A field in Shropshire, England
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The water in the pond is now crystal clear thanks to the rain and cold weather (and no more digging pond extensions). The roach, perch and sticklebacks aren’t so keen though and they’re keeping to the deep water to avoid the herons who stalk around the margins.
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Happy Christmas from Tipton’s Croft. The recent freezing weather, with six inches of ice on the pond (and a frozen borehole) has given way to more familiar dark, wet weather with the occasional welcoming blue sky.
All is not quiet though. The barn owl is still around screeching at night, though isn’t roosting in either of the nest boxes. Herons, little egrets, snipes and wild ducks come to the pond where the roach and perch have retreated to the bottom, appearing only at night in torchlight.
Haws and holly are the only colour in the hedges but goldfinches brighten the edges of the meadow as they feed on knapweed seed heads.
Hopefully we will have visiting sheep soon to keep the meadow grass short until the wildflowers have a chance in the spring.
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After a few weeks of no cameras in the nest box (thanks to something nibbling the cables up in the tree) we have fixed the technical issues and now have a good view of the inside of the nest box, where the new barn owl is settling in for the winter. She (see the black dots on her front) isn’t ringed and doesn’t look like our previous owls, so is likely new to the area.
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The black blob on the bottom of the nest box is a fresh barn owl pellet and the first sign that an owl is around and might be interested in settling in.
A search back through the nest box camera’s saved clips reveals all. The barn owl has been visiting for a couple of days and even rested all day on Friday. We don’t know if it’s male or female, or if it is one of the adults from this year (it is unlikely to be any of the fledglings). We can’t see if it is ringed yet either. Will let you know more when we do.
Almost exactly to the day a barn owl starts to visit the nest box. It was 1 October when we first spotted one last year https://tiptonscroft.org.uk/blog/new-tenant/.
A week of filming the new shallow end of the pond shows how popular it is for birds.
In order of appearance: carrion crows, jackdaws, magpies, wood pigeons, moorhens, a snipe and a sparrowhawk having a bath.
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We have now identified 100 different wildflowers in the field. Some are common, some are rare, some were here before us, some we introduced and some arrived on their own. All of them are native or naturalised English wildflowers and though many of them would be considered weeds in a garden they are all welcome here!
www.tiptonscroft.org.uk/blog/flora/
A female sparrowhawk has started visiting the pond to drink and bathe. The local pigeons had better keep a good lookout otherwise they’ll be breakfast!
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The meadow has had its annual cut and because of the dry weather it could be cut and bailed the same day. Nineteen good big round bales: not quite a record but certainly a good year. It’s always a bitter sweet moment as the bails are taken away.
The field does look bare and it is a sign the seasons are moving on and autumn is just round the corner. But the birds love it as the hunters go for any exposed field voles or toads and the ground feeders feast on worms and bugs.
It will grass over soon and then we hope to have sheep grazing on it over the winter.
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The youngest owlet has finally dispersed and the nest box is now empty. It’s been a successful year and there are now three new barn owls somewhere out there in the Shropshire countryside. This brings our total owls bred to 11 since we started in 2018.
The nest box shouldn’t be empty for long, but hopefully we have enough time to clean it out and make any repairs needed before another (or possibly the same) couple of barn owls settle in.
Three great tits take an interest in the empty nest box.
The young moorhen that has been visiting is growing up and has developed the distinctive red and yellow beak, and now may be settling in its new home in a clump of bulrush.
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The owlets have spent the past few days gaining their independence and the older two have now left the nest box and dispersed, to who knows where, as they do at this age. The youngest is still here and still being fed by the adult female, but it won’t be long before he too will fly off into the distance.
The owlets at twelve weeks old
A dozen shy young mallards (mostly female) have just arrived by the pond. I might get a better shot if they’re still here tomorrow, but I don’t want to disturb them.
The next morning and they’re still here, doing what ducks do: eating the pond plants and messing up the water!
Update 20 July. The mallards have gone, back to their pond next door where they had escaped from!