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Country Matters ~ January 2005
I had an interesting companion in bed, other than Syl that is, though I must admit I prefer the latter. According to Syl there was an explosion as the duvet disappeared from my side of the bed and a few expletives were uttered. When Syl put on the light I was rubbing my ankle and there crawling across the sheet was a smartly dressed Queen Wasp. I forgot my conservation feelings and gave it a clout with my hand and did not carry out any of my resuscitation skills on it. Many people believe queens do not sting but this one certainly did. Where did it come from? Syl disagreed with my suggestion that it had been hibernating in the bed, probably her side.
The male Thrush in our garden was singing at the beginning of December, probably proclaiming his territory though no mate seemed to be about.
The light snow shower we had in November showed what wildlife was in the garden. There were tracks of a Rabbit, Hare, Badger and two Foxes. The Foxes had played in the snow and rolled around in it, probably the first they had seen in their lifetime.
The partly rotten ash tree by our house, which has had a Green Woodpeckers nest in it for the last two years, must also have housed a Hornets nest. The old Hornets nest, which was not large, recently fell out of the bottom of the rotten trunk. I have tried to find their nests in the past but I was not looking close enough to home. They can forage over a very wide area and even the much smaller Honey Bee will forage up to three miles if the colony finds a good nectar source.
In early December I had a Stoat running up our drive towards my office window with a mouse in its mouth. The next day Keith Brunning my neighbour saw it in his garden. Then on Christmas Eve my son Chris saw it hunting under the sinks containing alpines by our house. Though they are one of the most efficient killing machines in our countryside one has to admire them. They will kill anything from the smallest vole to a sizable hare. I have seen them kill rabbits with one bite to the neck but they don’t only kill for immediate food. I remember visiting a shooting estate that had picked up 87 pheasants that a single stoat had killed overnight. Each body had just been pulled into cover before it had moved on to the next kill. I am sure it is the enjoyment of the chase and kill that they enjoy (like humans?). It is not only terrestrial prey it will kill it is also a very good climber so birds nests in trees are also not safe. I have written before about a stoat with four young that I saw running down our drive. The old gas lamp at the end of our drive only had the pole erected at the time and the stoats disappeared inside the hollow column. I was crouching down looking in at the base but the family had disappeared, I glanced up and there looking down at me were five heads neatly arranged around the top of the column.
Stoats are certainly increasing in numbers and I do not think it is the reduction in the numbers of game-keepers that is the main reason. The large increase in rabbit numbers is providing the stoat with plenty of food during the critical winter period. The rabbit has no chance once it is in its warren and if it is above ground the stoat can run very fast and more importantly does not give up. The rabbits I have seen killed have not even run away but seem to become transfixed by the stoat until they were killed.
Wildlife Reports for January 2005
Barry Mouser saw a juvenile Grey Wagtail at the sewage works at Rayne and for the information of keen birders a Cetti’s Warbler at Towerlands golf course. Barry and Keith Brunning have reported sightings of stoats (see Country Matters). A Ruddy Shelduck has returned to our lagoon at Goulds, this large spectacular bird is almost certainly an escape. Fox sightings have been numerous Angela Fairhurst and Harold Giles have commented on the large ‘tame’ fox that is often seen in the Pods Brook valley. (see Country Matters). Mary Brunning has been woken several times in the early hours by a pair of foxes barking at each other in their garden at Duckend Green. They are probably trying to devise a way at getting to their neighbours Guinea Fowl and hens. Once the Guinea Fowl re-grow their wing feathers and fly out of their enclosure their days will be numbered. Andy Goodey had a Golden Plover fly over his garden in December and reported the return of the Little Egret along Pods Brook over the holiday period. This bird has been seen by many walkers along the river. Angela Fairhurst then saw two birds and this was then capped when Nigel the Flitch Way Ranger and Mike Shaw on an organised walk reported five Egrets though they may have double counted one bird. Mark Giles, in January saw a Buzzard sitting on the hedge opposite the entrance to Old Hall Farm. This sighting follows those of Robert Bucknell earlier in the autumn. Andy Goodey wonders how long before we have breeding pair in the locality, as they are now breeding elsewhere in Essex.To finish, two unusual reports concerning bird feeders. Phil Monk, Smithsfield has had a Goldcrest on his nut feeder this winter but Dennis Spurling Old Hall Cottages has probably had one of the most amazing sights on a feeder this year. As it was on Boxing Day one may be tempted to think he had indulged too much in the Christmas spirit but he recorded the event with a very good picture from just a few feet away. His peanut feeder and a ball of fat were covered in fifteen Long Tailed Tits all feeding at once. It is rare for the whole feeding group of tits to feed at once on a feeder and this is not the first visit Dennis has had.
Roger Jiggins Tel. 01376 324 311. email r.jiggins@btconnect.com
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