Pittswood Birds

Yesterday evening I carried out my 'owl' watch from the back bedroom window, I needed just one more species to get 60 for the day for the first time ever. Well I listened from 20:00hrs until 20: 45hrs, but didn't hear on Owl...........I heard two! Yes!! A couple of LITTLE OWLS called for a few minutes, bringing me 60 species in a day, quite something on my patch, there have been some whole months in the past when i havn't seen 60 species, and the months list moves on by one!

Back to today, and back to work. As I walked in this morning, it was obviously to early for birds, nothing seems to be about until around 07:15. having said that I did hang about Migrant Alley for as long as I could without being late to unlock the School, and was rewarded with a flyover GREY WAGTAIL, another or the same went over just a minute or two later, the months list moves on to 68, 5 more species to beat the sept record!

I was out at 14:30hrs this afternoon, and had a skywatch session at Migrant Alley, the sky was a bit wierd today, a bank of cloud was to the west, and it was clear to the east, the dividing line was directly overhead, and I was on the sunny side, I was hot, and at times I longed for a piece of that cloud to come over! Anyway, I saw 3 HOBBIES came over, jousting and sparring with each other, and later in the visit another was seen. Two SPARROWHAWKS were about, and 5 Common Buzzards were up soaring, but to the NE of my patch. Another TURTLE DOVE was found on the fence rail of one of the paddocks, making it the latest ever seen, but apart from that it was the usual fare of PIED WAGTAILS, LINNETS, SKYLARKS and CORVIDS. I did see a BULLLFINCH and a CHIFFCHAFF in the scrubby headland at the north end of Migrant alley on a quick walk round though. I wonder what Migrants I missed while I was at work !


Above: One reason for not having a migrant Wheatear/whinchat on the fenceline was this Sparrowhawk!
Below is a ROOK, one of the 100 or so that hang about the paddocks daily.