Pittswood Birds

The afternoon's walk around my patch was a dull affair, and not just weatherwise! There were birds to be seen though, both GREAT SPOTTED and GREEN WOODPECKERS were aound the small holding, as well as 2-3 BULLFINCH'S, but the Little owl was tucked away somewhere snoozing. Entering the wet woods, once again the sound of spring met me full on, despite the gloomy conditions, singing COAL and BLUE TITS were obvious, and the GREAT TITS spring call even more so, a couple pf G.S. Woodpeckers were drumming, and as I listened carefully the thin high pitched song of the GOLDREST was just audible. Above in the Alders 3 or 4 SISKIN were feeding, they will no doubt be thinking of going north very soon, and below on the pools MOORHENS were chasing one another, splashing noisily from one pool to the next. I decided I would give the lake area the once over, despite the continuing barrage going on over at the Rape fields nearby,but nothing apart from the usual hardy MALLARD, Moorhen and a pair of CANADA GEESE were seen, I have to check it though - you just never know! I doubled back along the footpath leading into the woods, and was making my way to the tree nursery, when I heard another song, that of the TREECREEPER, one of my favourites (aren't they all) The tree nursery itself was quiet, just a YELLOWHAMMER calling, but an attractive male PHEASANT wandered out from the cover, giving me a chance for a photograph. my next stop, as regular readers now know, is Migrant Alley with it's sheep/horse pasture, and maize stubbles. It is that time of year now that things are changing on the cropped fields, today there was a muck spreader throwing cow/horse manure all over the stubbles this done a month before ploughing. I sat and watched (up wind!) as sometimes this event can bring in a few Gulls, corvids or winter thrushes, however just one BLACK HEADED GULL turned up, and no Thrushes, but a mixed corvid flock of ROOKS and JACKDAWS were interested, about a hundred in all. I stayed for 40 mins but only recorded a KESTREL, and a few flyover FIELDFARE. The kestrel was my 4th raptor in two days.


Above is the Pheasant at the tree nursery, proundly strutting his stuff!

Above the muck spreader, Gulls, corvids and thrushes will be down on this soon enough, and next month maybe i'll get lucky with an early migrant Wheatear, as I did last year.

You can make out some of the JACKDAWS and ROOKS on the manure, above.