Memory Rings

All is very quiet in the bird box, the Blue Tits must have successfully  launched their young.  Last May's  loss is still poignant but they do seem to have got it right this time. There appears  not to be a second sitting  which considering the wet weather is just as well.

May is the month for the most vociferous songs and outbursts of excitement, slowly settling into mature regular singing as we drift into June.  Birdsong apps that record and supposedly identify birdsong fail at this time because all the birds  sing at the same time.  Only the Robin and Blackbird seem to have clear lines of demarcation.  The Robin ranges from high pitched clicks to baritone warbles barely drawing a breath whilst the baritone Blackbird enhances his reportoire.

 

The dawn chorus is now fading and loosing its strength  to a solo performance every morning by an increasingly enthusiastic  blackbird who seems to welling up to a.........words can  not describe or do justice to what he is doing.

Reed Warbler

I am yet again concentrating on differentiating between warblers, but unless they all line up together and take it in turns, I shall not have much success.

I feel very proud of Wirral this  week, to be able to go and search for rare Cattle Egrets on the marshes after their successful breeding at Burton Mere RSPB Reserve.  Although you cannot see the heronery you can hear it and the most unbirdly gurgling  emanates from the tree tops. This has to be experienced to appreciate the weirdness of it. Together with the regular presence of the Avocet and Spoonbill we must be doing something right.

Currently watching the live webcams from the BBC Springwatch which gets better and more sophisticated as the years pass by.  Part of me loves getting closely involved in the lives of other life forms but also part feels voyeuristic in the anthropomorphic aspect of it. We should let them be themselves and be less manipulative in the interpretation of motivation into our narrow sphere of human understanding. 

Wirral Council have cutback all the wildflower verges again at the peak of their best.  Is this ignorance or deliberate the effect is the same.  I shall refer this to the Woodland Trust who are campaigning with Councils to stop doing this before the wildflowers have seeded.

The trees have all finished blossoming and are developing their seeds ready to shed.  All this growth and verdant life is held and recorded in their growth creating a memory in the rings of the tree. The natural year moves appears to move faster than I can keep up with.

Wildflowers to look out for :
Yellow Rattle,Thrift ( another favourite), Oxeye Daisy, Hedgerows if Dog Rose, Spotted Orchid, Common Ragwort in the pavements, Yellow Iris in boggy areas.