I haven’t been out much with my camera recently; instead I have been scanning and tagging prints, slides and negatives, some of them going back to 1930s.
These are from The International Gold Cup race at Oulton Park, 29 May 1972. This is a race that includes Formula 1 cars but does not count towards the Championship. Back in those days you could wander around the paddock where the cars were being prepared for the race. Compare these with the way Formula 1 is conducted now.
The weather hasn’t been great but when I do go out with my camera I do enjoy it, so it was good to spend a couple of hours down by the river at Denso Marston Nature Reserve on Sunday.
One of the first things spotted was, having first been heard flying along the river, were a couple of Grey Wagtail. They stayed reasonably close to each other as they moved along the low branches and water’s edge looking as though they were a pair for the Spring.
Across the other side of the river was a Crow gathering soft material that is probably to line a nest somewhere near. From the ground a crow’s nest looks to be made of quite large twigs but apparently the twigs get smaller towards the middle and it is lined with soft material. That part of the field has hundreds of Butterbur flowers poking up through the grass.
Last year, towards the end of March, I spotted hundreds of Alder Leaf Beetles on the group of Field Maple trees near the gate to the reserve (see DMNR, 25 & 26 March and Field Maple and Beetles at DMNR) so on this visit I had a look over the same trees. I spotted only two beetles and didn’t see any on other trees or leaves. Are we going to have the same numbers emerging this year? Was I too early? Have I missed them?
Several times I heard the sound of Pheasants calling and flapping their wings and near the Spider Club feeding station saw a male Pheasant with what looked like a broken tail feather. A few minutes later I saw how Pheasants can break their tails. Two males were scrapping on the river bank. The one that kept going in for the attack didn’t seem to stand a chance. He backed off quickly a few times but still went back for more, even though he found himself in the river a couple of times.
Other birds spotted were the usual ones for this time of year. Several Chiffchaffs could be heard and I managed to spot one of them. I had seen several Long Tailed Tits and spotted a couple fly in and out of some undergrowth. This was a bit different to the behaviour I normally see of a flock flitting along a tree line , each leap-frogging the other as they feed, so I watched for a few minutes. It looked as though they were taking “stuff” in. I managed to spot one and it looks as though it has something like a thick spider’s web trailing from its beak. Yet more nest building.
It’s a poor photo but I also spotted a Nuthatch checking out a hole in a tree. It looked like an ideal spot for a Nuthatch nest. I will do my best to keep an eye on it on later visits but it will most likely soon be hidden by leaves.
This last lot of photos are of the spring flowers and new growth at the reserve.
I’m not impressed with the photos here but they are here only to show what is seen on my walks. They won’t win any prizes. As usual you can tap on an image to see it in its gallery.
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