6 October 2024

 

I haven't seen much of note around the estate for the past couple of months, so haven't posted for a while, but I played golf this weekend in the sunshine (Saturday) and the rain (Sunday) and came across a few things. I saw a stoat for the first time in a while on the 11th Blue, but it was too quick for me to get to my bag and get the camera.

On the next hole, this young Grey Heron was more obliging.  I suspect that it is the same one that I usually see on the 3rd and 4th holes.  This is the first time that I have seen it on the 12th - it was looking intently in the grass behind the green - presumably for frogs or mice - I'm not quite sure.

Grey Heron [12th Blue]

On the same hole the next day I came across a group of three Red-legged Partridges.  I see these occasionally on the Blue course - usually running away.

Red-Legged Partridges [12th Blue]

On the Red course I came across a Red Kite feeding on what looked like a rabbit.

Red Kite [15th Red]

The Stonechats still seem to be around the course.  I have seen them occasionally over the summer, but not with any regularity.  There was a pair near the reservoir.

Stonechat [Reservoir]

Plenty of Rooks around the course at the moment looking for grubs in the fairways. 

Rook [11th Blue]

I hit a great shot 5 wood onto the green close on the 11th and you can understand my distress seeing one of the Rooks take a liking to my ball, roll it off the green and carry it off into the rough.  

This is the second time that I have seen corvids do this.  Here is a similar occurrence with a Carrion Crow a couple of years ago..

https://youtu.be/lSL9wEph1Sk

18 February 2024

 I had a walk around the Blue course this afternoon and found a fair amount of the front nine under water.  The stream through the 1st and 2nd had burst its banks and a fair chunk of the fairway was part of the flow.  The ditch to the left of the 3rd which is usually a  collection of puddles had become a fast-flowing channel.  Most of the fourth fairway was a water hazard.

1st Blue

2nd Blue

3rd Blue

4th Blue

Nothing too spectacular wildlife wise.  I have seen the Stonechats fairly regularly between the 4th and 10th on the Blue, otherwise mostly the familiar species.

Red Kite [10th Blue]

Brown Hare [7th Blue]

Sparrowhawk [9th Blue]

Pheasant [2nd Red]

5 November 2023

 

I walked around the front nine of the Blue course today in my wellies.  No other footwear would have been appropriate.  A family of Swans seems to be enjoying the wet conditions and has taken up residence.  Today they were in front of the 4th tee.

Mute Swans [4th Blue]

 The winter finches are more evident now.  There was a flock of forty or so Siskins feeding on the 3rd.

Siskins [3rd Blue]

With conditions becoming more wintry, Red Kites are roosting in large numbers around the course.  This one was perched in the trees at the Tubney Range.

Red Kite [Tubney Range]

6 November 2022

 

I had a walk around the Blue and Red courses this evening once the rain had subsided and came across a new bird for the Frilford list, with two young Mute Swans on the pond of the 3rd Blue.  I don't recall seeing swans on the estate before. They swam up to me - presumably expecting to be fed, but were left disappointed.

Mute Swans [3rd Blue]

There are large numbers of Red Kites roosting on the course.  There were 20 or so over the 1st Blue and plenty more in the trees between the 5th and 6th on the Red.

Red Kites [1st Blue]

Red Kite [5th Red]

There were also a few Muntjacs around in the evening with the course quiet.

Muntjac [6th Blue]

This Oak Bracket is one of the larger fungus specimens around the coarse and is growing on the Oak Tree between the 4th and 8th tees on the Blue.

Oak Bracket Pseudoinonotus dryadeus [4th Blue]

9 June 2022

 

Plenty of sunshine over the last couple of days.  I spotted a couple of Spotted Flycatchers on the ninth hole on the Blue.  I have seen them a couple of times at the top of the trees on this hole earlier in the month, but this morning they were hunting insects just above the rough. There is at least one pair that nests on the course, probably between the ninth and the third, and possibly more.

