May nature notes 2014

Kens Nature Notes At last we can experience some warmth from the sun; this is that bright thing in the sky that pops through the clouds occasionally. It didn’t take long for the birds to catch up but it must have been a hectic time for them all; some must have just built the nest in time when along comes the eggs and then hatching out into the fledglings we see hopping about here and there. We have a pair of Wood Pigeons nesting in a tree in our garden, now they are one of the worst builders of nests, probably on a similar scale to crows, anyway this pair would only score three out of ten for their nest, it is so poor that one of the newly laid eggs rolled out of the nest and broke on a branch. I thought at first it may have been one of the dreaded Magpies but these would have eaten the egg. I like to see birds nesting in the garden but this particular tree seems only to attract Collard Doves or Pigeons and as the season progresses we are constantly concerned that the Magpies will end up eating the eggs produced or even the young chicks. Wildflowers are popping up in and around the village, some nice Cowslips are colonising the odd patch at New Lambton, these are part of the Primrose family. Some bluebells are emerging in the woods but one of my favourite woodland plants is the Ramsons, these strong smelling plants smother the bank sides especially down in Breckon Hill woods. These are from the allium species similar to garlic in smell, with hardly anything that seems to feed on them they soon flourish in the woods. Wood Anemones are giving a welcome splash of colour at the moment, white flowers with yellow anthers, lots of the Buttercup family have also emerged in the last couple of weeks, and one of the first to be spotted was the Lesser Celandine closely to be followed by the Creeping Buttercup which many of us are more familiar with. Down near the Lumley Burn we can see the emerging signs of the Butterbur, cone shaped pink flower spikes are the first to be seen, these plants, when mature have large rhubarb shaped leaves and grow up to a meter tall, you would hardly believe it having first seen the small growth which all dies back in the Autumn. Cherry blossom is well matured now and with the rain and the winds are soon just a memory like confetti in the garden, the one I have is purely ornamental and does not produce any fruit, each year I consider removing it but it is supporting a beautiful Clematis Alpini, which has small purple flowers ending with smashing seed heads. It is nice to see the full leaf on the hedges and some of the early trees; this will give much welcomed cover and protection from either the winds or predators. Let’s hope for plenty more sun, I don’t think we will be troubled with any drought or hose pipe ban. (If only!) Ken.

Nature Notes I was out walking last week and my eyes were streaming, this was not through seeing the wonders of nature in spring, but the bitter cold northerly winds. We might as well forget about spring and go straight into early summer. It is clever how nature responds to sunlight or the lack of it and the changing temperatures or not when it comes to new growth, early signs, through watching the hedgerows and daffodil bulbs pushing through the soil, you suddenly realise how things have just gone into shut down mode over the last three weeks. Granted some lucky growth, that has been sheltered, are showing some signs of fresh growth, early flowering cherry trees have a little blossom showing and one of the earliest I always watch out for is above Primrose Hill. I collected some seeds from this same tree last year and I am over the moon that some of these have germinated. I will be monitoring their progress over the years. I have just completed surveying the stretch of Lumley Burn that flows through our Village; this ran from New Lambton all the way down to where it joins the Wear at Chester-le-Street. The stretch from the Floaters Mill Pub was more urgent to be completed as access on this land which belongs to the Scarborough Estates is about to be restricted to the public due to timber extraction over the next six months. The survey was to check on any erosion of the bank sides, any obvious blockages and to check what pipes are running into the Burn. It was an interesting experience and all the data goes to the River Wears Trust and the Environment Agency. There were some disturbing leaks down Breckon Hill woods, which looked exactly like tomato soup. It was actually mine water leakage, and the Iron oxide in the water turns this orange colour when it comes into contact with oxygen. Most of the stones in the bed of the Burn were coated in this iron oxide a few years ago when the Coal authority were pumping out the mine water directly into the Burn, quite near to the Floaters Mill bridge. As soon as they stopped pumping it was amazing how quickly the stream bed recovered its natural look again. The plan which seems to have worked was that the contaminated mine water would rise underground and flow naturally out through mine workings and eventually find its way out at Fatfield where it would flow in the Wear. There is still a lot of activity up and down the Burn, last week I spotted two swans, sheltering from the cold winds near were the Moors Burn joins our Lumley Burn, these will probably be the same pair that nest in the area each year. Kingfishers have been spotted and the Dipper population is expanding. Finally there was quite a lot of fish activity in the burn last week as you could see ripples in the water where the small fish were feeding of insects on the surface. We just need some more blue skies and plenty more sunshine, fingers crossed. Ken

Nature notes

Nature Notes

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