Disappointment and Delight

I’ll start with the good news, a pair of buzzard chicks to watch over the coming few weeks. I’ve named them Buddy and Holly though I’ve no idea of their sexes. (Last year I photographed and observed the progress of one chick in the same nest which I named Buzz.) I have to apologise for the blurry photo that I managed to get of them both below. You see there’s a twig right in front of the nest which is way high up in a tree and it is very difficult to focus beyond that but I will keep trying. The nest itself is so well hidden that I sometimes struggle to locate it again when I go back to my observing spot on a wee hillock.

Here is Mum or Dad keeping watch from the tallest tree in the wood. Earlier in this blog. “Nesting Time” has a photo of the adult buzzard sitting on the nest.

And here is a clearer picture of one of the chicks. For the most part they lay low and unseen in the nest but now and again they have a wee shuffle and some fluffy white appears just over the brim. I’ll follow their progress in the weeks to come.

Now onto the disappointment. Yesterday I went up to my usual woodpecker watching spot and immediately was struck by the silence. Not a woodpecker cheep anywhere. I thought they must have fledged. Then I moved to a closer spot and saw a large black plastic structure – a den had been made very close by. I’m not against folk making dens in the wood, this was quite a well built structure but what sickened me was they had cut down at least three living trees to get the wood, rather than use the plentiful supply of deadwood available. A fire had been made and the place was littered with cans and wrappers. I wept.

I felt so sick I couldn’t eat any lunch. Hubby and I went back up to the site and removed all the rubbish there and back. I felt better for doing something positive. Then the heavens opened and the rain felt quite appropriate along with my tears. We did hear some woodpecker “chooks” in the middle of the wood so I am so hoping that the chicks managed to fledge in time, albeit perhaps prematurely. I went back home and painted my woodpeckers which I think I’ve got a bit too attached to.

This morning I went out early to try and look for the woodpecker fledglings. No joy this time I’m afraid but I feel more hopeful today. I took a black bin bag and collected over 70 cans and bottles from “Buzzard Wood” from what must have been some party, thankfully before the buzzard nest was used again.

I was rewarded with sights of the buzzard chicks and also some other new arrivals on my walk. The pond has a new family of 9 ducklings!

The swan family continues to thrive. Here they are joined by a pair of tufted ducks and with lovely yellow irises flowering along the bank.

I was chuffed to see a familiar face on my walk too. The tawny owl. It always surprises me how small it actually is. I always imagine owls to be larger. It was quite happily sitting close to the path where a man and his dog had just passed.

My equilibrium has been restored.