Mowsbury Hillfort NR

An unusual visit to the Hillfort returned Common Buzzard, Red Kite, Kestrel, Great Spotted Woodpecker nest hole and a swarm of Bees! A fortuitous call from Ranger John Bishop and he was soon on his way up to the reserve with Ray, a bee keeper friend. Between them they managed to catch the swarm and relocate it to one of Rays hives.

Swarm of Honey Bees

Ray and John capture the bees ...

..and relocate them....

..to their new home.

Following are some pictures from recent weeks at the Hillfort.

White Bluebell

 This White Bluebell was spotted by the Friends group who do a lot of the maintenance work at the reserve. One of its normal coloured cousins is in the background. There was a second white one nearby.

Goldcrest

 

Male Great Spotted Woodpecker

 I'm not sure what this GSW has in its beak. It looks like flesh like it might have been scavenging from a Rabbit Carcass although it might be a small chick raided from a nest.

Swallow

Common Buzzard

 Swallow was added to the species list for the Hillfort today.

Sunday 12th August

Had a pleasant wander along the river at Kempston Mill this morning and caught up with one of the Fox cubs at Church End. Haven't seen them since I first photographed them but this chap was out and about early on. Looked a bit wet so not sure whether it'd had an early dip in the river or had just been laying in the dewy grass. Beautiful light first thing:

Fox cub

There was a noisy Sparrowhawk family at Biddenham Loop CP. I managed to get this distant shot of one of,  at least, four birds which were calling constantly. At one point they were all in the air together but they just wouldn't come across to my side of the river to allow better images: 

Sparrowhawk

On the edge of the new build I came across a couple of young Common Whitethroats, one of which below, in an uncharacteristic environment:

  

Common Whitethroat

On the return leg along the river at Kempston this Great Spotted Woodpecker was calling from high up in a dead tree:

Great Spotted Woodpecker