Godney Tetrad - part 2

This post deals with the second half of my bird survey for the square shown below and is shown on the Google Earth map from number 6 to 11. (Click on this map to see more clearly). At the crossroads (where the I met the pony and traps from my first post) I carried on across going south and walked round to the right (west ish) to follow the road towards Godney.

Just as I turned that corner there was a lovely old apple orchard on my left where there were several Fieldfares, Redwings and other Thrushes feeding on the windfall apples.Carrying on westwards to the small hamlet of Godney, this church caught my eye. I bet it looked very interesting from the inside, but I didn't have time to pop in to take a look.At the church, I followed the road round a sharp left hand bend and walked south towards the rhyne (at the bottom of the first map). There were some lovely pollarded Willows along this stretch of road and as you can see from the following photos below, I couldn't resist taking some shots of these!

These next two were taken along the same stretch of road, but just into the sun which gives a totally different feel to the shots.

This photo below was taken looking west along the large rhyne at the bottom of the first map (number 8 on the Google map). If you click to enlarge this photo, you will see that there are four Grey Herons standing on the banks here.The fields on this section of the walk were slightly lower lying than the rest of my survey area and therefore had flooded in the recent rains which made for picturesque scenery.If there had been much more rain, the roads would have been flooded too and I wouldn't have been able to do the survey on this particular day.At this point, I followed the footpath shown in the first map running east along the left hand side of the rhyne.Walking along this path, as I looked right, there was a lovely view of Glastonbury Tor which dominates the surrounding flat Somerset Levels landscape.Here's another view of the Tor, but with some lovely wind sculpted trees in the foreground.As I walked along the path, I became aware that ahead of me was a field of cows. Now those of you familiar with my blog know that cows and me don't mix too well, specially on bird survey walks! However, I had no choice but to carry on past these beasties. If you click on this photo, you will see in the distance, on the right hand side, one black and white cow ahead, quite close to the edge of the field and the rhyne.As I approached, this massive madam didn't seem to want to budge out of my way. I could see a confrontation coming......... so, after gritting my teeth, I forged ahead, pretending that I didn't care whether this bovine bulk was blocking my path to freedom. I know Roy will think I'm a right woose (-:, but I think cows can be quite unpredictable. Anyway....................in the end the puny human bird surveyer prevailed and Doris gave way and was able to get back to her grass munching.My troubles weren't over yet though.......if you check back at the first map, you will see that where the rhyne does a sharp bend to the right, there is a track showing which runs north back towards the village and the end of my survey. Well, the stark fact was, that it wasn't there! No track or at least if it was there, it was under a few feet of water! I was stuck! I didn't want to back track all the way round again, it was a long way, and I was quite weary by this time. The surrounding fields all looked like the one shown below, pretty flooded, but I decided that I had to try and walk along the edge of these fields to get back to the village (from number 10 to 11 on the Googe map). I had waterproof boots on, but they were only ankle high. Well, it wasn't too bad for most of the time, if a bit squishy, but when I got to towards the gate in the field near to the village, the water was alot deeper. I looked around to see if there was any other way to get out of that field, but there wasn't, so I had to grit my teeth again and just walk quickly through that water to the gate. It was up to my knees! The walk back to my car (on the left of this photo) was very wet and squelchy and cold, nevertheless, I really did enjoy this survey and look forward to the second winter walk. Maybe for the spring/summer ones, it will be a wee bit drier! (-:

Godney Tetrad - part 1

First of all, a very Happy New Year to all my blogging friends and anyone else who has enjoyed dipping into my blog over the last year. I've really enjoyed sharing my love of the natural world with you all.
Back in December I did several BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) bird surveys which go towards a winter and breeding bird atlas. This is a four year survey covering as much of the British Isles as possible. We are now in our third year. To complete each survey square, I must do two (two hour) winter walks and two spring/summer walks. This post is about the first winter walk for the tetrad square shown below which had to be done between the first of November and the end of December. This square is located on the Somerset Levels (about 40 minutes drive west of Frome).The Google Earth map below shows the same area to be covered. I've numbered my route from start to finish. This first posting takes you from the start (1) to (5). Click to enlarge for more clarity.I started my walk at Garslade Farm and followed the footpath along this field edge. I have to record every bird I see and hear within the survey square. There were plenty of Redwings and Fieldfares along this first hedgerow.

When I reached the small rhyne, I had to cross over the small bridge in order to continue following the permissive footpath which ran north along the other side (see red dotted line on the first map).There were some lovely mature trees along here. The one below is an Ash tree which is easy to identify with it's distinctive black buds.There were also some lovely rich brown Ash 'key' seeds still left on some of the trees.I wasn't able to capture many birds while doing the survey, but this male Stonechat (as usual) posed nicely for me. Their plumage is even more striking in Spring!I loved this fallen rotting log by the side of the rhyne.Another tree that is synonymous with the Somerset Levels is the pollarded Willow. Pollarding is a way of harvesting the Willow withys to be used in basket and hurdle making.As I walked north towards Hurn Farm, a couple of helicopters flew low over the area.Luckily the birds didn't seem to get too disturbed.

At Hurn Farm (and at the top of my survey square on the first map) you can just make out that I have to cross the rhyne again (via the small bridge below) and follow the red dotted footpath westwards. There was a nice Tit flock around this area, with both Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits. Below is the small rhyne that heads westwards, along the footpath to join up with the minor road going south again.Here are some Burdock seed heads which I managed to get stuck all over my fleece when I brushed past them!Walking south down the minor road, a couple of horses passed me. It made me smile to read what was on the back of the first rider's jacket given the narrow roads around here! (-: Click to enlarge the photo to read clearly. I always get a shiver up my neck and back when I have to walk under electricity pylons! At the crossroads (number 5 on the Google Earth map) I stopped to take photos of these people enjoying the beautiful winters day on their pony and traps.

I'll finish off the rest of this survey walk in my next post.

A walk in the woods - part 2

There's something very restful and peaceful about being beside a rushing stream. Even though it was a cold day, I found a convenient log to sit on for about 10 minutes just to take in the tranquility of the winter wood.Sunlight on a mossy log is always an attraction to me. The rich colours really stand out at this time of year.

I love the holes created at the base of trees, I always find myself wondering what creatures might use them for shelter.A home for fairies maybe? (-:There wasn't much birdlife apparent, but I was entertained by this Treecreeper for a while as it flitted from tree to tree and gradually got closer to me. In the end it was investigating a birch trunk right above my head so this shot below was made with a cricked neck and my favourite baseball cap abandoned on the floor!I was desperately trying to get a photograph with it's head in, but it was not to be. Most of the time it had it's head stuck down a crevice in the bark.

This is the only shot I got of the whole bird and I nearly didn't post it as it's not the best shot in the world! (-: It does show that lovely fine decurved bill though.The only other fungus I found on this walk was this one called King Alfred's Cakes. Click on the brown link to find out more about the 'Great' King Alfred.Here's a close up of this inedible fungus.A mossy macro........I don't know what this plant is, but I loved the lovely rounded leaves lined with frost.Well, that's the end of my woodland walk. Thanks Evie for giving me the inspiration to get out there and start clicking!

Thanks also to all of you who are kind enough to have looked at and commented on my blog this last year. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.