End of February, no sign of violets in the west midlands even beginning to flower yet. But down in south Devon most of the ones I managed to spot had already begun to set seed. This was one of the rare exceptions where a flower had not yet begun to go over.
Little grebe, possibly the bird which as been around in summery plumage all winter, on the canal earlier today.
It was fishing in the water by the boats moored at Newbridge boatyard. I just managed to set off this shot before a group of kayakers arrived. The grebe first tried to retreat to a quieter spot of water. As the disturbances continued it was off – no sign of it later.
Dark bellied Brent geese commute annually between their summer breeding grounds in Siberia and their winter refuge on the coasts of western Europe, several hundred in the Exe estuary.
Their preferred food is eel grass, which grows between the high and low tide marks in the estuary. When the water is low they graze on this.
When high water drives them ashore, they gather in hundreds on Bowling Green Marsh or Exminster marshes, sometimes crossing the river in large flocks to shift between these two areas. Smaller groups separate off to search for food in the short grass of Dawlish Warren golf course (main picture).
An alexanders in flower at the end of February. Attractive, but this plant, which originates around the Mediterranean, is so prolific it is becoming a pest, mainly in coastal areas.
Cricklepit Mill is the last remaining mill powered by the water of the River Exe in Exeter. The building, now restored, houses the offices of the Devon Wildlife Trust. One mill wheel is still in operation, briefly, once a month as a showpiece and to produce DWT-branded stoneground flour sold to raise funds.
The mill’s wildlife garden and the leet which supplies its water attract wildlife, most spectacularly otters and kingfishers. The Trust give a lot of publicity to footage of the otters caught on infra-red cameras, so they are likely more often filmed than seen. But we got a brief glimple of a kingfisher as we arrived, before it headed off to a quieter stretch of the river away from us and a visiting group of primary school children.
Witch’s broom is a tangled mess of growth of shoots at the ends of the branches of various species of trees. It happens when there is an imbalance between the various plant hormones regulating growth as a result of the tree suffering one or other sort of infection.
