26 November 2021

 

I had to battle through the detritus of Storm Arwen first thing this morning to reach the Blue course.  It was ultimately worthwhile though as I got a good view of the otters that frequent the ponds on the first few holes.  Whilst I have picked up occasional footage on my trail camera, I'm not sure how often they come out in the daylight, but this is the first time that I have seen them.  There was a family of three relaxing on the edge of the pond to the left of the first fairway.

Otters [1st Blue]

Elsewhere there was a flock of 30-40 Redpolls behind the 3rd Green and I'm pretty sure that I saw a Woodcock take off from the wood to the right of the 13th on the Blue.

Lots of wagtails trotting around the fairways - Pied Wagtails are most common and roost in large numbers (100+) around the clubhouse and car park.  Grey Wagtails are also quite frequent - particularly around the greenkeepers' huts.

Pied Wagtail [18th Blue]

Grey Wagtail [Greenkeepers' car park]

26 April 2021

Sunny but cold and windy.  I had a quick walk around the Blue first thing followed by nine holes in the evening.  I came across a couple of very tame Mistle Thrushes admiring my drive down the 7th.  Some birds are a lot less wary in the summer - during the winter it was difficult to get close without them taking flight.  There are quite a lot around the course at the moment - they are larger than Song Thrushes and always appear quite long-necked.

Mistle Thrush [7th Blue]

I saw another large thrush this morning - a Fieldfare on the 5th.  This one is very late - most of the other winter thrushes disappeared very quickly some time in March.  

Fieldfare [5th Blue]

On the far left of the 4th I found some Honesty, one of the more colourful weeds of rough ground.

Honesty Lunaria annua [4th Blue]

I put a trail camera down besides the stream behind the 3rd Green.  I was hoping to get images of Water Voles.  I didn't get any, but an Otter did pass through:

Otter [3rd Blue]

Mostly though I got images of Brown Rats, which I guess is not surprising.  Prioritising science over aesthetics, I have included a quick video:

23 March 2021

 

Had a walk early the last couple of mornings.  Plenty of Crossbills and Siskins about as usual.  Also managed to spot a couple of new flowers.

Colts-foot is always one of the first flowers to appear at the end of winter.  This one was to the left of the pond on the 3rd Blue.  It is a slightly unusual plant in that the flowers appear well before the leaves.

Coltsfoot Tussilago farfara [3rd Blue]

Rather unobtrusive and difficult to spot is Hairy Bitter-cress.  It is actually all over the course, but particularly near the wall around the 7th tee on the Green course and the Doghouse range.  

Hairy Bittercress Cardamine hirsuta [5th Red]

A couple of people have related that there were otters on the 1st on the Blue last year and the greenkeepers recently mentioned to me that they appear to have returned as they found fish remains on the trail between the pond and the nearby stream.  I put up a trail camera to watch this for the last few nights.  I appreciate that it's not exactly Planet Earth - but I think that the two moving white dots in this video are an otter....

The photo is marginally more convincing..

Otter [1st Blue]

There were 3 Reed Bunting on the pond on the 4th Blue with two males (bottom) fighting over a female (top).

Reed Buntings [4th Blue]

and the Song Thrush singing on its usual branch to the left of the 3rd green on the Blue:

Song Thrush [3rd Blue]

I spotted a Kingfisher above the pond on the farm behind the 2nd tee on the Blue.  I photographed this for a while before realising that it was a garden ornament (it was quite a long way away.).

29 January 2021

 

Had a walk around the various bits of the red and blue courses today.  I was hoping to see the first spring flowers - there are quite a few snowdrops elsewhere in Tubney, but I couldn't see anything on the course yet.

A few birds about, but nothing particularly unusual.  

• A couple of Mistle Thrushes on the driving range
• A large flock of Siskins on the 9th on the Blue
• A Goldcrest by the 12th tee.

Mistle Thrushes [Driving Range]

Goldcrest [12th Red]

Hedge Sparrow [5th Red]

Many thanks to Maurice Alphandary for sending through these pictures and a video of an otter taken in 2011 by a trail camera set up by the greenkeeping staff next to the pond on the 6th on the Blue. Apparently it ate all of the large fish and then moved on.

Otter [6th Red]