Welcome to my second blog, which is a lighthearted look at my adventures whilst out watching and photographing wildlife and birds in North Somerset. I hope my stories make you smile whilst highlighting the wonderful and diverse wildlife present in the North Somerset area.

You can also see my garden project which includes gardening for wildlife here:- http://higgysgardenproject.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Hi All,
Time goes by so quickly and now that my new hip is settling in I'm back to work and struggling to get out and about and find the time to see my beloved wildlife.

I have managed an hour over a couple of  mornings recently and despite the lack of wildlife I've really enjoyed that time on your own at a time of day that is so magical, the sunrise. It really is magical at this time of year and I've snapped a couple of pictures using my phone camera. I don't know why but sometimes I just love to leave the expensive and heavy gear at home and go out and see just what I can capture on my phone! Try it sometime you may be surprised by the results...

Sunrise in the Gordano Valley, North Somerset...

Sunrise over the River Kenn, Kenn Moor, Clevedon, North Somerset...

 These pictures really make me realise that summer really is just around the corner! I hope that I will get the chance to get out and get some stories and experiences to post up on here but in the mean time I'm going to take you back to last autumn in November and my experience with a beautiful red fox, I hope you enjoy it...

Foxy going on is just what the doctor ordered….

It's the 23rd November and I've just had a really interesting meeting with Gill who is a friend of mine and looking at starting a really exciting pollinator project. I'm feeling alive with ideas and thoughts of what Gill is proposing and the difference that this project could make for the benefit of nature if she can get the right people involved. The sun is out and I'm also throwing ideas around my mind for another couple of projects that I am currently working on for my local wildlife group. All of this is a very welcome relief in what is turning out to be a long recovery from my recent hip replacement.
Choosing to travel back across Kenn Moor on my way home I negotiate the twisting lanes out of the West End of Nailsea, having to stop to give way to other vehicles who are speeding along with drivers behind the wheel oblivious to the beauty that surrounds them or maybe just living in a world much more important and stressful than mine! It's been said recently that nature is a healer and should be prescribed on the NHS to tackle work related stress and illness. I ponder this as I turn right towards Brockley, 'nature and my wildlife trips are certainly helping me both mentally and physically in my slow recovery', 'may be my good wildlife photography and GP friend from Bridgewater, Tim, who strongly believes in this has a point?'.
Having negotiated the strange road island whilst turning right towards Claverham I pass the newly rebuilt barn on my left that was a pile of old stone for so long but now sits proudly in its overgrown plot although seemingly still unused. I pull into the gateway of the field opposite and muddy water splashes up onto my old truck to add to the dirty used look that it so often has from my wildlife adventures at this time of the year. It's here in this field just outside Claverham that I have watched and photographed Lapwings and filmed over 1000 Starlings in the past. I always stop here for a look but today there are just a handful of Black-headed gulls that don't even bother to look up at the intruder who's just entered their world of muddy foraging and squabbling.

The Lapwing photographed on Claverham Grove fields a few years ago...


I move off down the road past the turning to Claverham Grove where I am actually heading and take in the barn on my left that housed a little owl for so long, but now it has been completely re-developed and this stirs an emotion as I think of all the current planning applications around our local villages and the wildlife that will suffer if it goes ahead, it makes me shudder to even consider the horror of this.

This Little Owl used to roost in this barn but it's now been redeveloped and it's now moved away!...

Turning around I take a left into Claverham Grove up over the railway bridge and look for the Young female Kestrel that so often sits on the telegraph poles here. Today she's absent but unknown to me she will give me the ultimate reward for perseverance in only a few days time! 

Perseverance and  local knowledge gave me the opportunity to enjoy and capture this beautiful Kestrel a few days later...

On the sharp left-hand bend I add another layer of mud to my now dull paintwork as I bump to a stop in the entrance of the rough lane that leads out towards the Old Kenn river. Here you can often see large flocks of birds and watch hunting birds of prey such as Sparrowhawks and Peregrine. In summer the occasional Hobby can be seen swooping down to chase the dancing dragonflies of high summer that seem so far away now. These fields here are affectionately called the 'Swan Fields' due to the large number of Mute Swans that overwinter on them, quite a spectacle and one worth taking the time to see at this time of year. You never know what can turn up here and it's in this very spot four years ago that I recorded the first sighting of Bewicks Swan on Kenn Moor, a real thrill. Today however it's quiet with little to see but ten minutes of scanning with the binoculars is somehow therapeutic this morning and the late season sun could only brighten the lowest mood.

