Merton

Muck Lovely Muck – Sunday 28^th December 2014 

We’ve had a few odd hours out here and there but there hasn’t been too much to report other than a few Kestrels, a Pygmy Shrew and a beautiful flight of 22 Swans on Christmas Day. We saw the Swans at Bodney just after we spotted our fellow Wattonian birder Paul Newport: you can read his blog here: 

http://brecklandbirder.blogspot.co.uk

When we saw the Swans they had approached from behind us so we didn’t get to see their heads and more importantly their beaks (the main way of telling Bewick & Whooper Swans apart) but we thought they were making the usual “Whooping” calls that Whooper Swans make and I thought they were a little too big to be Bewick Swans (our smallest Swan) so we naturally thought they were Whooper Swans but Paul disagrees with me because he saw their heads and beaks so who am I to argue with Paul. Whatever they were they were beautiful their pure white standing out distinctly against the grey sky. They were heading Westwards towards the Welney area where they have had so few Bewicks this Winter, the bulk of them appear to be quite happy in The Netherlands, but to be fair, so far it has been a very mild Winter and the prevailing winds have been predominantly from the West.

This past weekend has seen the temperatures drop with the night time ones in the region of -3 - -5C and the daytime ones only struggling up to between 3 – 7C. The plus side of that is that we normally get gloriously sunny days and the possibility of more Wildfowl coming over from the continent. Certainly at the moment most of the usual holding places for these birds are well down on numbers with the exception of Geese, they are in the UK in their hundreds of thousands at the moment. In fact on the Isle of Islay off the West coast of Scotland they have issued licences for the control of Barnacle Geese!

We decided to go out for the afternoon on Sunday 28^th December as it was such a glorious day. We decided just to poodle around Merton and Thompson for a few hours. We left home at 1.45pm and it was about 4C but clear, sunny and bright. We hadn’t even got into Merton, which is a small village just South of Watton before we had our first stop. We pulled up next to a field that had two large dung heaps waiting to be spread and ploughed into the field. In fact where we stopped we could see the Merton Village sign ahead of us.

Roe Deer

In Winter these dung heaps are always worth a closer scrutiny (if you can stand the smell). In cold weather they provide birds with two valuable resources food and warmth. These dung heaps usually contain lots of insect life and of course any rotting organic material produces heat. There is also another product of these heaps which is a liquid run off but I’m not sure whether the birds drink from this as they would seem to prefer cleaner water. It is extremely important during the Winter months that as well as providing food for the birds in our gardens we should provide fresh water as well because as the temperature begins to drop access to unfrozen water becomes more and more difficult.

Merton

Merton

Well, it certainly was a good stopping place because even though we could only see one side of the heaps we saw; Meadow Pipit, several Pied Wagtails, several Wood Pigeons, Blackbirds, Robins, a Wren, two Crows and a Squirrel rooting around the heaps. We also saw about 12 Fieldfares land immediately behind the heaps. On the opposite side of the road to the muck heaps there were lots of Pheasants, Partridges, Blackbirds and a Magpie as well as two Roe Deer in the field. The road was quite busy mainly with pedestrians taking their dogs or Grandchildren for walks but all of them seemed totally oblivious to the Wildlife that was just a short distance either side of them.

Grey Squirrel

 Moving on into Merton we saw about a hundred or so Corvids break cover from some game holding crops (probably Maize). We carried onto the Range Gates in Merton and as we went down the lane we saw a Muntjac Stag in the field about 5 metres from the side of the road. Parking down at the gates there was lots of activity from Squirrels, Great Tits, Blackbirds, Robins, Blue Tits and Coal Tits until a car parked right beside us and out of it decamped a young family with dogs and walked right through where all the action was happening. I am a great believer in the countryside being a resource that is for all people but why couldn’t they have just parked just a little bit away. Anyway, it is good that the children were out in the open rather than being stuck indoors with some bit of technology eating their brains. We had our Coffee, Stollen & Mince Pie but that was it really apart from several hundred Corvids flying high over the range. I think they were mainly Jackdaws but there were other Corvids with them as well.

Sun Setting Over Thetford Forest

We spent the last part of the day at the Range Gates in Thompson but we didn’t see much apart from some Robins, Blackbirds and we heard lots of Pheasants settling down for the night.

The Quiz

Answers

The Shopkeeper cleans up (Butcher’s-broom), the Stockman protects his money (Shepherd’s-purse) and the Cleric has no need for a hat (Monk’s-hood).

New Question

A chart to find your way, a container for an old salt’s effects, what’s left after someone’s gone and after a fire, the end of a balloon, a honey-maker and a feature of both a cow and a car. Which of the seven is the only one that is not unfinished? (Clue: Think Trees)

Answer next time

Keep your eyes peeled and good spotting.