Nature Diary 24th-30th Jan 2022

24th Jan  I spent an hour or so in the garden in the afternoon making a bird feeder out of some odds and ends I had lying around (a bit of old fence panel, a garden cane, some scrap plywood and some wire). While I was there a Grey Wagtail flew over several times, calling, although I didn't manage to see it. Also a Collared Dove came down to feed on the ground very close to me and a Blue Tit scolded me loudly from a nearby bush.

My new bird feeder (on the right)

26th Jan Walked around all of Middle Marsh Nature Reserve and then over to Middlesbrough Dock basin this afternoon. The most interesting thing at Middle Marsh was a Little Egret catching a fish in the beck near the Yellow Bridge. The bird-feeders were getting a bit low so I filled them up and put a new one up (a bought one this time) that I filled with black sunflower seeds.

In the dock were two Red-breasted Mergansers and 2 adult Mute Swans, which were joined by 5 more Mute Swans while I was there - a family party of 2 adults and 3 young (but full sized) ones, which swam in under the bridge from the outer section of the dock. The newcomers made straight for the 2 swans that were already there and the adults did a bit of posturing at each other - raising their wings and probably hissing as well (although I was too far away to hear the hissing).

28th Jan Another visit to Middle Marsh and the dock basin today, but in the morning. Sat in what is becoming my usual spot in the reeds for about half an hour but saw/heard nothing very unusual - just Robin, Bullfinch and the 3 common tit species. The feeding station is attracting quite a few birds, and a bit further on, underneath the Shepherdson Way flyover, there was a nice selection of birds in the bushes including eleven Goldfinches and 3 Goldcrests which were showing very nicely although I didn't manage to get a photo.

In the dock basin there were now 6 mergansers (2 male and 4 female) as well as the family party of Mute Swans (without the 2 extra adults this time). The 3 young ones were feeding on the green algae on the wall of the dock and were not keeping very close to their parents -  apparently starting to assert their independence a bit.

3 Mute Swan cygnets, Middlesbrough Dock, 28th Jan 2022

Six Red-breasted Mergansers, Middlesbrough Dock, 28th Jan 2022

A closer view of 3 of the Mergansers - 2 male (right) and 1 female (left) 

Bee Orchid leaf rosette, Middle Marsh 28th Jan 2022

On the way home I called back into Middle Marsh to get this photo of a Bee Orchid rosette (the basal leaves from which (hopefully) a flowering stem will grow later in the year), that I had spotted earlier.

Later in the day I made a quick visit to the lawn next to Holy Trinity Church in North Ormesby, which last year had a lovely display of Bee Orchids flowering (as well as other wildflowers), and was pleased to find 14 rosettes. Distressingly though, there was a lot of dog poo on the little strip of grass, which I will need to go back (with a spade) and remove.

29th Jan Today I had a little excursion in the car (as my bike is temporarily out of action) to a site I have not visited before. This was Mandale Meadow - a lovely bit of grassland and woods along Bluebell Beck, right on the western boundary of Middlesbrough, next to the very busy A19 road. I have heard lots about this site over the past few years as it is threatened by plans to build a road through part of it and also some new houses (I'm not sure exactly where the houses will be if they are built). There has been a big campaign to try and prevent the 'spine-road' as it is called, being built, with the council being very keen to do it and the local residents, mostly, strongly opposed to it. There is a lot of wildlife there, particularly a few scarce butterflies, although obviously they won't be around for a few months yet. I did see some interesting plants in the grassland though - mostly skeletal remains of last years plants. I also saw several very fresh-looking mole-hills, so at least one wild mammal is currently active there. I have heard that there are Water Voles on the beck, and deer and foxes in the woods, although I didn't see any signs of these on this visit. I am hoping to make a few more visits in the spring and summer to try and get a good list of all the plant species that occur there.

This sign in the car park at Mandale is part of the campaign to save the Meadows

A view across part of the meadows

Molehills at Mandale Meadow, 29th Jan 2022

Last year's flower/seed heads of an orchid (probably Northern Marsh
Orchid) at Mandal Meadow, 29th Jan 2022

A dead flower-spike of Self-heal - a pretty little purple-flowered
plant that you might have seen in your lawn.
This year's leaves are starting to show in some places

A display board about the wildlife of Bluebell Beck which was
put up several years ago

30th Jan Every year in January, people all over the country take part in the RSPB's annual Big Garden Birdwatch. Last year, apparently, over a million people did it - counting the birds in their garden (or in a local park) for one hour at some point during a particular weekend. I have been doing it in my garden for the past few years (and have written about it in this blog on at least one occasion). This year I actually thought I had missed it but yesterday I realised that it was this weekend and so I decided to do it in my garden in the morning and then go to the new bird-feeding station at Middle Marsh in the afternoon to do one there. The RSPB website says you can do more than one so long as they are in different places and that it is okay to do it in a park so I m hoping that Middle Marsh will count as a park.

The morning count was a bit disappointing, although not very surprising as bird numbers in my garden have been low now for at least the last year. I only saw six birds, of three different species, all in the pigeon/dove family - two each of Collared Dove, Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon. There were a few gulls flying over and some Starlings on the roof of the house behind ours but I couldn't count them according to the rules.

The afternoon was much more thrilling. Over the course of an hour standing (getting increasingly chilly) behind the half-built screen  in front of the bird-feeders at Middle Marsh I saw 6 Blue Tits, at least 2 Great tits (you have to use the biggest number that you see together, to avoid double counting), 2 Bullfinches, at least 7 Long-tailed Tits, 3 Chaffinches, 1 Blackbird, 2 Robins and a Dunnock. I also counted a Goldfinch which was singing from the top of a tree next to where I was standing, for most of the hour, although I never actually set eyes on it (it still counts though as it was definitely there and was definitely a Goldfinch - the song is very distinctive once you know it).

A Great Tit tackling a black sunflower seed - Middle Marsh, 30th Jan 2022

Two Long-tailed Tits and a Blue Tit eating peanuts - Middle Marsh, 30th Jan 2022

This Robin was singing - but it could be male or female as both sexes
of this species sing, and they look identical - Middle Marsh, 30th Jan 2022

The Dunnock (known to my parents' generation as the Hedge Sparrow
(it's not a sparrow)), is common in gardens and parks but many people
might not know it as it is not very colourful and can be quite shy, feeding
in the leaf litter at the bottom of hedges and in woodland