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BRAMPTON JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS: click on link below
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Flight of deer
One of the two does is more flighty than the other. It is the first to make for the security of Keeper’s Wood as we approach. We, it should be said, are at some eighty yards distance, penned into the old railway track behind a row of Ash trees. The gentle south easterly breeze aided our approach. It is often difficult to get closer with the wind behind you which carries your scent to the deer very quickly, allowing them to gentle sidle closer to cover. This evening, we had the advantage. The Roebuck, who looks in fine condition, merely looked across at us. But, that flighty doe decided enough was enough and ran for cover taking the other doe and the reluctant buck with her. I can’t help thinking that the buck followed, not out of fear, but in the interest of keeping an eye on how two female companions.
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Swifts landing
After at least ten weeks of permanent flight Swifts are inspecting possible nest sites in the roofs of Brampton cottages. As Fiona quietly weeded her garden below, I watched one such Swift execute a deeply curled spiralling approach which ended in a small up-tick as it folded its wings and grasped some little purchase against the tile on the eaves of Trinity Cottage. It must be something like trying to park a car in a garage after approaching at 100 miles per hour, after spending months on the motorway. It only feels like Summer as the groups of Swifts race around the houses, with their high pitched screaming which seems to be borne out of pure exhilaration.
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Breast Cancer event in Brampton
A message from Kath ChapmanWe are holding a Coffee morning/ raffle / cake stall etc at Pipers Moon on Saturday 26th May at 10am – noon, in aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer.There is a sponsored cycle ride on Sunday 22nd July from London to Cambridge in aid of this charity. ‘Team Brampton’ has been formed (our Brampton and Brampton in Huntingdon) in memory of our Carolyn, who died 10 years ago …and whose birthday falls on 22nd July! Julie’s husband works for Microsoft and they will match whatever sponsor money is raised by Team Brampton!! A very generous offer.There will be about 16 people in the team at the time of going to press, including several members of our family.Any offers of help, cakes, prizes or donations will be very gratefully received even if you are unable to attend on 26th May. -
Cuckoo returns
At last the Brampton Cuckoo has put in an appearance. On Tuesday night, on the Karnser, it called from a low perch, with that call that is more of a “whoop-you” than a Cuckoo. It is noticeable that the calls of birds which have evolved for transmitting over large distances so often seem distorted when heard from close by. This one flew with that weak falcon shaped silhouette eastwards along the marsh hedge, it’s grey plumage and paler undersides showing clearly in the light of the setting sun. Jenny tells me that she heard it call on Sunday evening, in which case it beat the BTO monitored Cuckoos back to the UK, but for my own record the 2nd May must the date in the book – the latest over the last few years.
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First Swallows arrive
This morning, before the rains returned, two Swallows swooped and turned over the grazing meadows. I wondered whether they felt that they had arrived too
early as the weather turned to rain. The last swallows that I had seen were the late leaving laggards of last autumn, but the spring arrivals in north-west Spain. They flew around in the warmth of a Barcelona evening amongst the Parakeets and Spotless Starlings of the Parc de la Cuitadella; the wet northern spring must come as quite a shock. -
Waiting for the Cuckoo
The Cuckoos are on their way here. In the next few days someone in the valley should hear their first call. They need a steady southerly wind to ease the trip and the current south-easterlies are probably not quite enough. Some idea of their journey can be gauged by following this link to the British Trust for Ornithology’s satellite tracking of Norfolk Cuckoos http: //www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking It will be interesting to see how they and the start of the local calls coincide.
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Roebuck
The grass on the fallow land is becoming more palatable. The evidence was the presence of a young Roebuck on Mr Crane’s land. The railway line lay between the buck and home. As he caught sight of me, he took to his heels in a wide arc around the field, I stood and waited. Perhaps he would clear the railway fence in a fine arching leap? But no as he approached the fence he gingerly explored up and down until, on finding a slack section of fence he carefully negotiated his way through and slipped back towards Keeper’s Wood.
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Marauding hawk
It was the alarm call of a Partridge that drew my attention. Although as a game species they are prone to raising such alarms, this one was clearly serious. It was flying arrow straight, wings whirring and at about 10 ft in altitude over the Town Field. Slightly above and behind the Partridge was the cause of the furore, a large female Sparrowhawk. The Sparrowhawk was intent on it’s prey and it initially failed to notice that it was itself being pursued by a Carrion Crow. But when it did it veered and climbed leaving the Partridge to fight for another day. Small dramas on a quiet spring morning.
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Hawk corridor
Tension spreads by insistent alarm calls from songbirds. It was a morning of small drama along the railway line. The cause of the electric atmosphere was a male Sparrowhawk; the hunter weaves from along the Blackthorn in a hedge-hugging flight alternating between powerful rowing wing beats and fast glides. Every few yards he swings from one side of the hedge to the other. Never more than two feet above it, I felt I could see his cold yellow concentrated eye as he sped along. In fact the hunting pass is over in seconds and the finches had all successfully dived for cover. The panic continues like a corridor ahead of him, whilst in his wake wildlife visibly relaxes and returns to normality.
