Sunday 3 April 2011

Spring explodes upon Jeziorki

A beautiful weekend; hard to believe that just a week ago I looked out of the same window to see snow. Today's temperature reached +18C in the shade; in the sunshine it was T-shirt weather.

Left: from my bedroom window I espy a hare dashing across the field. At first, I thought it was a dog; hares are quite sizeable; the gait, however, is unmistakable.

The sun now rises around ten past six - what with the clocks going forward last Sunday, there's now plenty of light. And now comes the feeling of warmth on the skin; the smells of spring in the air; the sounds of wildlife.

A Trombitious kind of day; no point of wandering further afield when there's so much going on in my immediate vicinity.

Above: the southern end of the wetlands between ul. Trombity and Dumki. I'm in wellingtons and the water around me is teeming with frogs and frog spawn. It's the mating season, and the frogs are croaking loudly, and enjoying the sun's warming rays. Some are browny-green, others are pale blue. Toads and frogs? Male/female frogs in mating colours? Anyone know?


Bird life is also abundant. I spotted a heron in flight, many black-faced gulls, a pair of marsh harriers, a trio of mallards circling the reedbeds; this bird (right) caught my attention with its song. Even with the aid of a 400mm lens, it took me a while to actually see who was singing. This is (I am informed) a blue-tit, sitting on a willow tree, feeding on catkins. Every now and then, he'd pull one off and it would fall lazily to earth. When not feasting, he'd be singing his little heart out, with a shrill, clear, voice loud and clear.

This time two years ago:
Along the way for Warsaw's southern bypass

This time three years ago:
Quintessential Warsaw vista

This time four years ago:
Jeziorki on Google Earth

6 comments:

Paddy said...

Do you get many deer in them there parts?

Paddy

Michael Dembinski said...

I've not seen a single deer around Jeziorki in the nine years I've lived here, but I did catch one across the other side of Las Kabacki once.

adthelad said...

Wrong proportions for a b.h.wagtail to my eye - more like a bluetit.

adthelad said...

..especially given black line under under beak joining black neck ring

basia said...

While out with the dog on the neighbouring golf course,
I spotted a coyote and a fox. Foxes are quite bold in our area. Last spring I spotted one on my neighbour's driveway: sitting in the susnshine casually grooming itself.
:)

Coyotes are a bit of a nuisance. Cats and small dogs are at risk of disappearing.
The news reported that a small white fluffy dog got snatched out of its yard last week.

Temps are up to 13 today but are going to fall tomorrow.

B

Michael Dembinski said...

@ Thanks to AdtheLad and Małgosia W. for pointing out that the bird is not a Blue-headed Wagtail but a Blue-tit!