A day at the RSPB Lodge, Sandy - Sunday 15th November 2009

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Hi there

A change of plan.  We decided to not go out at all on Saturday due to the bad weather.  It would have spoilt the whole day if we did anyway.  We left the whole walk until Sunday.  Yes, sunny, bright, and what a beautiful day.  The sun just shone all day long, and we where not disappointed about the weather at all.

As we drove down the motorway A428/A421, there was a lot of rooks about foraging around on the verges on the motorway, unperturbed by the endless stream of traffic rumbling past.  The Rooks where loving the sunny weather just as we where doing so.  They flew in the sky catching the odd thermal as they did.  They flew in unison and it was a Corvid air display that any bird watcher could never tire of

We arrived just after 11am the RSPB. The Lodge, Sandy, and we found the place full of people, some open Marquees by the visitors shop.  It dawned on us that there was an event on today.  Santa’s Grotto was there, and the children loved it.  I have never seen so many cars before, and it was going to be a busy day

After a stroll around the shop, we bought a pair of Country Innovation Mitts each.  They are called Thinsulate and they have optional fingerless to whole Mitt.  It is good to free the fingers for use of the Scope, binoculars and the Camera – well worth the £15 each. Nice present to have for the coming winter months.

http://www.countryinnovation.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Gloves&x=0&y=0

We continued on our way towards the Meadow Hide.  We sat in there for a while, and watched the antics of a Grey Squirrel trying its best to claim some food from the feeders.  At the same time a Chaffinch or two decided to make sure that they wanting to feast on the available food.  Members of the Tit family where in combat mode as always - trying to outsmart each other as to who was going to dominate the feeders.  The Great Tits, Blue Tits and Coal Tits flew about the nearby bushes twittering at one another as they did.  A Crow moved about under the feeders to pick up the titbits landing on the ground underneath.  The sun shimmered in the pond areas.  The hide was busy today so we decided to move on.

We moved on, and continued our walk.  I could hear a couple of Robins trying to out sing one another.  As we past by another clump of bushes, a blackbird shot out, chinking loudly as he did.  He was telling us he has his beady eye on us.

We carried on towards the old quarry, and found the walk quite uneventful.  There was no air, lots of sun, and the place seemed to be deserted from all wildlife activity.  We felt it was going to be a quiet day.  We sat down and took time to take the sights, and sounds in as we walked along the reserve area.

As we walked through the dense mixed wooded area, the place had the odd call from a Great Spotted Woodpecker.  The Great Spotted Woodpeckers call resounded in the wooded areas and the Woodpeckers where content to move around from tree to tree.

Then an odd dull clunking noise came from the trees above.  Dave pointed up to the top of a tree to a lone Great Spotted Woodpecker sitting on a sparse branch knocking the wood in a quiet gentle way.  We looked through the binoculars, and we could see that it had its back on us.  We stood and waited to see if the birds would turn around, and it did. We got a picture – a distance shot, but it was a picture of the bird and that was the main thing.  I wondered if it was a young bird practising tapping the wood.  It was interesting to observe from below.

We took a couple of pictures, and moved on once more.  We could hear mewing of Buzzards up above, and we could see at least 3 of them moving about above the trees.  We moved on and past by a few areas of Fungus on the ground.  Not sure what varieties but one did stand, and I knew it was the Fly Agaric Mushroom.  What a wonderful specimen (or two).  Sadly a large mushroom had been kicked over, and was lying on its side.  There where other smaller ones growing nearby so that made up for the destruction of the larger specimen.  We took a few pictures to look at to show the colouration, and the beauty of the fungus.

As we walked on, a BoP in flight caught our eye.  It flew around quickly, and embarked on a tree branch.  It looked although it was eating prey. A couple came up along next to us, and we all had a good look at the bird.  It was a Kestrel.  Dave wished he had used his scope but it was not to be.  Then the same 3 Buzzards flew over once more – mewing at one another.  It felt although there was an abundance of BoP’s everywhere.  The calls continued, so we sat down to see if the Kestrel would make another reappearance but sadly not to be.

We moved on and past the ‘temporary’ yellow fencing placed on the left hand side of the path for some reason or another.  I guess it is to keep the deer out the area behind (I have seen Muntjac deer in this reserve) 

Dave past a dead branch, and he could see a cluster of Ladybirds sitting on the end of a dead branch.  I have to say that I have never seen Ladybirds huddled together like this before so it was interesting to see them.  They are identified as 7-spots so it shows that they are still around at this time of the year.  So it is a question of watching out for them and watch if they are around.

Lots of interesting leaves on the ground caught my eye, and I will see if some ID’s can be placed on the species of Trees. Some of the leaves where large in diameter, and I would love to know what they are.

We had a good enough walk about and decided against going along the Skylark ride as we felt  it was going to take us elsewhere.  We did not have a map to fall back on.  I am sure that we will have another look in the near future and see what the walk offers.

A nice day out and a good walk about, the weather, was sunny and warmish so that was the main thing.  We will come back in the future as we love this place.

Pictures to follow...