The Magpie's Hoard

A Photo Walk

Having been "rudely awakened by the dustmen" first thing this morning, I decided to take my camera for an early walk. I caught the 8.00am bus to High Bradfield and walked back via Agden, Damflask and Loxley Common.

There was still frost on the grass as I cut through the churchyard at Bradfield. A bird of prey swooped low over the church roof, scattering the jackdaws in panic. Although I only caught a brief glimpse, I recognised the unmistakeable profile of an accipiter - rounded wings and a long tail. I found myself wondering whether it was a goshawk... or just a large sparrowhawk. Whilst the former is a possibility, the latter is much more likely.

I walked on to the ruined farm at Rocher Head, then round to Agden Side. It was blissfully quiet - I didn't see another living soul until I reached Agden Reservoir, where I stopped to photograph the bank voles that scurry out of the dry stone wall to pick up bits of bird seed.

After calling in for a coffee at Bradfield Post Office, I sat by the cricket pitch and watched the swallows skimming low across the short turf. I made a couple of half-hearted attempts at photographing them, but they were just too quick for me. I had a more success with a small flock of long-tailed tits that were foraging in the bushes along the edge of Damflask.

Late Blooms

The warm, sunny weather over the past couple of weeks has brought a welcome flush of late summer colour to the countryside. As well as the wildflowers that normally bloom at this time of year, there also seem to be quite a few plants flowering out-of-season.

These shots were taken last Friday during a visit to Cressbrook Dale National Nature Reserve in the Peak District National Park.

One Ring to find them...

Returning home from a walk one Sunday afternoon in mid-June, Liz and I found a dead great tit (Parus major) lying on the pavement a few streets away. It looked as though it had probably been hit by a passing car.

As the little bird had a ring attached to one of its legs, I picked it up and took it home. Removing the ring was a bit tricky - eventually I had to cut through the leg in order to get it off.

Once unfolded, the ring measured about 5mm x 10mm. It was inscribed with the address of the British Museum and a seven digit reference code.

As I hadn't come across one of these rings for many years, I decided to check the return procedure on the 'net. A quick search turned up a useful website called Euring, where I was able to enter the details on-line.

Yesterday I received a letter from the BTO giving details of when and where the great tit was ringed: 19th May 2007 at 53° 23'N, 1° 31'W. I was rather disappointed to discover that it had travelled a grand total of 0km in the 29 days since it had been ringed!

The BTO publishes a very informative leaflet about bird ringing, which can be downloaded from:
http://www.bto.org/ringing/resources/displays/bird-ringing.pdf