WEEK ONE – ARNE
We arrived at our first week’s accommodation, The School House. Arne, at exactly the same time as the rain! After unloading the car in a steady drizzle, and true to the form of the English weather the sun came out. Was this a hint of things to come?
The village of Arne is situated on a peninsular that juts out into Poole harbour and consists of only a few houses (mostly large and secluded), a small church and Arne Farm which is owned by the RSPB.
The School House is a large Victorian building (built in 1874 by Lord Eldon) with extensive grounds to the rear directly bordering the RSPB Arne reserve with distant views across Poole Harbour and Brownsea Island.
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| Poole Harbour and Brownsea Island can just be seen in the receeding rain! |
As you would expect this is an area very rich in wildlife and daily visits to the grounds included -
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| Green Woodpeckers (mostly three, sometimes four) |
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| A large "clattering" of Jackdaws |
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| Rabbits (and more Rabbits!) |
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| The ever present Buzzard (pair) |
And with a little bird seed for encouragement some of the braver patio visitors -
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| Dunnock |
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| Robin (juv.) |
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| A pair of Siskin (this is the male) |
As I mentioned earlier there were lots of Rabbits and one evening my wife witnessed a Buzzard making a kill, unfortunatly I was otherwise engaged! and missed it but we did watch for about 45 minutes as at first one of the pair of Buzzards had a meal before passing it over to the other.
And finally, some visitors that needed no invitation - the not so shy Grey Squirrels!
In the next post the wildlife of the RSPB reserve.
