Jersey Island

Archive for the ‘Nature/Wildlife.’ Category

The new bird hide is well under construction it is over looking the sand pits at the Five Mile Road. When they will start the other hide i do not know and if they will put one back in it’s place of the one they dismantled over looking the pond. There is a wide range of birds that come to the sand pits and i suppose one of the main birds is the Sand Martin which nests in the top part of the sand banks.

This is a view from the centre of the Birdhide at St. Ouen’s Pond. It is surprising that not too many people realise that it is there. People will stand at the top of the bank amongst the tall grass, if they were to walk another 8ft forward they would see the hide on their left. The hide that was taken down on the south side of the pond is going to be re-sited all new timber etc and it will be higher and a much bigger field of view when it is finished. There will also be a new hide built in the Sand Working Pit which will give a very good view of the Sand Martin and all of the different kinds of birds that visit the area all year round.

The “SPARROWHAWK” comes into the garden now and then to catch a small bird for it’s dinner. It comes in like a flash of lightning and flies off with a bird in it’s claws. Sometimes it can be like a dogfight in the sky only it does it going in and out of the branches of the trees at break neck speed. Good to see but a bit sad that it caught a bird but that is nature.

The Great Spotted Woodpecker which comes into my garden every day now after the peanuts. It is very shy and any movement from behind the window and it is gone, so getting a photo or video can prove quite difficult. There is one thing i know and that is i would not like my hand to be in the way of it’s beak when it hits a tree because the force that hits the tree knocks huge pieces of bark off ithink it would go right through your hand. It is nice to hear them drumming in the spring.

Today the first pair of “Blackcaps” came into the garden and onto the peanuts. I normal get 2 pairs of Blackcaps every year for the past 15 years. The male has a blackcap on it’s head as shown in the photo and the female a brown cap. Also the Great Spotted Woodpeckers having been coming on the peanuts for the last 3 weeks, they usual come right through to about May. My squirrels seem to have wondered off i am only getting 1 in the garden now when i would have been having up to 8, also no hedgehogs around and once again i would be feeding up to 47 different hogs. So what is going on in the nature world or has something changed in my neck of the woods? Would be nice to know of other less things happening in other gardens.