A Winters Day

 

                   The Autumn colours are still brilliant this year,  the leaves have stayed on the trees for longer than usual and when the sun has actually appeared the woods have been dazzling. On a visit this week the air was cold and the ground was colder still with small patches of ice on any standing water. It was a good day to clear out some of the nest boxes I have put up over the years. While not strictly necessary I like to remove the old nesting material and that way get shot any of the parasites that might be lingering. I opened one box and was confronted with a mass of leaves and bits of dead bracken filling it completely. I gave it an exploratory investigation and was promptly confronted by two pairs of small, black eyes, belonging to two Wood Mice, who seeing me, immediately jumped out and fled into the leaf litter. I felt very guilty for disturbing them. Another box had clearly been attacked by a woodpecker. Made of a material called Woodcrete, the box was no match for a determined pecker, needing to feed its own young with the birds or eggs inside. 

                       Bird wise this has been a very quiet time in Crow Wood. On my sunny day there I saw a few Redwings fresh in from Scandinavia, scavenging the Holly berries and a party of Long-tailed Tits and Blue Tits. Both species need to feed constantly to endure the cold and often forage together in roaming groups. I made a mental note to myself that on my next day there I must set up the usual feeding station. Pheasants are everywhere just now, they are quick to capitalise on any fallen bird food. I am not very fond of them as they are an introduced species and eat huge numbers of invertebrates but they do look stunning against a background of Autumn colours. The poor birds are there to be shot on neighbouring estates. They find our wood a safer place to be so there are always lots of them. I just wish there were less of them and more of everything else! There is growing evidence that released in such huge numbers, game birds like Pheasants do have a negative impact on biodiversity.

The nest box hammered by a woodpecker - time to replace ?

the mice have made a cosy shelter in this box-they gave me quite a surprise

not the best of years for berries, there will be even less now the Redwings are here

Beech leaves in the sun

Sweet Chestnut leaves against the birch trees

Larch needles always show their colours

on the look out for food, a Long-tailed Tit

A Cock Pheasant trying to hide, one of many I saw that day