Dragonflies defy the frost & passerines dine on the hedgerows
Paul Steven’s weekly diary runs as the Wildlife Sightings column in the weekly Observer series of newspapers.
I thought the heavy frost we had last Thursday to be the death knell to this seasons dragonfly population but our boat drivers spotted common darters flying in tandem during their trips on sunny Sunday afternoon! Our volunteer Andrew was in doing our WEBs count (Wetland Birds Survey) when he spotted a stonechat near the boat jetty. Andy also counted a few red wings onsite but they were individuals, not in flocks.
It was still and clear as I watched over 200 pied wag tails come in for the evening roost and heard a handful of water rail calling in the reedbeds. A green woodpecker buzzed by across the path to hunt for a hollow in the trees to roost up and I heard a barn owl calling, all as I was closing up the Arundel Wetland Centre reserve for the day.
This morning cold bands of rain are moving through with sunny breaks in between. I was greeted by a kingfisher on the front reedbed of the visitor centre as I arrived at 8 am this morning. Now as I head down the path to check the water levels on the wet grassland, the hedgerow and scrub on both sides bustle with small birds disturbed by my arrival. Goldfinches take flight, leaving teasel stalks bouncing in the air. A greenfinch skirts along the wall of hedge where it had been dining on the seeds in the rose hips. A blackbird is less timid and gives me an eye as it snacks on hawthorn berries but a female bullfinch flees ahead, further down the path. I round the corner just in time to see her and the male bullfinch take flight again to land on small alders on the islands across the channel. I scout the trees with my binoculars for them and instead spot a male siskin.
At the black poplar grove near the Lapwing hide a green woodpecker squawks and takes flight. I see ink cap mushrooms pushing up the ground. From the Lapwing hide I count six snipe feeding and dozing, well camouflaged among the grasses at the edge of the channels. Teal dot the water, the males in splendid plumage now. A great spotted woodpecker streaks through the scene and the male bullfinch has perched up far away on our perimeter fence, alongside two song thrushes.
