Not Quite Beside the Seaside!

Another visit to Draycote didn't reveal the hoped for Lesser Scaup but was nevertheless an enjoyable afternoon out in a place which I love. As I have mentioned before, living just about as far from the coast as it is possible to be in this country, it is the nearest thing to being at the seaside that there is for me. Sometimes the water is a beautiful blue but the photo below shows that when there is not much sun it can look very grey!


There are usually lots of gulls which add to the feeling of being by the sea and on this occasion the Black-headed Gulls were swooping and swirling and showing off their aerial acrobatics quite close to me.

Black-headed Gull

'Away on the winds we plume our wings,
And soar, the freest of all free things:
Oh! the Sea-Gull leads a merry life
In the glassy calm or tempest strife.'

(Eliza Cook)

I had to look carefully at each Tufted Duck I saw (and there were a lot of them!) just in case it was the similar looking Lesser Scaup...but of course it never was!

Tufted Duck

I scrambled down the bank on the opposite side of the water to get a closer look at some fungi which I had spotted through the binoculars while scanning the grass for a Green Woodpecker which I had seen there before. It turned out to be the impressive looking Shaggy Inkcap. This first photo shows it in its immature state

Shaggy Inkcap

and this one in maturity.

'There 's a thing that grows by the fainting flower,
And springs in the shade of the lady's bower;
The lily shrinks, and the rose turns pale,
When they feel its breath in the summer gale,
And the tulip curls its leaves in pride,
And the blue-eyed violet starts aside ;
But the lily may flaunt, and the tulip stare,
For what does the honest toadstool care ? '

(Oliver Wendell Holmes)

~

There are also always plenty of Rabbits to be seen among the grass, many of which I suspect, provide a tasty meal for predators such as raptors and foxes.

Rabbit

Back to the water and another bird I see there often is the elegant Great Crested Grebe.

Great Crested Grebe

I also quite often see the delightful little Teal there. For some unknown reason I always seem to see the hen (female). It is surprising how small they are, one of the smallest dabbling ducks there is, I believe.

Teal Duck

Draycote wouldn't be Draycote without Pied Wagtails flitting about. Even if you are not quick enough to see them properly there is no mistaking their call and swift, undulating flight. I think both of the following may be juveniles.

Pied Wagtail

The colours of this Guelder Rose were glowing beautifully in the afternoon sunshine.

Guelder Rose

Apparently the fruit of the Guelder Rose is edible in small quantities but is 'very mildly toxic' and if eaten in large quantities could cause vomiting or diarrhoea...hmm! I don't think I'll bother :)

I was really pleased to see a Wheatear again. Like the wagtails it seems to enjoy hunting on the rocks at Draycote for insects, I do think it is a lovely little bird. It is a passage migrant which will be preparing for the long and hazardous journey to central Africa.

Wheatear

'Away! away! thou summer bird !
For autumn's moaning voice is heard,
In cadence wild, and deepening swell,
Of winter's stern approach to tell. '

(Sir Bevis of Hampton)

~

Every time I see Teasels I hope to see Goldfinches feeding on them and although I have seen Goldfinches at Draycote even, strangely on the rocks, I have never seen one anywhere on Teasels apart from in photos. However, I thought this one looked nice decorated with webs and even a little spider.

Teasel

Finally, at the end of the walk, I saw this Cormorant far out in the middle of the water, maintaining its lonely vigil as the last rays of the setting sun cast a coppery glow over the water.

Cormorant

'Yet not to all was sleep's kind angel sent,

A pale worn form in lonely vigil bent.'

(Nicholas Michell)

Enjoy the beauty of Nature, wherever you are.