Pittswood Birds

. Sunrise over my patch

There was a frost this morning, and with just high thin cloud some good sunny spells were had.
There has been little change in the bird life on my patch over the last 5 visits, but each visit has had something of interest, today it was a small influx of LESSER REDPOLLS that had come to my patch since yesterday. 3 were seen feeding in Alders with a small flock of SISKIN, along the College Stream, and another 2 were feeding in a small silver birch at the Greenhouse Complex, where the KESTREL was hunting, as it has done now everyday since the 19th.

A SPARROWHAWK was hunting in the Tree Nursery, but the LINNETS had already left their roost, so the Hawk had to make do with harrassing the BLACKBIRDS, BLUE TITS and a few REDWING that were feeding under the shrubs there. No sign of the Peregrines flying over today, in fact there wasn't much going over at all today, apart from lots of BLACK HEADED GULLS, a few HERRING GULLS and a single COMMON GULL, Skylark and Meadow Pipit weren't found at Migrant Alley, but a YELLOWHAMMER flew up fom the grass lined fence, and a group of 8 FIELDFARE were out on the horse paddocks.

All the 'sometimes hard to find' species were seen as I walked the Small Holding, Wet Woods and Lakeside scrub, such as TREECREEPER, NUTHATCH, MARSH TIT, LONG TAILED TIT, COAL TIT and BULLFINCH. Only two MALLARD were seen at the re-frozen lake, it looks unlikey to thaw out before the new year now, severely limiting my chances of a year tick!

Not much else to report, the GREY HERON that flew over Ashes Lane on my way home was a bonus for the daylist, which reached 45 today, still quite good for a December day.

Later this afternoon I took some garden bird photo's. Below are a couple of Blue Tit pics.

This male HOUSE SPARROW was one of 8 that visited, thats the most I get at one time now.

I tried to get a decent Nuthatch photo, but they are just a bit too far away, and don't hang about for long! Below is the best i could do. :-(

More of a surprise visitor was the MARSH TIT, this is the bird I saw this morning over at the lakeside scrub, there is almost certainly only the one bird on my patch. Lets hope it stays around into the new year. The Marsh Tits visit today brings the total number of species to use my garden this month to 26, the second best month ever, just one behind the total for August 2006

Another Tit species hard to get a photo of because it never stays still is the coal Tit, this is the better effort of the afternoon!