Here is Michael Walter's latest report:
Last year I reported on the volunteers’ surprise capture of a dormouse while they were coppicing. The animal, which should have been hibernating, was taken to Wildwood, where it could be cared for. Wondering what had become of it, Michael Thomas, the animal’s rescuer, recentlycontacted Wildwoodand received this heartening report: “We named the dormouse Amy after the RSPB warden. Last spring we paired her up with one of our captive-bred males and they produced a litter of three females and one male.She was still torpid last week as it is quite early in the season, but her young were awake and we have just taken them up to London Zoo to be health-screened. In June they will be released into a new reintroduction site in Yorkshire. We will keep Amy with her mate and hopefully they will have another litter of young this year.” I think we can all agree that story has a happy ending: not so for the dead hedgehog found on the access track recently. Although technically on the reserve, the hedgehog was surely more interested in the gardens on either side of the track but, as this is only my third Blean Woods record, it merited comment. Still on the subject of mammals, I had lovely views of a bank vole last week when I became aware of a rustling in the dead leaves. The blunt-nosed animal was scurrying backwards and forwards, collecting old acorns to eat. Finally sated, it disappeared into one of its surface burrows – a tunnel through the superficial debris of fallen leaves, twigs and matted vegetation rather than actually excavated in the soil. I could no longer see the animal, but its movements could be tracked by watching the slight disturbance of dead leaves as it humped its way along. Older readers may remember the Michael Bentine show, a regular feature of which was the flea circus. Imaginary insects were put through their paces, diving boards were bounced and little fountains of sand thrown up as the intrepid flea jumped onto its next party piece. My invisible vole put me happily in mind of those long-ago days when television was more innocent and we were content with two channels.
Bird highlights included a flock of 15 lesser redpolls on 24th April and a raven cronking overhead on 2nd May. These large crows were persecuted to extinction over most of England in the 18th and 19th centuries, and are only now making a comeback, with the likelihood that a pair are nesting near the Canterbury rubbish tip this spring. From one size extreme to the other – redpolls are diminutive, dainty finches which visit some garden bird feeders, especially in autumn and spring when they are moving through on short-haul migrations. A huge, unexplained increase in the southern English population took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s, at which time the occasional pair or two bred in Blean Woods but, for reasons that are equally unclear, boom turned to bust, and numbers collapsed, to the point where they are now comparatively scarce visitors to the wood. Another bird highlight was a tree pipit singing where the green, red and black trail crosses the small heath. One of many formerly regular breeders, it is nine years since they nested at that spot, so fingers are crossed that this bird attracts a mate and raises a family.
[For the beginning of the dormouse story and photos, see February 2015's blog post 'Close encounters of the dormouse kind']
Events at Blean Woods this spring and summer
Nightjar Walk Sat 28th May 8.30-10.00pm
Wildflower Walk Sat 18th June 10.00-11.30
Butterfly Walk Sat 9th July 1.30-3.00pm
The charge for any of these events is £3 for members, £5 for non-members; children under 16 free.
Booking is essential via 01227 464898 orblean.woods@rspb.org.uk