Spotted Flycatchers [9th Blue]

Small Skippers are one of the most common butterflies around the estate, but are small, have a rather inelegant gait and look rather more like moths.  This one was in the undergrowth to the right of the 16th tee on the Red.

Small Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris [16th Red]

This Asparagus plant is most likely a garden escape and is growing between the 18th Green and the Yellow course.

Garden Asparagus Asparagus officinalis [18th Green]

This Red Kite was looking critically down at the 17th green on the Red course earlier in the week.

Red Kite [17th Red]

26 February 2022

 

Have popped up a few times this week to play nine holes and to walk around the front nine of the Blue while it is out of action.  The noisiest arrivals are the Canada Geese, with pairs on both the 3rd and the 4th. They arrived at the same place the same time last year.

Canada Geese [3rd Blue]

A Grey Heron also frequented the pond on the Blue and a Cormorant also took off as I arrived.  I got a very brief view of the Water Rail in the ditch to the left of the Blue as well.

Grey Heron [3rd Blue]

One animal that I hoped lived around the 3rd Blue is the Water Vole.  I saw one for the first time earlier in the week.  It shot into the burrow below before I could get a photo, but the habitat around this area of the course is ideal for these mammals which like slow-flowing streams with banks in which to burrow.  They have declined significantly in this country in the last 30 years so it is good to see them here.

Not far away, this Muntjac Deer was just left of the 4th tee and the Mistle Thrush, one of many around the course, was on the 4th tee.

 

Muntjac [4th Blue]

Mistle Thrush [4th Blue]

I have seen the Kingfisher on the 1st and 2nd this week and lots of Siskins and Redpolls on the 1st and 2nd.

Kingfisher [1st Blue]

Siskin [9th Blue]

6 February 2022

The first flowers of 2022 are appearing on the course.  The patch of Snowdrops by the 18th tee on the green in bloom as are these Stinking Hellebores on to the left of the 14th on the Red.

Snowdrops Galanthus nivalis [18th Green]

Stinking Hellebore Helleborus foetidus [14th Red]

Collard Doves are one of the birds, like House Sparrows, that are common elsewhere, but not on the Frilford estate.  This one was in a tree to the left of the Blue range.

Collard Dove [Tubney range]

Lots of birds singing yesterday, Robins and Dunnocks in particular.  Not so many today with the wind, but plenty of Red Kites maneuvering skillfully.

Dunnock [Tubney Range]

 

Red Kite [3rd Green]

7 November 2021

 

This week has been the first proper cold spell of the winter and it has coincided with the arrival of the first winter visitors - I have seen Redwings, Siskins and Redpolls flying over various parts of the courses this week.

The scale of the work on the irrigation system is very impressive.  The reservoir is completely drained at the moment as the silt is removed and should create a significantly more efficient watering system once completed, although duck photos may be at a premium this winter.

If you have been perplexed recently after a shot into the 4th green on the Blue has seemed further away than expected or disappeared entirely, I may have the answer.  I played the hole this evening and watched a Carrion Crow roll and then fly off with my playing partner's ball, dropping it in the field behind the 5th tee (much to my amusement).  I then left a ball on the green and watched as same crow returned to the oak tree behind the 4th green and, once we had left the green, did exactly the same thing with this ball.  It is quite a feat to open its beak wide enough to grab the ball.

If this happens and you see a crow or other animal take your ball, then this is covered under rule 18-1 (Outside agency).  You are able to replace it at the spot where the ball was originally resting without penalty.  I am a country member at Perranporth Golf Club in Cornwall and they have the same problem on the 11th fairway, but with Herring Gulls rather than crows.  The birds think that they have found a rather round egg.

A few other, less troublesome birds in the sunshine.

Kestrel [4th Blue]

Blue Tit [5th Red]

Red Kite [13th Blue]

Redpoll [3rd Blue]