Treading more Boards.

Another boardwalk trail that I like to wander is located at the Riverside Country Park just over a 30 minute drive from home. The start of my leisurely stroll takes me a short distance alongside the River Wey Navigation where I watched a Common Buzzard being harried by Crows before stepping onto the first stretch of boards leading over stagnant water in a small woodland.

Depending on the time of day and the wind direction the road noise from the adjacent A3 can be quite overpowering so the ears have to work a bit harder to pick out the calls of the resident birds.

On this occasion it was the usual suspects; Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Wren, Song Thrush plus the intermittent song of a Blackcap. 

As I walked towards the main lake I saw a number of male Orange Tip butterflies patrolling the grassland but non of them stopped for a photo call!

The main lake didn't hold much of interest just Coot, Canada Geese, Mallard and Moorhen so I turned onto the main boardwalk that crosses the marsh and immediately picked up the scratchy sounds of a Sedge Warbler, typically hidden from view, and parked myself on one of the highly carved seats.

A little time here enabled a few distant shots of a male Reed Bunting (below) singing while endeavouring to maintain its balance on a flimsy perch in the gusty breeze.

One arm of the boardwalk leads into the damp woodland where there is a curved screen with portholes overlooking a small area of open water. Unsurprisingly parts of the hide screen have already been vandalised plus there was recent evidence of a fire on the floor!
You can view an article in The Guildford Dragon News which has images of the original boardwalk and hide construction completed in May 2013 at at exorbitant cost of £210,000 but at least it means you don't have to wear waders to cross the marsh!

A Mute Swan (above) drifted in and then out of view followed shortly after by Mrs Mallard with seven youngsters in tow who spent some minutes paddling in and out of the shadows beneath the boardwalk.

Following the boardwalk again past clumps of Marsh Marigold towards the Wey Navigation I logged a lot more very active Orange Tips, plus one Peacock butterfly before crossing the bridge to sit awhile at Stoke Lock and watch the peacefully slow activity on the waterway.  

A Grey Wagtail was extremely busy catching and carrying insects to a nearby nest. Retracing my steps I listened to Chiffchaff and Common Whitethroat while being serenaded by a Robin.

Linking to:
Good Fences
Saturday's Critters

Boardwalk Birding.

On Tuesday I made another visit to Thursley Common in the hope of catching up with the over-wintering Great Grey Shrike. After an unsuccessful  two hour search around 'Shrike Hill' under an overcast sky and a strong westerly wind with very little avian activity apart from a noisy Carrion Crow and disturbing two Woodlark I returned to the car for a rest.
After a while the clouds gave way to afternoon sunshine so I decided to have another search and eventually added this species to my year list but unfortunately it never got close enough to the lens!

On my return journey along the boardwalk a male Stonechat (above) obliged the lens by perching in a bare Birch and then a brief sighting of a Dartford Warbler as it headed for deep cover in the Gorse just before a female Reed Bunting (below) also made use of the flowering Gorse for a perch as the wind ruffled her feathers.

On Friday under a much calmer, sunny sky I visited Riverside Country Park, on the outskirts of Guildford where I logged Cormorant, Mute Swan, Mallard, Wigeon, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Coot, Lapwing, Kestrel, Green Woodpecker, Blackbird, Robin, Starling, Crow, Magpie, Jay, Jackdaw, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Reed Bunting, Treecreeper, Wren, Collared Dove, Woodpigeon and added Grey Wagtail plus Cetti's Warbler to my County year list.

An immature Mute Swan (above) changing into its adult plumage flying up the Wey Navigation and (below) a male Reed Bunting seen singing from its flimsy perch as I slowly wandered across the boardwalk.

Wishing everyone, wherever you are, a glorious wildlife watching weekend.  FAB.

Linking to Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen.

Taking it Slow and Easy.

With much warmer temperatures forecast for today I drove to Riverside Country Park for a very leisurely stroll. While the grassland areas were covered in yellow a traverse of the marsh boardwalk didn't produce any wildlife images but I did see Swift, Reed Bunting, Sedge Warbler, Wren, Blackbird, Blue Tit and heard Common Whitethroat and Blackcap. No Terns on the lake raft as two Canada Geese appear to have taken up residence.

Alongside the path I spotted one Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) butterfly taking a well earned rest.

Turning onto the towpath alongside the River Wey Navigation all the male Mallard were also chilling out together.

A Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) briefly rested close to my feet. Such a colourful dainty butterfly.

The real waterside action was the extraordinary numbers of Banded Demoiselles (Colopteryx splendens). The males were flitting hither and thither not perching for long in case they missed the very sparce numbers of females on the wing.

At Bowyers Lock I met up with Brian and his wife who take it slow and easy every day as they have been living on their narrow boat ever since retirement, traveling the length and breadth of our waterways.

They were heading downstream to join the River Thames and after an interesting chat it was time for me to head home.  FAB.

Linking to NATURE NOTES 

Cormorants.

After a very stormy and extremely wet winter I have finally come out of hibernation! 

Whilst I did get in some local birding during the early part of the year it was not without its difficulties. Excessively high water levels on local rivers spilling over onto farmland, pastures and many roads making travel very difficult and creating havoc for many homeowners.

At Riverside Country Park the nearby meadows looked like an extensive lake and the relatively new boardwalk across the marsh just about managed to stay above the water level. With so much water around it was perhaps not surprising that the wildfowl was scattered over a much larger area than usual so on one outing my attention turned to a species that was fairly easy to locate ...... Cormorants.

Firstly a hurried shot of one in flight and then two different individuals perched high above the river.

Whilst I appreciate this species is not everyone's favourite and perhaps not the most photogenic they did strike a decent pose in an otherwise bird-less landscape. Above is an adult in non breeding plumage.

