What does a Whooper Swan sound like?

I was surprised that they made any noise. Swans usually don't say anything. With a name like Whooper I guess I should have expected some whooping and indeed that is the noise they make.

For those looking at this on facebook, you are going to have to follow the link back to my blog to watch this clip.

The light was quite good, so I took a few photos before moving on.

With the light fading I was just about to leave when I noticed what looked like a dog stalking through the grass towards some rooks. Suddenly in an explosion of movement it erupted out of the long grass and tore towards them. It was a fox. As the rooks launched into flight they flew straight at a second fox which jumped up snapping at them with its jaws. I managed to get the very end of this hunt scene on film. Again facebook viewers will have to go back to my blog to see it.

Holy cow, I didn't expect to see one of these...

So, I went down to Watermead to photograph the geese. It turns out that they are Greylag Geese (Anser anser). Also present are Canada Geese (Branta Canadensis). Just as I was about to get back in the car I spotted this amongst the Mute Swans.

That is no ordinary swan, that is a Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus). A swan so rare that twitchers alert each other when one of these turns up. Its also the first one I have ever seen. Making my bird count 101.

Counting up the birds I've seen and getting stuck on Gooses.

How many birds have I seen? 100 different species so far as I can make out. How many can I prove I have seen? Probably 70%. So I thought I would look through my photos and try and find where my photos for each bird are. I've followed no particular order other than that in my bird book. My first problem bird family is one that I just have never been bothered to photograph. That is, of course, the geese. Don't get me wrong, I've seen plenty of geese in my time but I have never been inclined to photograph them. I know that there are loads on one of the lakes at Watermead so they shouldn't be too hard to find. Hopefully with photos I will be able to identify what species they are. The possibilities include Bean Goose, White-fronted Goose, Lesser White-fronted Goose, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Barnacle Goose and Brent Goose. The first four are geese in the Anser family and look like farm geese whilst the last three are all in the Branta family and look more swanlike. In the Anser family I really don't know what is common or rare so I don't yet know what I will find. I'd like to know if there is more than one species down there. Tune in later and I'll tell you how I got on.

Woodpeckers!

Last winter we spotted a patch of trees down near Barkby Village that was home to some Great Spotted Woodpeckers (Dendrocopos Major) it would be really interesting to see if those same trees attract some more this year.

I wonder if I will ever get a descent photo of a Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis). This is the best I have ever got and as you can see its not great!

On mankind changing his landscape

Local planning authorities should seriously consider the visual impact of any changes to the landscape. It is surprising how far man made changes to the landscape can be seen from. There is a coal mining spoil heap near Eastwood in Nottinghamshire that is so big that you can see it from Leicestershire. Don't believe me? Check out these pictures.

This first one is of the hill from Ilkeston in Derbyshire. Note the triangle of trees that runs up it left hand side. (There is also two stripes on the left where a tractor has spread some muck!)

This second photo is from Beacon Hill in Leicestershire. I am 95% sure that I am looking at the same thing. Not bad considering it is 33km away. But imagine, if I can see it at 33km that means that this man made adjustment to the natural beauty of the British Isles can potentially be seen over an area of three and a half thousand square kilometres. Maybe we should think harder when it comes to changing this green and pleasant land.