Bench Tor, Sunday 26 Feb

 Early frogspawn in a peaty puddle

 Heron footprint - evidently from a bird hunting frogs.  Lone birds are quite often to be seen on the open moor at this time of year, waiting to impale preoccupied amphibians. A pair appears to be nesting at Venford again this year - I heard the strange, sticky-sounding bill clicking sound that they make at the nest on my last visit a week ago.

 Gus and Joe on Bench Tor

 Lonnie enjoying himself 

 Grace and Dot exploring the rocks

 Gus with Sharp Tor as his hat

 Grace contemplating time and geology, no doubt

 Joe photographing me photographing him

 Close-up of a rowan trunk

 Lonnie in light

Some photos from the West Dart, Sunday 19 Feb

Drops falling into a water butt.  The first photo was taken by my son Joe.

 Pioneer plants...

 Joe by the river.  I love this spot where the water warps before entering the riffles.

 One of the Week Ford stepping stones.  The vertical marks you can see are where the iron spikes were inserted to split the granite apart using the 'feather and tare' method.

 Lichens on blackthorn

 A newly cut willow stool where work is being carried out to improve the river habitat for Salmon and other wildlife.

 Mixed messages?  

'String of sausages' lichen on a sycamore

Bird news

Birds seen in the last week include a female Merlin at Prince Hall, two Hen Harriers in to roost (can't tell you where) and three Woodcock at Lower Dunnabridge Plantation.  


Below are some photos from a beautiful evening in the lower Cherrybrook area on Saturday.  Very cold - my trousers went rigid with ice by the end of the walk, and Dot had ice dreadlocks on her chest (falling in the Cherrybrook didn't help).

Some photos from a freezing morning on Wednesday

 Combestone Tor, with Longaford and Beardown tors in the background, and sunlight on the central basin.

 To the north of the photo above, with Bellever Tor on the right

Beautiful 'feather frost' at Huccaby.  This is ice that is squeezed through the pores of waterlogged wood as it freezes, and is relatively rare, happening only when conditions are very cold and still.  They are also sometimes called 'frost flowers.'

Some photos from yesterday's walk on Halshanger Common

Dot awaiting instructions

Lichen and moss on a wall, Horridge Common

Top Tor, Pil Tor, Chinkwell Tor and Bell Tor with Hameldon in the background 

'Christmas Tree' (still decorated) at the Nut Crackers

Late afternoon sunlight

Short-eared Owls at Rippon Tor

Had a fantastic walk yesterday afternoon around Halshanger Common and Rippon Tor in hazy winter sunshine.  Something in the light hinted that it would be a good area to stop and look for birds of prey, with the sun behind me, on my way to pick up my son Joe from school.  My hunch was rewarded with good, if fairly distant, views of two Short-eared Owls aloft over Horridge Common and the slopes of Rippon Tor.  One was calling to the other in the strange yelp that they have, and there was a brief tussle high in the air before they both drifted on incredibly buoyant wings south west towards Buckland Common.  


This was a real treat, as I haven't seen these birds on Dartmoor since February 1999, when I watched two hunting on Skir Hill in a blizzard.  They do occur more frequently than that, with usually two or three records a year on Dartmoor, but you need to be lucky as they cover large distances and are present in very small numbers, if at all.  This has been a good winter for Short-eared Owls on Dartmoor, with this at least the fifth record so far (the others were seen in widely flung areas on the south, west and north east flanks of the moor).  It's possible that all the records relate to the same birds, as they wander so widely in search of rodent prey (mainly voles).


They are unusual among owls in that they habitually hunt by day, quartering open grassy country rather like a harrier.  The yellowy-orange wing patches that you can see on the photo below were very noticeable on the birds that I saw yesterday as the sun caught them.

[I should add that I did not take this photo - I found it (uncredited) on an American site]

Here are some photos from last week's cold snap.

Ice in a hoof print

Leusdon and a snowy Hameldon from near Holne

And now the weather's turned cold and clear.  Snow on Sunday night - enough for the children to throw snowballs after dark - but it was largely washed away by morning.  Still some snow on the tops around Widecombe and Haytor, though, which is lending a little atmosphere.

Photo: www.virtualheb.co.uk

Photo by Dennis Connolly

I gave a talk for Widecombe History Group last night entitled The Secret Life of Dartmoor's Goosanders, which seemed to go down very well.  Goosanders are fascinating ducks (drake top and female with ducklings below) with some secrets that weren't discovered until recently - namely the habit that the males have of absconding to northern Norway to moult after mating.  I know what my female readers are thinking...


I would like to thank Anthony Beard and all at the History Group for inviting me along and making me welcome (as well as receiving the talk well) - I enjoyed the evening very much.