Pittswood Birds

A cool blustery day today, with some squally showers in the afternoon, but not too bad really.

This morning as I walked to work I saw 54 GREYLAG GEESE in the cut silage field at Migrant Alley, along with 2 CANADA GEESE, a very Autumnal sight, also a TURTLE DOVE was noted flying into the scrubby woods at the north end, and the SPOTTED FLYCATCHER was observed on it's territory in the College Grounds.

This afternoon was a little frustrating, with the wind and light showers that frequently came through, putting a halt to any butterfly activity in the Tree Nursery, just the WHITETHROAT was of any note here.

A walk around the paddocks and fields at Migrant Alley proved to be a better experience than yesterday - though only just, a HOBBY was seen zipping over, and for most of the hour I was there, hundreds of SWIFTS were seen, some were low, some high, and some just in between, all on a pre-Migration gathering, they won't be here for long now.

Sighting of the day was the first YELLOWHAMMER (56) of the month, it flew into the tall hedge that borders Migrant Alley and the Greenhouse Complex. It's hard to believe that this once common bird on my patch, is now now one to watch out for, it has declined markedly in the last ten years. In 2007, it appeared in 79% of my full patch walks, in 2008 it was down to 64% and last year 52%. In the 68 full patch visits made so far this year, it has been recorded on 53% of full patch visits. ( I walk 120 full patch walks each year).

There were few photographic opportunities in the conditions, but I was pleased to see the Male BULFINCH back at the feeders. The female may well have been carried of by the Sparrowhawk, I watched it carry off something the other evening, that looked a bit Bullfinch like, I hope it wasn't one though.

Below is a shot of the Yellowhammer ( you'll have to look carefully )

Below is a photo across Migrant Alley, the cut silage in the foreground is where the Geese were this morning. The buildings to the right are the College stables, the trees to the left are the north end wood/scrub, where Turtle Dove breed.