WInter Twig Identification Guide

 Alton Natural Society have published a simple guide to identifying twigs in winter. It may be found here:

https://altonnaturalhistory.webnode.com/news/identifying-twigs-in-winter/

Late winter activity and early spring plants

 The spell of hard weather brought the hoped-for unusual visitor to Kings Pond with this female Mandarin - presumably pushed off a frozen water elsewhere. 

A micro-nap for a few seconds.

Tufted Duck numbers varied from day to day - maximum 11. Cormorants are supposedly all black - but look at the actual colour of the upper feathers with the black edging.

The most-photographed bird in East Hampshire ? One of the tame Robins

Farmland birds: Golden Plover along the Selborne Road - there has long been a traditional small flock of 20-30 here with the actual fields being used varying from year to year. Not seen by me for a few years and just 17 now.

As usual they don't need to fly for long before forming echelons/V's

Redwing were finding feeding more difficult in the hard spell.

While Pheasants and Hares were becoming more active in response to the longer day length and approaching breeding season

Start of march madness - hope the shaking in the bitterly cold strong wind does not distract too much

Knowledge of what grows where allows me to know that these are Ransomes (wild garlic) coming through

... and these are Bluebells and Wild Daffodils.

Plenty of these now...

But just the odd Lesser Celandine still

Even the sun has put in the odd appearance

An alternative late winter/early spring spot of colour. The Scarlet Elf Cap (or maybe Ruby Elf Cap). As expected - on dead wood among moss.

Chawton Park Wood - first Primroses of the year. And Fallow Deer north of Alton.

 The first primroses of the year could be found in Chawton Park Wood on 29 January

A near complete absences of finches in the wood. There is no beech mast this year so no Chaffinches (or Bramblings) and no Goldfinches or Siskins were in the conifers. All I heard were a couple of bullfinches.

So resorted to taking photos of the moss which caught the sun lovely when it came out. This looks a good candidate for being Common tamarisk moss (Thuidium tamariscinum)

Badgers had been digging in an adjacent field..

A couple of days later, on a walk from home to the north of Alton I found this spectacular Fallow Deer. Sadly it was very distant and the light very poor.

It was part of a bachelor group of 6 - most if not all appeared to be males of various ages/antlerage.

Most had the normal distinctive black and white pattern at the rear. But one was all dark reflecting the variability we see locally.

They have a longer tail than Roe Deer. But not so long as the American White Tailed Deer. While birding in Virginia a few years ago I remember seeing a long tail poking up above the long grass of a meadow and thinking that it must be a really big Golden Retriever - only for a White Tailed Deer to pop out.

Alton snow - and sun - 25 January

 A wonderful bright, sunny and cold day with the snow crisp on the ground.

I checked the Flood Meadows in the hope of finding a Water Rail but no luck. However some compensation with this Kingfisher in the dark under the trees. 

Tracks and trails in the snow. Bunnies, dog and a pheasant...

Bunny prints are "2 across and 2 in-line".  With the across prints being the hind legs.

This I took to be a Bunny running... I couldn't work out which way this was going - perhaps away from me with the rear legs overtaking the front legs.

Mole hills

Kestrel...

Different take-off techniques. Blackbird: jump and then open wings...

Mallard: open wings first : 

Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit feeding where an upwelling of water had melted the snow...

Windmill Hill from Kiln House

Two different Mistle Thrushes...