Sunday 17th May
Back to Loggerheads Country Park in Denbighshire this morning. The temperature was 12°C and there was a very gentle wind (WSW), although the odd cold gust blew through the woods. Overcast when we first arrived, the sun shone through from mid-morning onwards.
We were greeted by lots of lovely pale, pink flowers on long stems with large leaves at their base – the common bistort certainly catches the eye.
Common bistort
A pair of House martins have constructed a nest up in the eaves of the gift shop once again and we watched as both parents shared feeding duties, each darting in with insects caught on the wing. We saw two chicks that briefly revealed themselves, although there may be more.
House martin entering nest and (below)about to emerge in search of more insects for its chicks
The woods are thriving now, with lush green grasses and leaves sprouting everywhere and with the chorusing of birds and the liquid sound of running water. Apart from the bistorts, there are occasional little bursts of buttercups, herb robert, red campion, dog violets, and Welsh poppies too. Our nostrils detected the pungent aroma of wild garlic which was being gently wafted by the light wind. Pure vitality fills the senses.
To the sound of two Song thrushes singing across the woods to each other – they may have been throwing out challenges or merely chatting loudly – we carried on along the Leete path.
Nuthatches and Great tits fed from the impromptu ‘feeding table’ at the water’s edge – these two species seem to tolerate one another probably because they’re roughly the same size. However, we did see a Nuthatch shooing away a Blue tit which is smaller in size. The bully!
Great tit and Nuthatch tolerating one another
Disappointingly, the Dippers seem to have abandoned their nest to move elsewhere and we were unable to locate them this time.
The recently abandoned Dipper nest, beneath which the river has clearly receded
We had noticed today that the Alyn was a little lower than it was a fortnight ago, resulting in the waterflow vanishing from below their nest. As Dipper chicks dive straight into the water directly beneath once they’re ready to fledge, this seems to be the obvious reason for the nest being abandoned. However, as Dippers are early nesters, it’s quite possible that any young might have already fledged, in which case the nest would be abandoned naturally. Hard to say.
Still, we were encouraged to see that the Grey wagtails have bred successfully and we saw the proud father, with the distinctive black bib of its breeding plumage, shadowing two fledglings as they all flew up and down the River Alyn. (The mother came out later, too!). After they leave the nest, Grey wagtail fledglings are still dependant on their parents for food for a further week or two.
The two fledglings have very little yellow on them…
I’m not sure that the male was feeding his offspring today, though. Rather, he appeared to be simply accompanying them up and down the river, gathering together on rocks mid-stream before flying off again. Perhaps he was familiarising the two fledglings to their surroundings although, quite soon, these two youngsters will have to leave their parents’ territory and find places of their own. Their parents might then go on to produce one or two more broods.
…unlike their mother!
It’s reassuring that the water is clean enough for the Grey wagtails to find food in and to have produced at least this one brood, anyway. We’ll keep a look-out for any future Grey wagtail fledglings and also remain vigilant in our search to locate any Dippers once again. But that’s for another time!
The important stuff
As is customary, we finished off our outing at The Mill House café (Tŷ’r Felin), where we each had a very welcome cappuccino accompanied by a slice of Millionaire’s shortbread (Stu) and a Mars bar krispi (Col). Lovely!
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