PUNK BIRDS.

January is the time to check out the heronry at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. On our way through the Park we are stopped in our tracks by two new sculptures. The Buddha provides a welcome jolt of colour when the clouds roll over.

The bronze figure is 9ft tall. The sculpture is called Network and is the biggest piece to date by British artist Tom Price.

Next stop is the heronry.This is an ideal nesting spot for the grey herons.No signs of any activity here yet.The chicks I observed last year are likely to rear their own chicks in these same trees.

It was the beginning of February last year when the herons started to check their nests out. It was fascinating to watch how they picked a spot to land and then walked along to the nest.

Their wingspan is as long as my arms. They are called the Lancaster Bomber of the bird world. They fly with wide methodical strokes all the time looking for a meal.Only this last year I have developed a really strong interest in studying them at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

It was lucky I could just see between the branches. At the beginning of May last year the chicks were begging for food. I watched frantic feeding frenzies where fish were regurgitated to the chick.

This is my favourite photo. The chicks are ridiculously gawky with punk hair. I think they are the most dishevelled chick you could see. I was lucky I could see the tassel on top of its head clearly.

Back to the heronry at the end of May and surprise --  "How you have grown."

The adult and chick always seemed to be looking the same way.

At the beginning of June the chicks have started to fish. They have a prehistoric look about them. I could easily imagine them back in prehistoric times.

The chick still has a bad hair day everyday.

Two weeks later this chick has moved into the lake to fish. I could'nt decide if this was just a practice run with the stick or if the chick is just a bad fisher! 

The grey heron can live along time ---- well over 25 years.I am looking forward to observing the cycle all over again this year.

Just a Selection.

                                       JANUARY: Perfect Landing                                                                                                                                                 

                                        FEBRUARY: Beautiful Blue Tit

MARCH: A nut for a Nuthatch

                                            















                                      APRIL: Great Crested Grebe heralds the start of Spring


                                                                                             

                                                   MAY: Barn Owl locating supper

                                                JUNE: Punk Chick, coiffured adult

                                        JULY: Another telling off for the Guillemot chick

              AUGUST: Good pose and becomes the 2014 postcard for Underscar

SEPTEMBER: What a wingspan - up to two metres

                               OCTOBER: Well hidden Little Owl calling to it's mate

NOVEMBER: Two for the price of one: Nut Feast, thanks to the owners, Oxley's members and friendly staff on site for buying squirrel cards..

                      DECEMBER: Britain's favourite bird looking fierce and bullish

Oxley the red squirrel. His first winter.

Oxley the red squirrel, during infancy stays within easy reach of his parents drey. As he grows he will start to move further away from the woodland surrounding the Underscar Estate.

Now 16 weeks old he will probably be living in an area of the woodland which the older squirrels have decided is not a good location. They will get first pick of the best areas. As the older squirrels die, Oxley   
may manage  to slip back to a better area and establish a more permanent space.

At the moment the forestry commission are thinning out the woodlands surrounding the Underscar Estate. Oxley may decide to build his first winter drey there.

Oxley is still easily recognisable to me. He is always the first up the boundary wall at Castlerigg in the morning. He knows I will have just filled the feeder with hazelnuts.

If I am in the process of filling the feeder he just sits close by on the wall waiting.

He will sniff quite a lot trying to decide if he is safe staying so near to me.

The above photos were all taken on a sunny morning.The ear tufts look freshly crimped, What a difference a wet day makes on the ear tufts, see below.

A frosty morning saw him surprised as fine rain froze on his fur and whiskers. His ear tufts became frozen and looked like needles.
He was curious about the cold feeling on his paws. He seemed to be trying to warm them up.

Winter will be tough for Oxley so he has developed a thick fur coat. By far the highest  proportion of deaths in a red squirrel colony is accounted for by youngsters under one year of age. Oxley will not be as experienced at finding the cached hazelnuts. This could mean he gets extremely hungry.

Oxley trying to remember where the buried hazelnuts are.

Supplementary feeding at Underscar is so important at this time of year. It prevents a population crash if the winter is bad. Once a squirrel has made it past the age of one, be it a red or a grey, it is not uncommon for it to live on to 4 or even 5 years of age.

