An early start

I got up early this morning and was out just before dawn, walking into town and off to the Chelmer Valley reserve. At the canoe club in town I spotted the Kingfisher yet again, the third time I've seen it recently! I think it must be taking advantage of a good fishing branch I'd noticed some time ago sticking out over the water at what looked like a good diving height. Very cool that there is one taking up residence in the town, how long it will stay I don't know as this is right next to a regularly-used footbridge... only time will tell but it's great to see it.

On through town along the river, past Riverside ice rink where greenfinches and tits were feeding in the hedges that surround the outside pool, then across Victoria Road to the start of the nature reserve. Lots of rabbits feeding amongst the willows and I spotted a completely bald-headed male Blackbird nearby, then a couple of young Blackbirds with slight balding too... could this be something they got from Dad? Coincidence? In the main wooded part of the reserve I met plenty of dogwalkers but also saw and heard lots of Long-tailed tits, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Dunnocks, Robins, Wrens, Crows, Woodpigeons, a few possible Chiffchaffs and Green Woodpeckers. Walking along the walled edge of the reserve I looked at the tree I'd photographed previously and discovered was a Hornbeam, then found a couple more close by, along with White Poplar, Sycamore, Horse-chestnut, Ash and Hawthorn (and those are just the ones I could identify) - a good mix for a tiny grove of trees.

Out onto the playing fields and around to the wild ground bordering the reserve, I paused for five or ten minutes at the boundary, watching two big oaks for any activity (I'm hoping but not expecting to see a Nuthatch, I doubt there are any but I'll keep looking) and found a Greater Spotted Woodpecker hammering away at an old branch, really knocking chunks out of it as it looked for a hidden grub. After a while it gave up and flew away, off down the line of oaks and into the reserve. I turned and walked to the raised banks of the old reservoir, walking around it's edge where greenfinches called from the thicket on the bank. I walked up to the rim and looked down to find some Magpies hopping around and a Grey Heron attempting to eat something unidentifiable but failing as it was enormous. I couldn't make out what it was through my binoculars, something it found rather than caught, it looked as though whatever it was had been expired for a while! The Heron looked at me rather nervously and then flew off towards the river, leaving the Magpies to peck at the 'thing' it had regurgitated. I carried on around the reservoir, more rabbits and lots of wild roses festooned with red hips but very little bird life.

As I walked across the rough ground back to the playing fields I could hear a commotion and turning back I could see a lot of crows in the air making a din. Looking towards the low sun it was hard to make out what was going on but as they moved away from the sun a little I could make out two Kestrels that were being mobbed by the Crows, the little falcons having to invert in the air and brandish their talons to see off the dive bombing Crows. After a while the group disappeared behind the trees and I walked on to the two oaks, pausing again to see what might appear. I saw a blur of bluish grey flash into the left oak, too quick to see what it was. I trained my bins where it had gone but the leaves were too dense and after a few minutes I gave up the hunt. It didn't quite look like the usual tit flight and the feel was wrong for a blue tit (seemed too big for one thing) but I know how the mind can convince you when you want to see something! It would be nice to think it could have been a Nuthatch and it seemed a good tree for them but I'll just have to keep looking.

Walking through the Alder wood to the river gave a close encounter with a Squirrel, which ambled towards me then doubled-back when it saw me before climbing a tree and approaching while flicking its tail in agitation. Very few birds other than a couple of Great Tits, hopefully as winter sets in the Siskins will return. Following the riverbank footpath back to the south end of the reserve I saw very little but near the university buildings I saw a family of mute swans and some of the youngsters were harassing a poor Moorhen sitting in the middle of a floating patch of weeds. I wondered why it was staying there but then realised there were some very young chicks with it! Thankfully the adult mute swans moved off a short distance and the juveniles followed, leaving the mother Moorhen and her chicks in peace. Just past there I also found some large hoverflies and a Comma butterfly, presumably this was one of the later generation that are likely to hibernate through the winter. I also saw how widespread the hop plants are now, really spreading out with lots of flower cones about.

From there it was back under the railway viaduct and back to town, not a bad morning all told and I had some really lovely close views of the great and blue tits.