[Fozzybear]

I went for an early morning walk on Sunday to the Chelmer Valley nature reserve in the middle of Chelmsford, a very welcome trip out after being stuck in the house feeling cr*p again for the last couple of days (and again today - just my recovering ear infection still). I wanted to try out my new binoculars that I'd had delivered on Saturday and also had been wanting to see what the wildlife was like at the reserve before all the people arrived.

Was a beautiful dawn, almost clear skies and lots of dew everywhere. Walking through town I saw a kingfisher flash off down the river (too quick, no chance of a photo but fantastic to see that iridescent blue streak zipping off down the river). At the reserve I spent a bit of time watching some rabbits munching grass next to the path, I got within about 20ft of them and they looked really close in the binoculars. Lots of squirrels around too as well as some chiffchaffs, blue tits and a green woodpecker that I could hear somewhere in the trees.

I passed under the railway viaduct and a really nice tree that I managed to identify from this shot, taken on the way back, as an alder (learning trees is something I'm working on... hardly know any at all!):

and headed into the wooded part of the reserve, past a set of trees which always seem to be buzzing with blue tits and great tits - lovely to watch through my binoculars! I walked further in through the little wood, taking the mown grassy path beside the river and all around robins were singing. Lots of cricket bat willows here, as well as white poplar and (I think) black poplar. Taking one of the small dirt tracks through the trees I passed some hazel trees I think, plus lots of hawthorn that are in berry:

The track was very overgrown and I had to force my way past lots of thistles and nettles, very glad that I had my thick trousers and coat on that the nettles can't penetrate! At the end of the track is a clearing with a big oak and under is a cut through to the park next door, where lots of carrion crows and magpies were feeding, looking for food on the rugby pitches. More rabbits were nibbling grass at the edge of the wood, under the cover of the trees. Turning back to the clearing I saw a chiffchaff (I think, it didn't sing) up in a white poplar:

and all around were birds singing, but most of the songs I didn't recognise. Plenty of blue tits and great tits and the green woodpeckers, some robin and unknowns. There were some lovely teasels in the middle of the clearing so I took a few photos of those:

and of the trees at the edge of the clearing, looking back the way I'd come from:

I stopped for a spot of breakfast on a bench on the main path and noticed people were starting to appear on the scene, so feeling a little tired and dizzy I decided to head back:

I stopped for a few minutes by a footbridge near the railway viaduct as I felt a bit iffy and was glad I did as some canoeists had flushed out the kingfisher so I got a good view of it zipping away south towards the town just above the water - brilliant! I then headed back into town, past a jay in a willow looking for a crack to stick an acorn in, and headed home. Rather tired and woozy, but happy.

And if you read all that then you did well... or were very bored!

[Liquid101]

Thanks for that, made interesting reading. Some nice shots too - I like the quality of light in the morning at this time of year.

I think we should have more posts like this.

[denno75uk]

A very informative and relaxing read, like your walk by the sounds of it. Seems like you're building up quite a wildlife knowledge, and us by proxy.
The alder and hawthorn shots are excellent. Lovely light and bokeh make what could be quite dull shots really stand out.
Agree with Liquid. Thanks for putting in the effort with your post.

[bodoman]

very entertaing words and photographs

[tontoshorse]

Are those 2 in the last picture about to mug the joggers?

[Fozzybear]

Originally Posted by tontoshorse

Are those 2 in the last picture about to mug the joggers?

indeed. The photo I took after that is being held by the Police as evidence...




Thanks guys. Yeah, I'm slowly learning these things - I always feel a bit thick when I go to a wood and really enjoy seeing all the trees and I have a real appreciation for them but I had no idea what pretty much any of them are! Err... oak and willow and... tree? Have really been trying to work out what's what, but I'm trying to not do too much, you can't try to identify everything at once or your head would burst!

Same with birds - I see lots and lots of birds and after my holidays at Pembrokeshire and north Norfolk I'm turning into a bit of a bird-watcher (hence the new binoculars) but I don't really know the songs of many yet so I hear loads and loads but haven't a clue what they are.

I'm mostly ok with some of the more identifiable ones though and it's not too bad when you make a list:

blackbird (gorgeous!)
house sparrow
starling
robin
wren (most of the time - if it's right by your ear and piercingly loud it's a wren)
chaffinch
green woodpecker
great spotted woodpecker (rapid tapping on trees)
rook
carrion crow
magpie
jackdaw (jak! jak!)
pigeon
collared dove
wood pigeon
mallard (of course!)
moorhen
chiffchaffs (they sing their name "chiff... chiff... chaff... chiff... chaff... chiff")
skylark
sedge warbler (kinda - saw lots and lots in Norfolk. A rather churring, clicky song)
oystercatcher (lovely calls, really evocative of the coast for me)
lapwing
swallows (screaming calls)
pheasant
puffin (they sound like they're laughing)

and probably some more I can't remember, although not reliably - some of the above I might not always get, but some are very recognisable indeed.
and am trying to pick up blue and great tit at the moment - they're common but I don't actually see or hear that many where I live but I'm getting a lot at this reserve, which is helping.

[Fozzybear]

Went back to the reserve again this morning and got a really good extended view of a green woodpecker probing around in the grass at the edge of the footpath. Didn't get a shot of him though, I didn't want to disturb him by getting my camera out of my backpack and the light was very low (just after dawn in the woods) so would have struggled to get a usable shot at a distance (about 30 paces away). I did see it later but backlit behind a tree. I got some other shots though...

1. Wren

2. Robin (1/40s at 300mm! VR works)

3. Song Thrush (1/40s again)

4. Wabbit

5. Green Woodpecker ("have you worked out what it is yet?")