Nature Report – W/e 3rd Nov 2013

If there’s ice in November that will bear a duck,
There’ll be nothing after, but sludge & muck (Old weather saying)

So this is my first ever nature report which is going to be a basic and general journal-esk overview of all the various wildlife and habitats I have come across in the previous seven days, hence why I’m publishing on a Sunday.

I’m not expecting all my wonderful readesr to be so enthusiastic about these posts, this is totally just my report log, so you might want to skip over this post until the next one tomorrow.

However, anyone that can offer any identification support along the way then I’d be most grateful for your support.

I’m going to trial this report out in such a way to see if any (and hopefully all) of the following happens:

I can keep the journal going over winter
I learn more about the names of the things I discover
I become more at one with nature, and get outside even more than I do already
A good excuse to practice photography too

I’m going to break the report up into different areas so I can refer back to it a bit easier if possible later on down the road. Again, these different sections may or may not work but there is only one way to find out!

Weather

Managed to survive the impending doom storm the media was so heavily reporting last Sunday eve. Grimsby didn’t see much of it at all apart from a few gusts and heavy rain showers. The beginning of the week was most unsettled, with temperatures averaging between 8-11C. The weekend has been sunny followed by heavy rain. The worst night, weather wise was just last night in which no warnings by the media had been given which just goes to show it’s better to keep abreast with the weather using weather services! Today has felt extremely cold and being outside was short lived in the garden.

Habitats

Just the two this week, a couple of parks and the garden. I happened to notice a lot more crows and/or rooks flying about the open playing fields in Grimsby this week. I believe November is the time they start to make their appearance closer to towns as food becomes more scarce with the weather. With the recent gusty winds the leaves on trees have taken a battering but many still cling on. The parks were very muddy underfoot. In the garden there are still a few plants flowering (see album below). Not even the bad weather can dampen their spirits and it’s certainly nice to see them.

Birds

At home the bird feeders are continuously stocked full of seed and peanuts. I counted 7 sparrows, on the front feeders and yet the back one seems to get very little activity most days. I don’t know why this is. I’ve placed the feeders under the eucalyptus tree, far enough away from the fence to be bothered by any cats and yet still all I seem to gets a flurry of ring neck doves (six at one time is not unusual) who gobble the seed from the bird table and then desert eh garden again. I’ve seen the black bird maybe once this week, as I have the robin and a pair of great tits. I’m wondering whether the berries are in such abundance near by that they are shunning the seed until they run out of wild food?

Mammals

None this week, although I don’t expect this at the moment. I haven’t had the opportunity to find any and I’m not expecting anything but a fox (and the occasional cat) to come into the front garden.

Wildflowers

I need to keep a closer eye out, I’m tending to drift past flowers at the moment on a walk unless they are abundant or brightly coloured. I did spot some hedge Bindweed (calystegia sepium) over in one of the parks this week with it’s trumpet shaped white flower heads. It’s only supposed to flower until Sept so it must be in quite a good spot if it’s still producing flowers.

Trees

For some reason the tree that always captures my eye at this time of year is the Lombardy Poplar (populas nigra). With all the other trees looking sparse this tree looks even more grand stood up tall, in a line. They are popular because they are quick growing, grow in any soil and provide both a boundary and a noise reducer which is probably why I’ve seen them in the parks.

Fungus

There appears to be rather a lot of mushrooms popping up in the barked area of the garden (see photo’s below). However I have nothing by which to be able to identify them. All my books and not one on mushrooms! If anyone can let me know what they are I’d be most grateful.

Invertebrates

Again, I need to spend more time looking closer in this area. I can certainly see the effects of some wasps on oak tree leaves (plant galls), but I can’t say I’ve really noticed anything else and yet there should be. Although many will be hibernating at this time of year I should still be able to get a glance of ones such as woodlouse, some moths and of course, not forgetting the arachnids!

Fishes

Again, not having visited anywhere that has either still or running water I have nothing to report this week.