Unseasonal
occurrences NATURE NOTES BY STEWART BEER  | | •
THE lesser Celandine. |  | | •
SNOWDROPS by a stream. |  | | •
Canada geese on the Taw at Barnstaple. |
ANOTHER predominantly
mild winter thus far has yielded a number of unseasonable occurrences in the natural
kingdom. A friend of mine was stung by a wasp, out of doors, in the second week
of December and, at a range of altitudes throughout that month, primrose, lesser
celandine, red valerian, yarrow, cow parsley and the common/oxford ragworts, amongst
others, have been in flower. In late December I watched a buff-tailed bumblebee
bombus terretris circling the flower clusters of a red valerian plant. Near sea-level
Alexanders, that early umbellifer, have been flowering since mid January! However,
on Christmas Day afternoon, real winter weather was experienced. Walking around
Wistlandpound reservoir a light fall of snow made the visit memorable. Just a
few yards out from the water's edge a small flock of eight Canada geese rested
and preened - and were unusually quiet! These large black geese were outnumbered
by the slate-black bodied, white bill and frontal shielded coots either congregated
in the middle of the reservoir or partially concealed in amongst the waterside
sallows. These birds dived now and again to retrieve submerged water plants on
which they feed. Our resident coot population is more than doubled over the winter
months by migrants which leave again in early spring . Also present was a single
little grebe - in its normal way diving and surfacing in quick succession. Several
coots were also at Velator, along with the inevitable Canada geese and moorhens
which are also here, but most skulking in the reed beds. Incidentally,
earlier in December, I was driving near Torrington when an indeterminate form
- was it a hawk or a falcon? - spirited away over the top of the hedge from its
unmarked catch lying by the roadside. Stopping the car I stepped out to examine
the kill. It was an all brown juvenile moorhen, with green legs and toes. Waterfowl
are thronging the Taw estuary. A tundra bean goose Anser fabalis rossicus - from
North-West Siberia, a shorter-necked sub-species of the taiga bean goose Anser
fabalis - has been attracting the attention of birdwatchers since November. I
saw this "grey goose" for the first time on New Year's Eve Day, from
the Tarka Trail by Pottington. Resting far out on the edge of a sandbank, this
truly wild goose was noticeably smaller than the feral and sedentary Canada geese
swimming past. 600 Canadas are now using the estuary for nightly refuge. Also,
in the same line of vision, was a small gathering of black-tailed godwits, uniformly
striking the classic wader at rest pose, each standing on one leg with head tucked
under wing. After relishing the sights and sounds of other waterside species in
the vicinity, such as curlew, oystercatcher, redshank, dunlin, plover, and little
egret, I finally made my way back along the trail toward the bustling town; and
then my last species for the day. Nearing the rugby ground I found a hen reed
bunting, first heard, then spotted through the binocular, perched high in a sallow.
Now into February but, as far as I know, still no waxwings locally. But
redwings and fieldfares aplenty. • Stewart’s
anthology An Exaltation of Skylarks, now with four colour plates
added, is published by SMH Books ISBN 0 9512619 7 5. It can be ordered from all
good bookshops.
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