29th October 2019
On this autumn visit things were pretty quiet, most birds had not resumed singing after moulting, but the odd Robin was singing. There were still two pairs of Mute swans, one with three well-grown cygnets. One adult swan was being agressive to the other pair. One pair of Great-crested grebes had two young. This, and three Grey herons and four Cormorants, suggest that there were still fish to be found in the lake, but not in big numbers. Lime trees were beginning to turn yellow and Shaggy parasol mushrooms were responding to the warm early autumn weather. The books say that this species can cause indigestion, which is convenient, because they don't in my family and so we have rich pickings. The recently-copparded area of Horse Close Wood was dominated by Ivy and Bramble, so there's no sign yet that the operation has allowed much interesting to emerge from the seed bank.
The anglers have installed tethered kites mimicing a bird of prey, apparently in an attempt to deter the Cormorants. The science behind such scaring devices is well-established. Any effect is temporary, as the clever bids don't take long to realise that the kites are no threat. Where there are equally attractive places without deterrence there can be a slightly greater and longer-lasting effect, but this is remarkably uncommon. I suppose one cannot blame the anglers for trying, because the Cormorants are quite effective in lowering fish numbers down to a level that is no longer attractive to them, nor to the anglers!
On this autumn visit things were pretty quiet, most birds had not resumed singing after moulting, but the odd Robin was singing. There were still two pairs of Mute swans, one with three well-grown cygnets. One adult swan was being agressive to the other pair. One pair of Great-crested grebes had two young. This, and three Grey herons and four Cormorants, suggest that there were still fish to be found in the lake, but not in big numbers. Lime trees were beginning to turn yellow and Shaggy parasol mushrooms were responding to the warm early autumn weather. The books say that this species can cause indigestion, which is convenient, because they don't in my family and so we have rich pickings. The recently-copparded area of Horse Close Wood was dominated by Ivy and Bramble, so there's no sign yet that the operation has allowed much interesting to emerge from the seed bank.
The anglers have installed tethered kites mimicing a bird of prey, apparently in an attempt to deter the Cormorants. The science behind such scaring devices is well-established. Any effect is temporary, as the clever bids don't take long to realise that the kites are no threat. Where there are equally attractive places without deterrence there can be a slightly greater and longer-lasting effect, but this is remarkably uncommon. I suppose one cannot blame the anglers for trying, because the Cormorants are quite effective in lowering fish numbers down to a level that is no longer attractive to them, nor to the anglers!
