Swift rescue!

At a time where there is little to be happy about, it was warming to be part of a nice ending to a story, albeit a short story at that...
Wondering what the dog was showing so much interest in last night, we investigated and found a grounded, adult Swift in our garden, barely covered in the undergrowth, with little more than a couple of fern leaves shielding it from the chilly North-Easterly winds and imminent sharp showers.
 It's eyes were closed and the poor thing was shivering on and off, not looking very well at all. Giving no resistance to being picked up by a scary Human for probably the first time ever, it really didn't look like the morning would bring a cheery outcome.
We lined a shoe box with a nice thick towel and let it rest its weary little self. Just after midnight I managed to get some fluids down it and left it for the rest of the night until 0600 when I got up for work.
It was surprising to see it was still alive by then, even if not really showing any improvement. I'm no bird ringer but it weighed in at 35g which I read was ok for an adult, albeit at the lighter end of 'ok', but that was reassuring. Some more fluids before work and left alone in the quiet again.
Early afternoon and I got a call from our Son who had heard some flapping from inside the box, so I called it lunch break time and nipped home to see what was going on. Its eyes were now half open, it had pooped in the box and was now more aware of its surroundings, looking around a little. More fluids in and it was definitely on the up now, looking around more and more and moving around. I had it in my hands again and could actually feel some warmth now - excitement level rising! We where now by the back door for a bit while its eyes adjusted to the bright sunshine. As we walked into the garden it was fixated on looking up at the sky now, where other Swifts were whizzing around and calling each other. It's as if the sound of the others calling up there had perked it up and gave it a boost, it really was. A little longer in the hand to adjust its eyes and get its bearings and we went for the launch...SUCCESS! Up, up and away it flew. Circling and gaining height above our heads, we even saw it attempt to feed before it slowly drifted away at height, out of view.

Quite how it ended up grounded, I'm not sure. Flew into something? An exhausted recent traveler? I'll never know but what an absolute privilege to see such a majestic creature up close and impossible not to form a bond in the circumstances. A real feel good moment after being almost certain of its impending demise. Godspeed Swifty!

(I must thank Mark and Graeme for their sound advice!)

Fungus for firestarting

I do love the great outdoors all things bushcraft and a big part of that includes getting a fire started, so I thought I'd show a couple of Fungi that are well known to make great tinder.

Firstly, we've got King Alfred's Cakes - a Daldina species of fungi, also known as COAL fungus:

The inside of the fungus, once dried, looks like Coal as much as it behaves like it, once alight:

It took about half a dozen strikes using my flint stick and knife to catch and hold a spark and once glowing, burns hot and spreads well:

Next up: Horse Hoof Fungus (Fomes fomentarius).
Found mainly on Birch and not always easy to remove if you find a decent sized one. I needed my axe to get this one off and even then it took the bark with it. I dry them out but they will still take a spark when fresh, even it takes a little more effort.

I used a saw to cut in half and the inside shows why it's light, fibrous insides show why it makes a good material for tinder:

I find it's too dense to hold a spark as one piece like that (not to mention a bit wasteful if left to burn) so I scrape off a pile of shavings to use and then keep the rest for another time:

Again, it takes only a handful of strikes with the flint stick to catch and hold a spark. I find the Hoof fungus doesn't burn as hot, as the King Alfred's cakes and also maybe not as fast but there's not much in it.

So there we go. Both are a great source of tinder for starting a fire and easy to store and carry in a daypack, so keep an eye out and give it a try.

Sleuthing for Otters!

Kinda got to thank our dog for this one..
We went for a nice, peaceful walk over the local common this morning. Something we do a lot and somewhere I spend a lot of time. One stretch of our route took us along a narrow stretch of the River Nar and it was here that our trusty dog done what dogs do and sniffed out something along the waters edge to roll in!
I was curious at what triggered his mental dog urge to roll in something that stinks, so walked back to investigate. My first thought was that it must be Fox with a dodgy stomach as surely an Otter wouldn't be along such a narrow stream of water? We're talking mostly no deeper than knee height and maybe a metre wide at best - surely not?? I'm not exactly hot on mammals. I mean, I could name them but as far as habits, droppings, behavior etc goes - I'll need my books for those finer details.

So that's what I did! Bit of research and then went back to look for more and hopefully a track or two. The recent showers didn't help with finding any tracks but I did find more spraints dotted around a certain area, on the bank of an open bend in the stream, which I collected and brought home for a closer look...as you do.
First thing that got me - the smell. Man, that must be the nicest smelling shit I've ever smelled! It was almost sweet and like some wine connoisseur, I found myself in my garden, swirling it around and holding it under my nose, picking out subtle undertones of fresh haylage mixed with the gentle whiff of fresh fish and not forgetting, a small pinch of lavender!
It was black, sticky and gungy looking and after a bit of rinsing and sieving, was found to be mainly full of small bones but also fish scales.

So yes - signs of Otter in a place we've never seen anything before but we did see them in the last couple of yrs, some 5-6 miles further along the same river system, which I've since learnt is well within range for an Otter to roam. Perhaps the recent high water levels has something to do with it?

Either way, I'm a happy bunny to have these beauties in the neighbourhood now!

10ksq Mothing

I recently asked my County Moth Recorder, Jim Wheeler, if there was a simple, easy way for me to know how many 'firsts' I've had for the 10ksq where I live. Turns out there wasn't, but he decided to have a play and created a brand new feature for the already superb, NorfolkMoths website - "first for hectad."

'My' 10ksq:

We've lived here for nearly 4yrs now and I was pleasantly surprised at just how many species I've managed to add to the records for this small area. I want to stress now, however, that this is by no means a trumpet blowing exercise on my behalf, but more just how important your Moth records are.

With the exception of a single record for Silver Y in 1930, the earliest records in my square are from 1986 - not THAT long ago in the grand scheme of things. 
With common species like:

• Nut-tree Tussock not recorded until 2007,
• Rustic Shoulder Knot also 2007,
• Angle Shades not 'til 1994,
• Poplar Grey 2007,

 etc, etc, you get the idea and the point I'm making, that my square (as well as others, I'm sure) has been under-recorded. 
That said, I wont lie when I say I do feel a sense of achievement that of the 860 species recorded within TF81, some 319 - or 37% of them are firsts from my trapping, luring, trunking, torching, car headlighting and dissecting efforts. Even if a lot of them are 'just' gap filling records, it's all good data and rewarding. 

A side mission for this year will be to fill in the missing dots in my hectad, something that'll make me try different spots I would've otherwise not bothered about. Should be fun!

So with Spring around the corner - get out there and get Moth-ing people!!