Pittswood Birds

Back out on my patch this afternoon, the weather was good - for once! I visited the lake and scrub area, via ashes lane, the small holding, and then wet woods, the route normally taken in winter months, I then crossed the tree nursery to have a skywatch at Migrant alley.

I saw/ heard the following before getting to the lake area.WOODPIGEON, MOORHEN, BLACKCAP, SONGTHRUSH and GREEN WOODPECKER, that was it, dire! I suppose 2 o'clock on a june afternoon isn't the most productive time to find birds! A TURTLE DOVE was heard in the scrub, and a few of the finch's and tits were seen, in family parties, the CANADA GEESE goslings were on the lake, looking much more like the adults now, but it wasn't much for my efforts.

I crossed into the Treeless part of the nursery, where the vegetation seems to have been sprayed, it's all turning yellow, and not a single butterfly or Damselfly was flushed up from it, the part of the nursery that still has trees, followed the quiet theme, just 2 STOCK DOVES and a lone WHITETHROAT were seen there.

My fortunes changed a bit at Migrant Alley, when I found a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly, not very common on my patch now. The maize field was now knee high, and hid 25-30 PIED WAGTAILS and at least 2 SKYLARKS, the latter of which came out and flew up into song occassionally. I took my seat and scanned the sky seeing LESSER BLACK BACKED and HERRING GULLS, I then picked up a large Raptor to the NE. I initially thought it was a Buzzard, but as it drew nearer I could see it was a RED KITE! Blimey another sighting! I watched it for some 10 minutes as it seemed to follow the A26 Tonbridge road, from Mereworth to Tonbridge. I'll never get tired of recording these birds, fantastic to see them on my patch.

A little while later a KESTREL came over with all the Pied Wagtails giving chase to it, and just a minute later a GREY HERON also got shown the way out, as it flew low over the greenhouses. Apart from the SWIFTS, SWALLOWS and HOUSE MARTINS, which fed over the Paddocks, that was about it for this afternoon, didn't turn out too badly !


Below is the Small Tortoishell Butterfly
poor photo's of the Red Kite being mobbed by a crow. But i'm not complaining!

lastly, another Pied wagtail Juv. They are everywhere!