March 2023

insectsandflight.com

all pictures © robin williams

March 2023: wildlife, from the Somerset Levels

March 30th 2023. It has been a beautiful, sunny day. In the morning we were surrounded by black clouds and fringes, but a huge ray of sunshine shone down on the house front, it was really warm. I sat down just round the corner on Romey's special summer chair and had a good look round. It was virtually my my first time out after two and a half weeks from a major operation on my teeth in hospital. I was very well treated but it hurt for ages and left me me completely weary. Today was really my first time out. As I watched, what looked very like an Osmia bee flew out of a an NHBS nest house put up beside the morning room a a few weeks ago. A moment to start the Spring at last.

March 4th 2023. It was warm enough for my visiting family to visit Greylake. This reserve is famous for its hordes of duck during the winter months, most particularly teal. Not so many were left, but sufficient for everyone to enjoy themselves and learn more about duck. As usual, we were greeted by little parties of duck flying close overhead - something we will be missing shortly.

Wigeon, Anas penelope

Wigeon, Anas penelope m

Very quickly, I moved to watching teal settling down in front. At Catcott nowadays, the se duck live mostly in the distance. Here they are the commonest duck and to be appreciated the more so.

Common teal, Anas crecca m

Showing how much larger a Wigeon is than a teal. The former looks quite a bruiser. against the more delicate smaller one.

Common teal, Anas crecca m

March 3rd 2023. We went down to Catcott today, not particularly exciting to start with, until we realised there was a Pintail fairly close in front, athough it was very poor light. We spent a deal of time photographing it, though none of them were particularly good, just rercords of their moves.

Pintail. Anas acuta m

March 2nd 2023. I opened up the trail camera today. It had not been a good night but a few reasonable pictures resulted. Of course there were many more than these, but I am determined to show only pictures that mean something for me - but it is so good to see the deer. Fiona has Roe running across the garden and flopping in the field next door, which is nice. Foxes and badgers are fewer here during the night, but still there.

^{Roe deer, Capreolus capreolus m}

March 1st 2023. Spring at last, after one of the driest months recorded in the past 30 years, so we are told. We must surely be used to every period in our current years as being the strangest, wettest, or driest, or just different to every any other. Whether our wildlife is able to adjust as easily as print, is certainly not the case. Each year brings a continuing diminution of the number of species and increase among species reaching towards critical status.