November part 2

19th Visit to wildlife area in Cambridge to see the starlings unfortunately the weather is foggy. The starling perform beautifully - undulating like a swarm, or like fish in the sea. Suddenly a waterfall of birds as they go to roost. Fab! On the way I saw my first wild barn owl in  Field nearby the roost.

Barn Owl (Tyto alba) Hunting silently using sight and sound to locate their prey, shrews, mice, voles and frogs. They lay 4-6 white eggs and may have 2 broods.
"The Owl that watching in the barn ,
sees the mouse creeping in the corn."  ...Samuel Butler
Last week in November and it has turned winter cold. A robin sits a perch fluffed up for ages just watching then defending his territory against the sparrows. A woodpecker appears 3 gardens away.
Snow - the coldest spell in 17 years. Lots of visitors to the garden looking for food including the woodpecker.

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)
At home in both conifer and broadleaved woodland. Lays 4-7 glossy white eggs. Feeds on larvae. beetles, wasps, moths and sometimes small birds. He lands at the bottom of the bird table and works his way up to the food.
 "Rap, rap, rap, rap. I hear thy knocking bill."  ...Montgomery

November part 1

"Ice in November to bear a duck,
The rest of the year will be slush and muck."
The first week has been a lot milder than expected. Sunny with a nip in the air with no bad frost yet. The amazing autumn colour continues.

The crows and magpies are very noisey at the moment and the gang of sparrows are fighting all the time. More sparrows kill other sparrows than anything else. By the river the himalayan balsam has been cut down and the rubbish has been cleaned up. No sightings of the kingfisher sadly.
The second week has been windy and cold the leaves are mostly gone. Visitors to the garden include starlings, magpies, blue and great tits, collared doves, pigeons, sparrows and a robin.
16th We visit the New Forest. The colours have faded to a general russet brown with braken covering the floor.
The Fallow Deer were in the clearing looking peaceful together as the rutt is over. The stags still look magestic.

Fallow Deer(Cervus dama)
Lots of variation in colours some are chestnut brown other blacker while others are quite pale. The does can have offspring in her second year and will have a foal every year for up to 10 years.