Pittswood Birds

A fantastic day for being out and about, with sunny, warm, and calm conditions prevailing throughout the day, enabling me to find my first Comma Butterfly of the year (above).

The MARSH TIT hasn't left my patch yet, it was heard singing in the Wet Woods as I passed through to get to the lakes, it will be only a matter of a couple of weeks I should think, before it leaves for it's breeding area.

On the lakes it was again down to the COOTS, and the 6 CANADA GEESE to provide the entertainment, but I did locate the frogs that I found on Monday, they were swimming in the shallows of the main lake, but I couldn't find any spawn, probably due to these things below.


I counted, 23 of these large fish along the side of the lake, I wonder if they would eat the frogs ? Probably!

Just a brief walk around the scrubby woods was had, that's where I found the Comma Butterfly, nothing else out of the ordinary was seen here though, but COAL TIT, TREECREEPER and GOLDCREST were heard singing.

Next stop was the Pub Field and Tree Nursery, the former was being muck spread again, and it looked good for a migrant Wheatear, but all I found today were CARRION CROWS, JACKDAWS and ROOKS, with a couple of STOCK DOVES, as I scanned I heard then located a pair of LINNETS singing from the dividing hedgerow of the Tree Nursery/Pub Field, the first to be found actually on my patch and not flying over it this year!

The Tree Nursery had nothing of note in it at all today, but it has had a stay of execution, as I have found out the lease on the field has been extended for six months, to allow more time for the clearing of the field.

My last stop, was at Migrant Alley for a scan of the fence lines and posts for that elusive March wheatear, it wasn't found, but they don't always get sighted in March, sightings have been recorded in three of the last four however, with the mean arrival date for the last 9years being April 7th.

An hours skywatch didn't produce the early Swallow, or a Sand martin, but I did get a YELLOWHAMMER and two LESSER BLACK BACKED GULLS go over, as well as seeing the resident KESTREL and female SPARROWHAWK. Two BUZZARDS were also seen up high, but were just to the NW of my patch.

Nothing was seen of any of the winter Birds today, the first time this year, but I will probably get one or two more sightings of Redwing, fieldfare or Siskin.