March 4th Catton Park

Magpies

This afternoon, I decided to go for a walk around one of my local parks. The weather was a little gloomy looking, but at least it wasn't raining. It was still a bit muddy underfoot, but this damp ground was attracting a lot of birdlife extracting worms and other invertebrate life as part of their lunch. The majority of these birds were common gulls. I believe there were possibly between 10-20+ of them on the field, the most I've ever seen here. They out numbered the black-headed gulls, carrion crows and magpies, though there maybe more woodpigeons hiding in the grass than I could count. Of course, it would have been easier to count them if it wasn't for the dogs chasing them into the air.

Common Gull

Black-headed Gull

Carrion Crow



Woodpigeon

Blackbird

Male Blackbird

A fallen Oak tree

It feels like a lot of time has past since I was last here at this park as I am pretty sure all the ancient oaks were still standing with their limbs pointing to the sky. However, I noticed one of these old giants has been uprooted with its trunk split in two. I wonder if this tree was a victim to Storm Doris last week? Its kind of sad to see it lying on the ground like a beached whale, but I hope this fallen oak does not get removed as it will still provide a home to plenty of creatures, especially wood-boring beetles and many other invertebrate species.

Stock Dove

A walk around Catton Park rarely fails to produce a stock dove or two. Today was no exception. You often find them sitting on the bare branches of the taller trees or on the ancient oaks dotted around the park. They are much nicer to look at than your average woodpigeon in my opinion with a smarter plumage that includes a glossy pink and green collar. Its a shame most people overlook them as they are always a highlight for me at this park. I also found these fungi, but I'm not 100% sure of what they are. So let me know if you do.



Some kind of bracket fungus





Jew's Ear?

 

Grey Squirrel