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David

That was then (little grebe, Aldersley)

That was then (little grebe, Aldersley)

Once upon a time, little grebes used to regularly overwinter on the canal. A stroll along the footpath from, say, Aldersley to Wightwick could clock up substantial numbers. On favoured sections of water, there would be a fresh dabchick every twenty or thirty yards. Each would be regularly swimming up and down its territory, frequently diving and often surfacing with a small fish in its beak, which then had to be adjusted to the correct position for being swallowed whole.

And then it stopped. The last dabchick I saw along this section of the canal was back in 2019. They have still been present elsewhere locally: on the canl further out into the Staffordshire countryside, or Perton pool. In Baggeridge Country Park there’s breeding pairs in the warmer months. It’s also possible that the birds have returned to the urban section of the canal recently – I haven’t checked in the last couple of years.

These pictures are of a bird on the canal very near to Aldersley Junction some dozen years ago. Normally, the birds headed off from their winter refuges early in the year, to try to find prime spring territories before the breeding season started. This one had hung around a little longer, and had already adopted breeding plumage before it set off.

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David

Rejected hips

Rejected hips

Hips which have remained on a dog rose bush since they ripened in the autumn, rejected by birds. They may be shrivelled and shrunken now, but they didn’t start out that way. I don’t know why they were ignored: perhaps being in an area where lots of people put out food for the birds.

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David

Titmice on bird feeders video

Bluetits and great tits eating peanuts and fatballs on bird feeders. Five minutes or so of titmice eating peanuts and fatballs from hanging feeders. most of the footage is of bluetits, with an occasional great tit for variety.

I’m noticing more about the detail of the patterns of the plumage than I would from a series of still pictures, which would themselves give more detail than watching the birds through binoculars.

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David

Spring around the corner: moss (lightly frosted)

Spring around the corner:moss (lightly frosted)

How is some moss, lightly covered in frost last month, a sign that spring may be on the way? The clue is in the delicate-looking structures rising above the rest of the plant. They are setae (shoots). What looks like a blob of greenish fluid at their ends contains the spores, ready for being dispersed by the breeze.

The most common moss species in this area growing on the tops of walls (and elsewhere) sends out it setae early in the year.

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David

First recorded cat door??

First recorded cat door??

Cat door in Exeter cathedral. The cathedral accounts include a record of carpenters being paid to make it around four hundred years ago. Entries for the expenses of keeping a cat go back a further couple of centuries: one old penny a week to keep the building free of mice and rats.

First recorded cat door??

The cathedral still has a resident cat. Search the web and it’s possible to find pictures with a present-day cat poking its head out of the hole. Getting those pictures must have taken a lot of time and patience!

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David

Feeding time: male sparrows on fat balls

Feeding time: male sparrows on fat balls

Feeding enthusiastically to get into peak condition before the breeding season, two male house sparrows spend time eating the fat balls in a bird feeder.