The above individual with extensive white feathers around its crown and hindneck is much older and is wearing the distinctive white thigh patch indicating that it is in breeding plumage.

And finally a closer fly-by as one individual decided to move off to look for a midday snack .... somewhere! ... FAB.

Blue-tailed Damselfly.

I was slow to rise and get going this morning and as a brief dip into my local patch just before midday only produced a single male Tufted Duck, Moorhen, Coot and Grey Heron on the Great Pond I decided to drive down to Riverside Country Park for a wander around the lake.

There were several spots alongside the waters edge where the wild flowers were putting on a good show and amongst the grasses I noticed a few Damselflies flitting hither and thither but rarely stopping to rest. Undeterred I continued my search around a patch of thicker bramble vegetation and found a pair of Blue-tailed Damselflies (Ischnura elegans) in a mating wheel. 

I wasn't overly happy with the results using the 450D plus 70-300 lens handheld so I reverted to my Cannon PowerShot S95 for a more detailed close up view (see below) which clearly shows the two distinctive features that distinguishes this species from the rarer Scare Blue-tailed; the blue at the end of the abdomen is present on both segments 8 and 9 and the male has a long bicoloured pterostigma on its fore wing.

While snapping this co-operative pair I missed a Common Tern fishing right behind me! Other sightings included a nice patch of Marsh Orchids and Hoverflies visiting various nectar sources.

The only dragonfly I found was a large unnamed version where I was able to rest my weary legs. You can view all the Dragons and Damsels I have photographed by clicking this link.  FAB.

 Linking to Nature Notes.

Waterside Wander.

 

A mid morning stroll at Riverside Country Park on another very breezy day started with a scan across the water meadows but apart from Grey Herons, Canada and Egyptian Geese feeding in the distance there appeared to be very little other avian activity apart from a Grey Wagtail calling on the other side of the weir.

   A male Mallard emerged from the waterside vegetation and decided to swim away! 

A little further along the towpath a Cormorant rested high above the water. I then took the pathway towards the main lake and noted that a pair of Common Terns had recently returned to the raft and will hopefully breed unmolested by the Canada Geese. A Reed Warbler was perched deep within a willow, constantly emitting its rhythmic song with nearby Blackcap, Wren and Chiffchaff also calling from their hiding places.

Two families of Canada Geese had obviously been out of the water, feeding alongside the path, but the bank-side low retaining fence was a barrier to their route back onto the lake. Fortunately one of the adults realised that there was a gap (out of view in this picture) and they all eventually made it to the other side.

 

 A nearby Coot also watched all the antics but was obviously unimpressed.

The next part of my route took me away from the lake across the adjoining wet marsh onto the new boardwalk which was erected over the winter months by the local Council. I am told that the original estimate was £60 - £80,000 but actually the final cost was three times this figure! A number of local residents and wildlife watchers that I met questioned the validity of the eventual cost and whether it needed to be so elaborate ..... only time will tell.

It has taken just over three years for the old 'simple' boardwalk to be replaced and now includes a number of seating areas and a viewing screen overlooking a small pool within the damp wooded area. 

Whilst this hide or viewing screen has been expertly constructed with seating and murals depicting the local wildlife ... the portholes, from my point of view, are not very friendly, being far too small and provide a very restricted view. Having said this on the three occasions I have visited recently there hasn't been any wildlife to watch on the other side of this barrier!

I have mentioned this before in recent post but one certain reason for the apparent lack of avian activity is, in my opinion, down to the lack of insects due to the lower temperatures. 

My footsteps onwards across the snaking boardwalk eventually led me to the Wey Navigation Lock where I sat in front of the house watching a female Blackcap and Chaffinch imitating a flycatcher's method of catching  flies over the water surface with a few Swifts circling overhead. Below the lock and close to the water outflow I spotted a couple of juvenile Grey Wagtails patiently waiting for the parents to bring them food. They were well hidden by the leafy overhanging branches so I waited hoping that an adult might appear and eventually one stopped reasonably close by.

 Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea)

As I had been out for over two hours and a visitor was expected it was time to head for home via the towpath serenaded by numerous Blackcaps singing from their hidden perches. FAB.

Linking to WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY.

Riverside Stroll.

My leisurely stroll today started from the 'Iron Bridge' near Bowyers Lock on the Wey Navigation where a pair of Grey Wagtails (year list now 100) were very active over on the other bank so distant (record) shot only. A male Mallard drifted away from the bank as he sensed my presence. A scan over the water meadows produced lots of Canada Geese, Black-headed Gulls (100+), Magpie, Carrion Crow, a charm of Goldfinches (20), Woodpigeon, Collared Dove and a Sparrowhawk. As I moved on the clouds blotted out the sun and the temperature dropped considerably.

Further along the towpath I met a young Mute Swan who as usual wanted its portrait taken ... well I couldn't deny it a moment of fame now could I? All around me species such as Robin, Wren, Chaffinch, Long-tailed, Great and Blue Tits were calling from various directions while my ears locked onto an ever increasing volume of twittering and trilling .... I eventually estimated 80+ (Eurasian) Siskin feeding high in the canopy of Alders. A male Kestrel landed, partially hidden from view, about 20 yards away and the Siskins took flight but returned fairly promptly to continue their feast. Great Spotted Woodpecker and Jay were also logged. Moving onwards and scanning over the flooded pasture produced Gadwall (5), Teal (3), Pied Wagtail plus more Mallard and BH Gulls.

At the lake were more Canada Geese, Coot, Tufted Duck (12), Great Crested Grebe (2) and Cormorant(3) plus a fly-by Green Woodpecker. On my return journey along the tow path I added a single Little Grebe plus a Common Buzzard way up high to the north. The sun re-emerged on several ocaccasions and lit up a patch of Snowdrops.   FAB.