Pittswood Birds

I was looking forward to getting out this afternoon, the sun was shining, and it was mild and still, however, this doesn't mean that i'm going to see more than if it were wet and windy, and this proved the case! I went round the usual route, seeing BULLFINCH'S in the small holding, and a couple of GREEN WOODPECKERS on the lawns of one of the large gardens, but a wall of silence hit me when I walked into the wet woods, well apart from a far off MISTLE THRUSH singing it's melancholy song. A few MOORHENS scuttled aound the water filled ditches, and 4 MALLARDS were hidden, in amongst the tangle of watery undergrowth, but that was it! As I walked along the footpath from the woods to the lake area, I heard a GOLDCREST, as I searched for it, I found not one but 4, they were so close to me my camera wouldn't focus on them, at one point one of the birds flew up and tried to land on the camera lens, I felt it's tiny wings waft the air on my face! What a great little encounter, as was the KINGFISHER at the lake, which came bombing low over the water straight at me, and perched just 10ft away, I slowly aimed my camera, but the auto focus couldn't pick out the bird amongst the twigs, as I moved for a better view, it sped off calling noisily, - almost got a good photo, it will happen one day! The only other thing of note at the lake was a CORMORANT, again perched up in a tree, as yesterday.
I made my way over to Migrant Alley, via the tree nursery, nothing happening at the nursey either, apart from some woman pulling up grass - for her guneapigs apparently! At migrant alley, again there was just empty stubbles, a YELLOWHAMMER and a few SISKIN were in the hedgerow, and a dozen WOODPIGEON were having a rest from being shot at, by feeding in the much safer sheep pasture. Maybe the small excavater and dumper truck working in the far corner of the field had disturbed eveything ? I decided to sit and watch the sky, I thought maybe a Little Egret might fly over on it's way to roost, but it never materialised. I did see a very distant flock of geese, probably a hunded or so, off to the SW, and there were two white birds amongst them, they could of been Egrets, but they were miles away, and off my patch anyway. As it got darker, and alot colder, I saw 3 flocks of LINNET fly over, and head towards their roost at the tree nursery, 33 , 15 and then 9 went bounding across. I saw a few of them, as I walked back home, in an ash tree along ashes lane, ready to drop down to roost.


Below is one of the 4 extremely confiding Goldcrests I had an encounter with.
These Snowdrops were almost fully out, a sign of things to come ?

Below are a few of the Linnets in the ash tree, waiting to drop down into the Laurels in the nursery.

Message to Lee. Got your email about your 75 species, well done mate bet your well chuffed with that one. I seem to have deleted your email address can you send it to me?