The Nature Blog

photo credit: raneko

Like many animals, common frogs exist in a range of different colour forms. Typically green or brown in colour, one also may see bright yellow/green versions and also some orange/red specimens.

Nobody seems totally sure whether this is due to genetic variations or differences in habitat or diet but I think the picture above illustrates the point well where a red female can be seen mating with a more standard coloured male.

Note that according to Froglife, the conservation charity, red frogs are not too unusual and some females reportedly *turn* red during the breeding season for whatever reason.

Red Common Frog Seen In Scotland Recently

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photo credit: salimfadhley

The botanical gardens in Edinburgh recently gave me a really good view of frogs mating. In the gardens is a reasonably-sized pond which was literally full of frogs in the mood for love. I must have seen several hundred there all clamouring for attention and the croaking sound really has to be heard to be believed!

Here are a few photos I took at the time:

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Just a quick reminder that the clocks change tonight (28th March 2010). Move your clocks forward an hour to get yourself to British Summertime.

The downside of this is one less hour in bed tonight (boo!). The upside is that what used to be 5pm, is now 6pm. Which means an extra hour of light in the evenings giving you the chance to see far more wildlife – even if it’s only a quick walk after work.

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Wood Pigeon In The Rain

Whilst huddled under a tree in the rain recently I spotted a wood pigeon having a fantastic time. It was lifting up it’s wings, shaking away and ensuring it got a really good covering to keep it’s plumage in tiptop condition.

Made me think that as annoying as rain can be for us humans it is not only very important to wildlife but some of them actually seem to enjoy it!

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Another day and another nature walk. It seems that while the snowdrops are still in full flower the daffodils are starting to come into bloom which always brings a smile to my face.

The foxgloves in my local wood are growing well though there is no sign of any flowering spikes yet – just too soon in the season I assume.

But the most interesting thing I spotted today was a group of three roe deer. What looked like a male and two females were nonchalantly nibbling on grass in a horse field a matter of metres away from a major road.

While the deer were some distance away from me (apoligies for the low quality of the photos as a result) I was amazed how unfazed they were by the lorries and cars whizzing by. You can clearly see how close a bus was in one of the photos but they carried on without a care in the world.

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Whilst many tits are quite common birds in our parks and gardens it seems that due to the fact that they are all small and flighty there can be some confusion over their identification.

Fortunately once you know what you are looking for it is reasonably easy to tell the difference between great tits, coal tits and blue tits so let’s take a look at each of these species in turn to help contrast and compare the differences between them.

Great Tits

The great tit is the largest of the three tits in question and is characterised by a black head with white cheeks, together with a bright yellow belly with a black line running down the middle of it.

Great Tit

Blue Tits

The blue tit, on contrast to the great tit, is noticeably smaller. It also has a base colour of white in it’s head with blue patch on the top and a black stripe through the eye. While it has a yellow belly like the great tit there is typically no black stripe down it.

Blue Tit

Coal Tits

Finally the coal tit has a black head with white cheeks like the great tit, but typically the blue wings are absent and furthermore the breast is more of a straw colour rather than a vibrant yellow. It looks the most muted of the three species mentioned here.

Coal Tit

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I’m pleased to say that yesterday (March 17th) I managed to see my first bee of the year – which is a sure sign of spring on the way.

Apologies for the less-than-perfect photo but this was the white-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) I saw. I followed her for quite some time trying to get a decent photo but she certainly wasn’t wasting any time! I assume it was a queen due to the size and the time of year and she was busy checking out every little hold she could find as a potential nest site.

White-Tailed Bumblebee

Closeby I also found a bee fly (Bombylius major) on the same area of the Sussex Downs.

Bee Fly (Bombylius major)

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photo credit: Lincolnian (Brian)

All the evidence suggests that spring is well and truly on it’s way. After a particularly harsh winter with weeks and weeks of snow, it seems like the weather has changed over the last week or so and nature is reacting swiftly.

Blue skies and bright sunshine are causing plants to leap into growth and the animals too are making moves. Frog spawn is being laid right now in ponds across the UK and even our native reptiles are being seen for the first time this year.

Twitter is alive with tales of lizards and snakes being seen so as a real reptile fan (and living near a fantastic heath right now) I shall be heading out hoping for my own first glimpse in the next few days.

If you’d like to help to track the coming on spring (and autumn) then you could do a lot worse than getting involved with the Woodland Trust’s Natures Calendar project.

Sights which we should see this month all being well include summer migrants arriving back (such as the chiff-chaff), daffodils coming into flower and potentially sites of our first butterflies such as the Brimstone.

Let me know what signs of spring you’re seeing on your part of the world…

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I’m very pleased to say that Friday saw me take my first “proper” nature walk this year. Oh, of course I have been out and about and seen a few things here and then but the bad weather has generally meant these have only been short strolls. Friday 5th of March was my first serious “all dayer” of a nature walk.

The weather was with me, and the bright sunshine really made for a memorable day – especialy after all the rain and grey skies I have seen recently.

The buzzards were out in force and over the course of 4-5 hours I must have seen 8 to 10 of them circling around hunting. Unfortunately though they were too far away for my camera.

However what *wasn’t* too far away was the profusion of Lords-And-Ladies (Arum maculatum) which were just starting to peep their heads above ground. They should be ready to flower in April or May so need to get their skates on to get to the sort of size necessary. I found specimens all over but most noticeably in grassy banks in semi-shade near trees or hedgerows.

Take a look at the photos I took which really illustrate just how fresh and green the first leaves look. There seem to be signs of spring all around us now, including crocuses in full bloom.

Perfect Lords-And-Ladies Leaf

Sunshine gleaning through the opaque Lords-And-Ladies leaves

Lords-And-Ladies appearing out of the ground - March 2010

Spring Crocuses

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photo credit: jurvetson

Well ladies and gentlemen this site has been a long time coming but I’m excited to announce that today – February 22nd 2010 – this site has launched.

As an amateur naturalist I spend most of my free time devoted to wildlife and nature in one way or another. Whether I’m out with my binoculars to see what is around, reading a book, watching TV and more, it’s almost certainly got something to do with wildlife involved.

So this site is really my “life stream” of all the things I see and do to do with wildlife. I;m hoping it becomes a useful resource guide for many other people interested in nature, and I’m also hoping it attracts plenty of new friends, discussions and discoveries as we share information.

So don’t be a stranger – get involved, join me on Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and here, and please leave me some comments. The more the merrier

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