Dusk At Arcot - 19th July

Yesterday evening I spent a still and relaxed couple of hours at Arcot Pond from sunset and into the ambiguity of twilight. 
The air was thick with Swifts, a sight I savoured knowing full well that they'll be heading back down to Africa soon enough. The last rays of sunlight lit them up as they fed on the masses of flying insects which gathered in thick clouds above the waters surface. 
A Grasshopper Warbler reeled in the distance, five Roe Deer fed around the pond perimeter, two of which were fawns, Common Tern darted across the water and the Shelduck family looked very well indeed. Moorhen searched for supper on the exposed mud bars around the pond, a pair of Oystercatcher fed up to waist height in the water on the northern edge and a lone Grey Heron preened itself underneath the ominous dead trees.

A beautiful evening for some down time on my patch.

David
Nature North East

Arcot - Back In Bloom

It feels good to be back in the North East and to finally return to my patch; Arcot Pond & Grasslands. One of the soon to be 'few' wild areas of green space left in Cramlington, to cut a long story short there is proposed development in the majority of other wild areas. This is really grinding my gears at the moment so I'm trying my best not to think about the implications on local flora and fauna.

Just the whole notion of building on every available scrap of land sickens me and reminds me of the introduction of the TV show, The Animals Of Farthing Wood, in which a huge cement mixer pours concrete down upon the wood! 

Enjoy it whilst you can folks it won't be long before Cramlington's wildlife corridors are no more!

After an absence of a good couple of months I returned to Arcot and what a change.

Readers of my blog will be well aware how annoyed I was that several horses of suspect origin were dumped onto my patch earlier in the year.

Well thankfully they are but a memory and after a few months of not going to my patch, I was very surprised to return to a thriving wildflower meadow! I was concerned that the massive overgrazing would destroy the growth of Dyer's Greenweed, a locally uncommon plant species which grows in abundance at Arcot. Amazingly, it's returned this year in force along with multiple Orchids and other wildflower species!

The water level of the pond was very low, so low in fact that in certain spots Swan Mussels could be seen sticking out of the water. Lapwing and Oystercatcher were present, along with the Shelduck and Mallard families. The solitary Common Tern chick was noticeable on the far side with the adults being very attentive and regularly fishing and diving at any large Gull that was bathing or getting too close for comfort.

Sedge Warbler were more often seen, rather then heard around the margins of the pond and both Blue-Tailed and Common Blue Damselfly were seen, sadly no larger dragonflies were noted. I know of a few local dragon hotspots which I intend to investigate.

Its good to be back!

David
Nature North East

Buff-Tailed Bumble Bee?

Volucella Pellucens; Doing its best impression of Linda Blair from the Exorcist!

Common Spotted Orchid

Common Blue Damselfly

Blue-Tailed Damselfly

Common Tern about to dive!

C.S.I: Cramlington & The Brutality Of Nature

Victim: Carrion Crow / Corvus Corone

Scene Of Crime: Arcot Golf Course

Crime: Murder

Personal Account:

...Sometime in late February I stumbled upon something straight out of a horror movie, there were scattered body parts all over the place, piles of feathers strewn across the mossy woodland carpet and an uneasy silence resounding through the wood.

I had walked right upon a murder scene, a crime of nature if you will and at my feet lay the recently devoured corpse of a Carrion Crow / Corvus Corone. This was a fresh kill, the red meat still looking juicy and red raw. 

The Crow had been picked clean, all that remained were its legs and a fully feathered head, eyes n'all. Obviously these were the less tasty parts shall I say. Next to the bird lay two piles of feathers, one containing larger feathers such as the primaries and the other seemed to mostly consist of shorter downy feathers.

On a large branch to the left a pair of wings hung in the breeze. Did these belong to the same bird? Possibly.

Around the area were a scattering of Jay feathers, but no sign of a carcass were present and a large mossy branch had remnants of what appeared to be rodent fur, of which species I couldn't possibly say.

But who commited this crime?

Female Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Fox.....Something else entirely? Man?.....Perhaps shot and scavenged?

I am fully aware of the activity of all suspects on this patch and the woodland area that held the corpse seemed to be this offenders favoured area.

Photo Evidence: See below (Not for the squeamish) 

In all seriousness finding this Carrion Crow was a pretty amazing and eye opening experience, yes it's just a dead Crow but it's the whole thought process behind the act that intrigues me.
Nature can be brutal, actually no lets be honest, nature is very brutal but I suppose it has to be. It is after all survival of the fittest on this ruthless earth and this Crow just happened to play a part in the success of a predators survival in this ecosystem and its that concept that astounds me.
Whether its Nile Crocodiles predating Wildebeest or Lady birds devouring Aphids, the food chain is pretty darn incredible!

David
Nature North East / The Northern Owl Project