The Fisherbeck staff at Underscar do a marvellous job in looking after the red squirrel colony. Liz O'Neill sells the squirrel photo cards on reception. All monies raised is used by Glenis Jones (Head Housekeeper) to purchase the hazelnuts. Glenis fills the feeders every 3 to 4 days. The maintenance team ---- Julian, Richard, and Nathan site new feeders and maintain them.


There are many variations in how a red squirrel looks. I am fascinated by what differences in red squirrels can emerge from the chance mixing of genes. The most unusual red squirrel I have spotted at Underscar in November this year had the most amazing two tone tail . It was very easy to spot during its foraging. It seemed a very dominant male in its relationship with the others.

Underscar: "November Baby."

Last week was spent in the Castlerigg Apartment at Underscar. The wall running by the side of this apartment gives me opportunity to observe the red squirrels coming to the feeder. I was thrilled every morning to see a November baby bounding up the wall.

                  This wall seems to be part of a lovely playground for the red squirrels.

This baby always seemed to be the first up the wall in the morning. I decided to call him 'Oxley!'

 Oxley will be about 12 weeks old. He is independent and can fend for himself , foraging for his own food. He will be from a second litter,which are born at the end of the summer.With the supplementary food given to the red squirrels at Underscar, it is no surprise that the females have two litters each year. A female will only achieve two litters if she is fit. Female red squirrels will not breed if they are not of a sufficient weight, or if food is scarce.

          Oxley clutches his chest as he surveys his adventure playground.

As I continue observing Oxley investigating his new playground, I am impressed by how he prepares to make a leap.

                    His ear tufts are blown back as he prepares for lift off.

                           Star jumper Oxley making his leap of faith. 

         He would spend a lot of time perfecting the angle he jumped from.

Midweek I noticed Oxley had a little sister with him. I decided to call her 'Skiddaw.'

          Skiddaw has fewer ear tufts and is far more cautious than Oxley.

She uses the same branch as Oxley but creeps further along before launching.

                             Skiddaw attempting a perfect landing


Capturing Oxley and Skiddaw in the air was a new venture for me. Watching them happily play chase was wonderful. The chasing was fast,and very vocal. At some point they would end up eating quietly at a safe distance apart on the boundary wall.

Young Wildlife Explorers at Underscar.

Most mornings during the half-term week at Underscar, I was joined by Ben and Matthew. They were staying in the Latrigg apartment and were very keen to find out what I was up to down on our Grange apartment patio.

On Monday I placed a half coconut filled with hazelnuts in one of the trees. We didn't have to wait long before a male squirrel discovered these. Ben thought it a good idea how I use double sided sticky tape to attach nuts onto the trailing tree branches. The male squirrel soon followed the trail to the coconut.

The ear tufts were very prominent on this red squirrel. These tufts are present for most of the year but are moulted in late summer and regrow in early autumn.

It is thought that the main function of these ear tufts is to keep the ears warm, and help circulation of the blood in a thin organ such as the ear.

This male squirrel stayed a few minutes enjoying its hazelnut. Its next nut it decided to carry to the top of the pillar wall at Grange. We got a really good view of the ear tufts.

On Wednesday we were rewarded for our patience as we all sat quietly observing a feeding log we had placed on Grange patio. A female red squirrel kept coming and going to cache the hazelnuts.

At the end of the week Ben thought it would be a good idea to place hazelnuts on the pillars at the top of Grange apartment steps. He was right, as we were able to entice this male squirrel with the hazelnuts.

                        This red squirrel spends time selecting a hazelnut.

     The red squirrel weighs the hazelnut to see if the nut inside is a large one.

         
           Satisfied with its choice it runs away to cache it, to retrieve later.

On the last morning when Ben and Matthew came down to Grange patio they spotted a Wood Mouse.They thought themselves very lucky to see this as it is nocturnal. We were all amused how it was carrying away the hazelnuts we had left for the squirrels.

It was very brave creeping back to take hazelnut after hazelnut to its secret store.

With approximately one Wood Mouse for every two people in the UK, they are one of its most common small mammals.

We have all enjoyed our wild life exploring this week. Ben thinks that red squirrels rock, and Matthew says he just loves red squirrels.