Kenn Moor Swan Fields...

A local reserve is next on my list and this really is a magical place that my wildlife group have done a wondrous job of turning into such a superb nature reserve. I always stop here when out on the moors and recently on visits I have noticed that a fox can often be seen foraging at the bottom of the drove that runs aside it. I park up the truck so as not to cause an obstruction and scan the fields and drove with my binoculars and there she is once again, right at the bottom of the drove a beautiful and well-conditioned fox! I'm sure she's a vixen and she's just pouncing and playing in the sun without what seems like a care in the world! What a sight and a moment that I have dreamed of for so long, a chance to maybe get a little closer and observe her in her natural surroundings. It amazes me how special this moment feels having imagined it for so long. I have observed countless 'city' foxes prior to an early shift or during night shifts whilst working in Bristol but these animals are different, brazen, fearless, unkempt and mangy. I remember one morning when I parked my truck in the St Pauls area of Bristol and four foxes passed within a few feet of me but it felt more like a passing group of 'hoodies' not the wonderful animal that I am looking at now!
Carefully so as not to disturb her I slip through the gate and check the wind, it's blowing left to right but slightly back towards me, perfect! This is simple field craft but so important if not to disturb our wonderful wildlife. When I check the wind direction I automatically check the sun and more importantly my shadow, this is especially important with butterflies and insects that will vanish the moment that the warmth of the sun disappears in your shadow with the result usually being the failure to secure a picture. I'm wearing drab clothing, brown trousers and an army green coloured top, perfect for preventing obvious movements and concealing me against the hedgerow that I'm using as cover whilst creeping forward. My camera is on with settings already programmed in and of course lens cap off, the failure of so many perfect photo opportunities!
This isn't a race it's one foot placed carefully and slowly in front of the last, with the wind in the right direction and plenty of cover noise is my only enemy. A stop every ten steps or so shows the vixen fully engaged in her game and oblivious to my careful approach. I don't want to get to close as this would be unfair and should always be avoided so as not to disturb your subject but close enough for a record shot would be great and hopefully she will never know I was there. Half way down the grove a tree has fallen and has been cut to clear the path but still crosses the rhyne that it has fallen across and no doubt now offers a bridge to my new vixen friend, I can imagine her crossing the log claws scratching against the thickly fissured bark. But for now this is base camp and cover for me to crouch behind and get my picture but more importantly spend some time just watching and enjoying this amazing creature without disturbing her. 'Click, Click' I get my shot for the record but the sound of the camera shutter alerts her and she looks up but her look is inquisitive and she takes ten steps towards me, what a treat! I stay still and low a sudden movement would disturb her but right now she is focused only on me and approaches me slowly obviously intrigued by this new addition to her wild world. I can now clearly see her, she's fit and well fed, her coat glows orange in the late morning sun and her brown eyes are alert and bright reflecting the light from this beautiful morning. How could anyone not be enthralled by this moment, nothing else comes close, man and beast together here in North Somerset on this fine November morning. I'm excited but calm and she approaches further towards me, now within ten feet of me, I can see the reflections in her crystal clear eyes that are locked onto me. Although a magical moment it is at this time that sense needs to prevail as I don't want her considering humans as part of her world and she needs some fear to keep her safe from people who may not appreciate her as much as I do. It's now that I stand and break the deadlock I hope the sudden movement will spook her and make her turn away but she stands her ground for a moment eyes fixed on me before slowly turning away and casually making her way back down the path, a quick look back over her shoulder and she slips away into the undergrowth and is gone.

It is now as I make my way back up the path still slightly trembling from this fabulous experience that I remember my hip, the pain having subsided during this magical moment, maybe those experts are right and we do all need some nature and wildlife therapy once in a while…..

The beautiful Red Fox that prompted me to write this  tale...

Until next time...

Best regards

Higgy