The majority of the Swallows that live at Greenheyes during the summer months left around the 15th, but visiting Dorothy's father's farm on the 28th there were still some in a nest.

A very late brood but as I have said in the report the weather has been kind so they should have a chance of migrating.

The hedges are red with ripe hawthorn berries and as this picture shows the birds should have plenty for the winter.

This picture is of Badger droppings. The Badger being a clean animal, digs a hole called a latrine and this is one.

The contents show this Badger must be raiding our maize.

Paul has been busy with work this month however Andy our Webby has been out with his camera so over to you Andy.

Thanks Phil, Well as Phil has mentioned although our summer visitors have left on their migration to warmer climate's and autumn is now begining, the weather has been quite mild.

Not all of our summer visitors have left, this Whitethroat which had just provided me with a rather entertaining song and dance routine, normally winters in africa.

 

Another bird which was, if you'll pardon the pun, game, to be photographed was this female partridge, who I think I caught by surprise while she basked in the sun.

It is a "Game" bird and is hunted between September and February, this one being lucky in that it was shot by a camera and not a 12 gauge. (No I don't have one... It's more challenging to shoot them with a camera).

A second picture that I took a short while later, show's how the bird's markings help to conceal it, by breaking up its outline in the shadows of the hedge.

My luck at stalking these birds finally ran out when I stepped on a twig, The sharp crack it made and my resultant attempt at speaking a foreign language prompted their rapid disappearence into Phil's maze crop.

My "stalking" over I resumed my walk down the cattle drive and along the River Dane.

As I approached the river, I could hear a regular tapping noise coming from the woods lining its bank.

The source of this noise was a Spotted Woodpecker, which was looking for insects and grubs under the tree bark.

In spring you can hear the male birds making loud bursts of tapping, this is a territorial signal. This bird however was a little more alert than the partridge's I had encountered earlier, and it made it's way to a more private tree somewhere upstream before I could take a better photograph.

For the bird and animals who winter with us now is a time of plenty, and as Phil mentioned above, most of the plants, bushes and trees are heavy with seeds,

This hawthorn tree is covered from top to bottom with a mass of bright red berries or "Haws".

These provide a good source of food for the likes of Blackbirds and Thrushes. The Hawthorn is a very tough and hardy plant. the sharp thorns on its branches mean that it is an ideal plant to use in hedging as a barrier to cattle.

With correct maintainance these hedges can last for hundreds of years.

Also producing a good crop of berries this year are the Blackthorn, Bramble, Elder and Dog Rose.

Blackthorn (Sloes)

Bramble

Elder

Dog Rose

If you have read our earlier reports, you will be aware that the river Dane is at times quite fast flowing and as a result there can be considerable erosion along its banks.

Sadly this process is not only due to natural forces. As I walked along its bank, I found several instances where large chunks of the bank, some more than a meter in depth (some are so deep they have steps cut into them), had been dug away, and even the branches of a tree had been cut back.

The pictures (above right) show some examples although due to the lack of depth in a 2 dimensional photograph they do not give a true impression of their size.

As well as damaging the banks at the time they are dug, in times of flood these cuts result in areas of increased turbidity in the flow of the water, which in turn results in further damage through natural erosion.

They are also a hazard to cattle which somtimes graze along the banks. Whatever happend to just sitting on the bank???

Well that's about it for now, hope you've found this report to be of intrest, I'll get back to putting it on the web, and hopefully Phil will be back reporting for you next time.

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