to be watching us as on the way back we saw him watching us from a different tree

As the woodland was quite well barbed off I could not access but I spotted a Fox skull within my reach so i got the skull and hopefully I can find a way into the woodland another time to see what lives there and makes sure there no suspicious activity as I think I could see a Badger sett through the trees surrounded by Bluebells.

I also saw a Jackdaw go into the Owl Box so there won't be any Barn Owls nesting in the area but I'm hoping they may hunt here due to the habitat being perfect for them due to the grassy plains and hedgerows all around. A very successful afternoon finding another Bird species I've been after plus another item for my Nature collection.

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe
 

Mike

A new place to photograph Wildlife

Last week we decided on taking an afternoon to walk to checkout an area of countryside we visited over the winter season. The area has a river, woodland, a few small pools for waders and lots of farmland.
A panorama of the area where you can look down onto lots of farmland down to the river

One of the larger pools where two Swans have decided to call home but there not nesting

The two Foxes were close to a woodland so they could be a pair and have cubs nearby. So I've found another area to explore another time. When I tried to get closer the Foxes disappeared into the hedgerow. I had a quick look there and all I could find were a few droppings and plenty of Rabbit holes.

We spotted this Owl box below where the Foxes were hunting. I am not sure if there's anything using the box but I will be keeping an eye out as the Nature footpath goes right below it.

 The male Mute seemed to be protecting his female rather than any nest due to there being no vegetation to build with

I spotted this Wader on a different pool but I am not sure what it is possibly a Redshank??

  On the way back we spotted these Guinea fowl grazing in a field

I hope to return again this week to hopefully put some time into photographing the Foxes as well as checking out the woodland and a few other nearby areas. On my way back I noticed I dropped my camo snood on my way back and as it was a long walk back home I did not fancy going back to find it.

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe
 

Mike

A few updates-Otters pass seating and a Kayak camcorder mount

After a few busy weeks and as I have not had alot of time to blog and I have so much to post about so I will start with a new species on my local patch that I saw while taking across a bench on my kayak to Otters pass filming site which was abit risky but is was worth it as we now have a place to sit and film in comfort once the Red Ants disappear from the area.

On my way back and as I had my DSLR close to me I was able to grab a few shots of a Little Egret that seems to be sticking around the area and I have not seen one near Otters pass before but I could not get to close due to high winds causing rough water making it hard to paddle near to it, I managed to get a few flight shots by spinning my kayak around and I felt dizzy afterwards but it was worth it.

After a great encounter with a bird I have never seen on my patch and having no way to film it got me thinking of a way to film from my kayak so I decided to build a mount and a board to attach a small camera to test on the front of my kayak and film to fantastic footage on the water and then hopefully build a bigger mount for a pro camcorder for zoom in purposes and filming wildlife from a distance.

The camera worked great and I will upload footage soon and when I begin making a more sturdy mount for a heavy camcorder I will post that footage soon after as I cannot wait to get started and get filming on the water.

Thanks for reading

Mike