Tuesday 4 November 2008

This afternoon was a little brighter - just, - so I popped over to the lake area, via the wet woods. A flock of feeding birds included LONG TAILED, BLUE, GREAT, COAL, and MARSH TIT, as well as a TREECREEPER and NUTHATCH - great to watch and listen to. At the lake, just half a dozen MALLARD and a GREY HERON were present, with, again, the two KINGFISHERS, they chased each other over the water, looking light blue christmas lights.
I left the lake, went back into the wet woods and scanned all the likely Tawny Owl places but I still can't find one, even the JAYS haven't found any to mob. The tree nursery was quiet, just a few BLACKBIRDS and a couple of GOLDCRESTS. I decided to walk up the hedgerow and onto migrant alley, and look over into the BARN OWL roost, lukily it was home, the first time this month.
At migrant alley, the first thing I saw was a KESTREL hovering over the stubbles, also in the stubbles and weedy habitat around the greenhouses, were 40+ LINNET, 50+ PIED WAGTAIL, 10+ MEADOW PIPIT, 5 CHAFFINCH, 4 GOLDFINCH and 2 PHEASANT. I don't know what the birds eat in the stubbles, it's not the Maize stalks themselves, and any weeds are now dead and brown as they have been sprayed, but whatever it is, it's keeping the linnets and Meadow Pipits on my patch, the vast majority if not all, have left the area by this time usually. It started to get dark and gloomy around 16:00, and I was about to call it a day, but something caught my eye, in the sky, a LITTLE EGRET Nice addition to Novembers list! One not anticipated. I walked off home pleased with the two new additions for the month, and as I passed through the greenhouse grounds, a SPARROWHAWK sped by, on it's way to the stubbles, no doubt for a Pipit, or wagtail supper!


Above; the lake with a few Mallard in the background. There is another smaller lake behind me from where i took this photo, and another one to the left, but thats the one thats been ''sanitised'' to look like a picture on a choccy tin, and so is crap for wildlife.
Above: Kestrel over the stubbles and below the Little Egret that also flew over the stubbles. The light isn't really up to taking photo's, but I will endeavour to get something!




3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You had a good couple of hours then, Warren.

Little Egret as yet to grace my patch, although they`re regular a short distance away.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Warren: Neat post and I love the little Kestrel.

Ken. said...

Hi Warren.
Nice variety of birds you had today, plenty of passerines. Long may they hang around, and increase in numbers and species.