KICKING THE BUCKET

This poorly oystercatcher was handed to me on Sunday 5th having been attacked by an oyster! It was found on the park beach with an oyster firmly closed round part of its foot. The foot was freed but the "attack" seemed to have stunned the bird as it behaved as if all its limbs had been injured and put out of action. It wasn't flapping its wings or trying to hop away whilst being handled. It was left in a cardboard box for a short while but when it was granted its freedom in my back garden, it trotted towards the nearest nettle patch, as if it were a partridge.

Last year I came across a black-tailed godwit which was limping along the beach with a cockle clamped around one of its long toes. The bird was obviously in a lot of discomfort and as I slowly walked over to it, the bird hopped further away and the cockle then dropped off - with the toe still inside the shell! I presume the bird was able to lead some sort of toe-less life after this incident.

I didn't think anymore about the poor oystercatcher in my garden assuming it had made its flight to the nearby mudflats. However the following day, when I went to investigate some bashing and clattering sounds coming from a corner of my garden beside my house, there was the oystercatcher trying to get out of a big metal rubbish bin. I don't know how the bird ended up inside the bin which had been standing upright amongst a very overgrown flower border.

I tipped the bin over but the bird was very reluctant to emerge, so I left it staring at my garden from the comfort of a smelly old bin! Later in the afternoon I heard the loud piping sound and beating of wings which I recognised as the bird, which had suddenly remembered how to call anxiously and flap its wings at the same time. Off the bird flew.
The poor bird will never trust another oyster again and to think that it came to literally kick the bucket in my back garden!

Here is the oystercatcher resting in my garden, showing off its bright red eye and the thick orange bill.

Plenty of sunshine on Sunday and Monday provided perfect weather for the painted ladies. The buddliea in the car park is the favourite plant for them although they could be seen all over the park with maybe fifty or so present. A small tortoiseshell was also seen on the Monday along with many of the other familiar butterflies.

On Monday morning I had a brief chat with the nightingale in the car park, so it was good to hear they haven't left for Africa just yet. I was curious to know if it was still present, so I called out to some bushes with some "wheet" calls, and was instantly answered back with one of the birds croaking like a frog! There was no view of the bird as it hid well inside the bush.

The other birds calling out loudly but remaining well hidden were the young sparrowhawks with their mournful sounding "kew" calls.

Two young sparrowhawks were also heard calling on the Monday evening near Firs Chase. These are most likely from the brood of four young birds recently raised in a garden in The Lane.

On the mudflats from the park, five little egrets stalked the shallow pools while two of their larger cousins, grey herons, were seen crossing the Colne to feed on the outermost mudflats.

Whilst scanning the distant edge of the flats, I noticed something splashing around in the shallow sea. Through the binoculars I could see it was a common seal wrestling with a large fish. It then carried this fish in its mouth for a short distance before tucking into it.

Two adders were seen basking in the sunshine in their usual spot in the park. Both were well camouflaged amongst the pale brown grass especially as they were sandy brown in colour but with the distinctive dark zig-zag mark along their backs.

Field bindweed is not a favourite of gardeners but here in the park, it is free to clamber all over the long grass and show off its pretty pink flowers.

Just after darkness fell a tawny owl was seen in the car headlights, perched halfway up a telegraph post along Bromans Lane. The owls have been surprisingly secretive this summer and I wonder if the pair failed to raise any young.