Pittswood Birds

I thought i'd post the photo's first today, just for a change! They were all taken in my garden, just before this afternoons walk. Top is a busy bee on a Foxgove.
Middle is a GREENFINCH and last a CHAFFINCH. I think the photo's look better if you click on them and enlarge them :-)

A bit of news from yesterday evening. As I watched the garden, I was well happy at the sight of a female BULLFINCH, not a very common visitor to my little feeding station, and the first to do so this year - species N0. 29.

This mornings walk to work was not as uneventful as most have been recently, the LESSER WHITETHROAT sang from the Ashes Lane/Greenhouses territory - the first time I have heard it sing since April! I'm sure there were fledged young nearby, but I didn't have time to do a thorough search.There were 9 LESSER BLACK BACKED GULLS and 5 HERRING GULLS on one of the horse paddocks at Migrant Alley, and on the Stream that flows adjacent to the College Grounds the first GREY WAGTAIL (63) of the month was seen, a hoped for additon to the June list, but by no means a certainity! This Junes list is now in joint 4th place out of 9.

Back to this afternoon, and a poor visit it was! big dark shower clouds rolled in, making it so dull that the SONGTHRUSH and BLACKBIRDS started to sing like it was dusk! However, very little rain fell.

Just one butterfly was seen - a Common Blue, which did a disappearing act, something the Damselflies had already done. WHITETHROATS sang in the Tree Nursery, DUNNOCKS, and CHAFFINCH'S were feeding young, and both KESTREL and SPARROWHAWK were out hunting.

A brief walk round Migrant Alley was only rewarded with a small flock of LINNETS, 2 SKYLARK, 2 STOCK DOVES, and the usual ROOKS, JACKDAWS, CARRION CROWS and WOODPIGEONS. In the sky just one pair of SWIFTS were seen and the dozen or so local SWALLOWS.