Frogs aren't early risers!

Another interesting sight during my stay at my mum's was this frog:

Frog
[May 2013]

We saw it in the garden pond, floating lifelessly. This was early on a crisp morning so the frog must have been freezing and had no energy, but we were worried and (probably unnecessarily) fished it out and placed it out of the shade.

It soon warmed up and sluggishly came back to life, taking a few tentative hops. I'm assuming it's a common frog but to be honest I don't really know!

Goldcrest

Another life tick! (Yes, I'm on a roll). I was visiting my mum's in Cheshire at the weekend and she had a goldcrest visiting her bird feeder every 15 minutes or so. It must have been taking food back to a nest.

I was outside at about 8 in the morning and saw it. My mum didn't believe me, but eventually I got her to see it from inside with the binoculars and agree it had a gold patch on the top of its head!

This one wasn't as chubby looking as the pictures in bird guides make out, but it was still unmistakable as there isn't another bird (apart from the firecrest, which isn't common this far north) with the bright gold patch!

The goldcrest was a really exciting spot. I don't know how common they are in gardens but I was really surprised to see it. No picture though I'm afraid.

Another Life Tick!

On Bank Holiday Monday we decided to take the kids to Whitmuir, the local organic farm shop and cafe.

On the drive there, over the hills, I saw birds several times that I was sure looked unusual to me, but they were too far away for me to see them closely, and anyway the car kept scaring them off.  They looked grey wagtail-like in overall shape and flew in an up and down bobbing motion. They flashed a white rump as they flew which is what made me think I might be looking at something new.

It was only on the drive home that I finally got a closer look at one of these birds, which remained perched on the wall by the road as we drove past. It had a grey head and back, with a very clear thick black "stripe" across its wings and lower back.

I made a mental note of the plumage and looked it up that evening. It was a wheatear!  A bird that I wasn't even sure I'd ever heard of before, let alone seen!

Apparently it is best seen in "upland" environments, which is exactly where we saw it. Fantastic! Life tick.

An Hour with Nature: Kailzie Gardens

This is the second Hour with Nature I've tried doing, following the Hour with Nature: Calderwood from a few weeks ago.

It's great fun but quite time-consuming to load and type everything up. I'm sure I'll do it again but maybe not for a little while.

This Hour with Nature was at Kailzie Gardens, a local country garden to my home in Peebles. Here's what happened.

Date: Sunday, 17 March 2013
Time: 3.30pm to 4.30pm
Location: Along Kailzie Burn, in Kailzie Gardens

Site (marked with blue rectangle) shown in relation to Peebles

Diary:

3.30pm
I had a good look round this magnificent HEMLOCK SPRUCE, at the bridge over Kailzie Burn.

3.30pm
The view down Kailzie Burn from the bridge.

3.32pm
Saw this beautiful patch of SNOWDROPS under the bridge.

3.34pm
Shortly after there was this SNOWDROP CARPET.

3.36pm
A young BEECH tree.

3.40pm

This SPHAGNUM MOSS was underneath the beech tree.

3.45pm

A CHAFFINCH was having a good old sing-song nearby.

3.46pm

I make no excuses for sharing another wonderful SNOWDROP CARPET.

3.48pm

A BLUE TIT was chirping nearby. I didn't manage to get a picture.

3.49pm

I heard a PHEASANT calling.

3.49pm

I don't know what this tree is. I'm hoping I can identify it by the bud someday.

3.52pm

A ROBIN, singing its heart out.

3.54pm

I thought this twisted RHODODENDRON looked great.

3.57pm

A magnificent DOUGLAS FIR. What an outstanding tree. I stared at this for a while.

4pm

I paused to look back the way I had come, along Kailzie Burn.

4.08pm

Walking back along the burn now on the other side. This tree (visible in the centre of the above shot too), was shrub-like and had soft catkins. Maybe it's PUSSY WILLOW but I'm not sure. Someone on iSpot agreed it is a type of WILLOW.

4.10pm

Wonderfully, in the willow, a beautiful LONG-TAILED TIT alighted on a branch. It stayed there for about ten or so seconds, in which time I failed miserably to get a photo, before flying off.

4.14pm

Some HOGWEED.

4.15pm

I heard another PHEASANT calling.

4.16pm

This was growing right on the river bank. I had absolutely no idea what it was. Thanks to iSpot, I now know it is a type of DOG LICHEN, probably Peltigera membranacea.

4.19pm
I thought this RHODODENDRON shoot growing on an old tree stump was interesting.

4.22pm
I saw a male and female CHAFFINCH flitting about in the branches of a nearby tree.

4.27pm
Found this COMMON IVY growing on (in fact, completely smothering) a wall.

4.30pm
As I finished, I went to sit down in a bower, and lo and behold, this SPIDER was dangling in front of my face. I've no idea what species it is, but it was a nice way to round off the hour.

END.

This hour with nature was so refreshing. The air was cool. It felt so good to get outside. And being a cultivated garden, lots of interesting variety to see.

Here a Google Map showing my route and the locations of all the species I saw.