Snipe Meadow 1

Work has at long last started on creating a special meadow for snipe.
Although they visit here in the winter, snipe always totally disappear by the end of April.
So no-longer is the sound of drumming heard in the spring.
This unfortunately probably holds true for the whole of the Avon valley.
So a 7 acre patch is having its chanels cleared and reprofiled.
Water will be held high for the winter to encourage duck, then reduced slightly in the spring to keep a high amount of visible water and lots of margins to encourage the any snipe to stay.
Then at the end of June all boards will be lifted to dry the meadow out to maintain it and graze as necessary.

Bird song at dusk

Link to soundcloud
Birds sing at dusk as well at dawn, although for a much shorter period.
The above is for a medley of thrush sounds - well mostly!

Spring Birds

Spring was definately here today.
Chiffchaffs singing - now out of the valley, and a Blackcap as well.
Plus Brimstone and (I think) a Peacock butterflies.
So spring returns the cycle starts again.
But what if it didnt.

Here a passage from Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac on the death of the Passenger Pigeon.

There will always be pigeeons in books and in museums, but these are effigies and images, dead to all hardships and to all delights. Book-pigeons cannot dive out of a cloud to make the deer run for cover, or clap their wings in thunderous applause of mastladen woods. Book-pigeons cannot breakfast on new mown wheat in Minnesota, and dine on blueberries in Canada. They know no urge of seasons; they feel no kiss of sun, no lash of wind and weather. They live forever by not living at all.

May be we will learn - but not in time I think.

Harrier Fly By

I normally get a single sighting of a Hen Harrier each winter.
This year was looking rather lean until now, when a glance at some cattle yesterday morning resulted in a fast application of brakes and grabbing of binoculars and there in the field of view was a male Hen Harrier. What a great bird. Sublime.
Then as it disappeared over the field boundary I heard a Corn Bunting singing. They are back again for the second year in a row, and probably 2 males singing on the down. But the good news is that a third bird is singing half a mile away as well!

This was the female caught and ringed on 26th Feb.