A return to Barton Marina.

Yesterday, It was quite a grey day. However, this didn't stop me from going out and seeing what wildlife I could find! I decided to go to Barton Marina, after reports that the Cape Barren goose had gone, I was quite surprised when I saw it within a group of Canadian geese. Here are some photos and a video I took, I hope you enjoy.

 Some boats in the marina.

 A view over the pool.

 A cormorant looking out for some fish.

 A cormorant looking straight at me!

 Compared to the canadian geese the cape barren

goose looks like a female.

 There were hundreds of small toadlets like this one along the paths.

 The cape barren goose again.

A video of the cape barren goose.

Wildlife Jack and his Animal Adventures.

The other day, I heard about a 6 year old that can talk to real animals called Wildlife Jack. Wildlife Jack is a animated character that discovers he can talk to real life British animals. He has been created to teach young children (0-6) about real British animals. At the moment they are trying to make a 6 x 5 minute episode, however they need funding. You can donate to their website below. Naturalist, Chris Packham has already said he will be the narrator!
A growing number of children have little or no contact with British wildlife. This is bad news for wildlife because it means that future generations are less likely to care about the threats facing the environment and this is why things like this are very important.
To find out more or to donate click here and to visit their Facebook page you can click here.

Wild flowers.

Earlier today, I went out to get some pictures of some poppies. Here are some pictures I got of poppies and some other wild flowers.

Along my local canal.

Last Sunday, I went on a walk down my local canal. There wasn't very much wildlife about except for some ducks with their chicks, a few nests and lots of swallows. Here are some photos I took, I hope you enjoy !

 Mallard with duckling.

 A female mallard with her ducklings,

My dog, Rosie cooling down by the side of the canal.

Lichfields Stowe Pool.

Last Saturday, it was the Lichfield Medieval Market. After looking around some of the stalls I went to see what wildlife I could find on Stowe pool which is right next to the main shops in the city. There was a variety of wildfowl including quite tame great crested grebes. Here are some photos and a video I got, I hope you enjoy !

 A great crested grebe.

There were lots of young ducks including these Cygnets. 

A coot with some chicks.

Talking on the radio.

Earlier today, I was talking on the BBC WM radio station with Adrian Goldberg about my blog and how we can look after the wildlife in our gardens. Here is the clip of me talking .

Radio.

Tomorrow morning around 10:30 to 11:15 I will be talking on the BBC WM radio about my blog and looking after garden wildlife in hot conditions. You can tune in at - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p008nxy3 and I hope you enjoy it !

Looking after your garden wildlife in hot conditions.

For the weekend, there is a heatwave forecast. Not only do we have to look after ourselves in this hot weather but we also have to look after the wildlife in our gardens. Here are some ways you can look after birds and hedgehogs in your garden.

Looking after the Birds.

Birds have lots of techniques to keeping themselves cool, some are: physical adaptions, allowing heat dissipation through regular breathing (respiration rate), bare skin, bill size, panting, lowering their activity level, seeking shade and spreading their feathers.
However, to help the birds survive better in this hot weather we can help too by providing a bird bath filled with clean, fresh water for birds to drink and bathe. The depth should be no more than 1-2 inches to accommodate bathing birds easily.
Another way you can help the garden birds is by providing good food for them. By providing birds with a nutritional food source through a clean, well-stocked feeder, they will not need to overheat themselves seeking food on hot summers days. Go for seeds that will not spoil quickly and try avoiding suet and other fat-based bird foods that can quickly go off during the heat.
Here are three bird species which you might find in your garden!

 Goldfinch.

 Great tit.

Robin.

Looking after hedgehogs in your garden.

Although hedgehogs mainly visit our gardens during the night it is still vital we look after them in hot conditions. Hedgehogs are now an endangered species and if you have any concerns about one, you can contact your local wildlife rescue. 

Again, it is a good idea to leave out food and water so they don't get exhausted looking for it themselves. Here is a list of what to leave out and what not to leave out for the hedgehogs in your garden:

A saucer dog or cat food, dried meal worms, crushed peanuts and sunflower hearts, DO NOT leave out bread or milk and you can also buy hedgehog food from a garden center, pet shop or websites like - http://www.spikesworld.co.uk/ .

Here is some hedgehog footage which I took in my back garden

Another vital way of looking after the wildlife in our gardens in hot conditions is providing shelter.

Helping the bees.

This is a White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus licorum) which I photographed at the weekend.This species of bee is widespread throughout the UK, however populations are believed to be declining. It emerges early in the spring and can be seen feeding on flowers right through to the autumn. It can be found in gardens, farmland, woodland edges, hedgerows and heathland. 

But some bees aren't doing as well, visit the link below for information about photographing and joining in a survey to help our monitor bee population changes. 

http://bumblebeeconservation.org/get-involved/surveys

Spring birds nests.

A few weeks back, I set myself a project of finding some birds nests and getting some interesting footage. Here I have two videos. One is of a male great spotted woodpecker visiting the nest with food and the other a pair of nuthatches visiting their nest. In both of the nests the chicks were still quite young and if you listen closely to the nuthatch video you can hear the chicks calling. I hope you enjoy my videos !

 

Here is the male great spotted woodpecker visiting the nest. You can tell that it is a male woodpecker

because of the distinctive red mark on the back of his head which the females doesn't have.

On here, one of the nuthatches visits the nest with food and passes it down to the other nuthatch

who is in the nest and it then feeds it to the chicks.

Poppies!