30 Days Wild in June Challenge - Day 23 - Giant Creatures

Today has been a very thundery and humid day and so most of my local wildlife has stayed under cover.  I spotted a few bees on the bramble blossoms between showers this afternoon but didn't have time to photograph them, so here are some of the summer residents of the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust Centre in Arundel who greeted us when we visited at the beginning of the week.

Whilst there we found out that there was a trail of giant Lego creatures waiting to be spotted, so off we all went, maps in hand and these are what we discovered: 

This is Flavia the Flamingo, who apparently took over 80 hours to build. Did you know that a group of flamingoes is called a flamboyance?

Here is Natalie the NeNe (pronounce NeighNeigh). It took the builders 100 hours to put her together and the information board told us that the NeNe is the National bird of Hawaii.

Next was Bruce the Red-Breasted Goose and he took 120 hours to build (June and December both thought that was a very long time). We were all amazed to find out that these birds build their nests close to peregrine falcon nests for protection from predators.

Here is Mac the Mallard who was 100 hours in the making. Did you know that he is a drake and that the brown coloured female Mallard is a hen?

Suki the Spoonie, or Spoon-billed Sandpiper, are on the edge of extinction and WWT have an 'ark population' at their Slimbridge site as well as teams working in Russia and around the world to try and save them.



Here's Chris the Crane who only took 90 hours to build!

Cranes were once extinct in the UK but WWT told us that they have been re-introducing them to the countryside since 2010 - 100 cranes were raised at Slimbridge and released onto the Somerset Levels.

At this point, our Giant Lego Creature hunt was interrupted by a Swan and Cygnet path block! 

They weren't showing any signs of moving and, as we had been advised to not disturb birds with young, we returned to the Visitor Centre where I waited for my husband and the girls whilst they searched for the final creatures on their maps.

These weren't part of the Lego creature hunt, but I thought I would share this photo as it was really dramatic and I love these beetles.

Say hello to Lottie the Otter who took 120 hours to build. Did you know that otters were almost extinct in the UK back in the 1970's? Fortunately they are now slowly making a comeback.

This is Benedict the Bewick's Swan and it took the builders 95 hours to put him together. The interesting fact on the board for Benedict was that each individual Bewick's swan can be identified by its unique bill pattern.

This beautiful bird is Kate the Kingfisher and her build time was 100 hours. 

Did you know that Kingfishers often nest in burrows that they dig in riverbanks and that they are under threat due to pollution and the destruction of their wetland habitat?

Apparently Kate is famous, having appeared on Blue Peter where one of the presenters (Barney Harwood) added her final bricks.

30 Days Wild in June Challenge - Day 22 : Heron

Today was very wet, warm and misty. Driving through Midhurst on our way home after visiting Hollycombe Steam Collection I spotted this heron on the pond. I quickly pulled over and we all got out of the car and walked back to the pond, where I was relieved to find that the heron was still there.

When we got home we discovered that our little strawberry plant had two strawberries almost ready for harvesting - I'm hoping that they won't get slugged during the thunderstorm tonight!

30 Days Wild in June Challenge - Day 19 : Pheasant Feast

Well, today has been hectic as it was June's birthday; December had a ballet exam and we were celebrating Father's Day. All of this meant that we didn't get out until mid afternoon, when we headed off to our local Wildfowl and Wetland Trust reserve.

Traffic was heavy on the A27 and what should have been a quick journey wasn't, so by the time we pulled in to the car park I was wondering whether we should give up and go home.

I'm so glad that we didn't. The very first bird I saw was a Cock Pheasant. In the car park. He wasn't behaving normally - he was backed into some long grass, pecking voraciously at the ground in front of him. I thought that a previous visitor must have thrown some bird seed on the ground and approached to investigate. The Pheasant didn't move back, or even acknowledge our presence. 

Then we saw what was keeping him distracted - he had discovered an ant's nest and was feasting on eggs, grubs and ants. The ants were doing their best to defend their own, climbing all over their attacker, trying to find a weak point - they didn't seem able to find one - or, if they had, their bites weren't having any effect.

 Leaving the pheasant to his dinner we left the car park and crossed the bridge to enter the reserve.

30 Days Wild in June Challenge - Days 14 to 16: Bugs and Butterflies

The weather has been very changeable this week, however on Tuesday it cleared up for a couple of hours and so we ventured outside to a local wood.

We spotted a Cinnabar Moth, which I have never seen before. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a photo - it kept moving! It's a red and black moth and very eye catching.

I did manage to photograph this bee though:

There were lots of lovely wildflowers too, including scarlet pimpernel and bird's foot trefoil (which I've always known as eggs and bacon!)

Whilst checking our potatoes this afternoon (which we got from the Potato Council) I spotted this little insect - I think it's a young cricket.

December attended a Home Ed group today, where she made a flower with a butterfly on top of it, to show how flowers are pollinated. She really enjoyed the session and is looking forward to bringing her artwork home next week.

30 Days Wild in June Challenge - Day 13

As today was not only busy but also wet and windy, we didn't get the opportunity to get outside. 

Instead, here is a photograph of a rainbow that I took at 9.15pm on Sunday night - I have never seen a rainbow so late in the day before and am wondering how unusual an occurrence it was?

30 Days Wild in June Challenge - Day 12 : At the Beach

This afternoon we went to Climping Beach to meet up with friends, even though the sky was black with threatening clouds and it had been raining all morning, after lunch a breeze had picked up and we hoped for the best and weren't disappointed. When we arrived we found our friends in a sheltered part of the car park - which was empty  - and then the sun broke through the clouds.

After birthday cake the children all wanted to go for a paddle, so we skidded and slipped down the shingle to the waters edge. The kids set to making sandcastles and collecting stones, shells and seaweed - some even went swimming:)

30 Days Wild in June Challenge - Day 9: The Usual Suspects

Whilst I was sitting in the sunshine this morning, waiting for December to finish her science class, my eyes were drawn to these poppies: 

They made me think of the photo line up in the film The Usual Suspects! I think it must be down to their varied heights and that they are growing right up against a fence. I also love the contrast between the silvery,  weathered fence and the pink-purple of the flower heads.