Pittswood Birds

Back to work this morning, and as is nearly always the case the sun was shining and it was calm and warm, a morning not best spent at work!

However, the walk across Migrant Alley proved to interesting, when a YELLOW WAGTAIL called as it went over, then dropped down into one of the paddocks, a few minutes later it was joined by two more, great birds to have on the patch! I dragged myself away, and whilst walking through the College stables I heard an almighty racket - a GREEN WOODPECKER was screaming for all it was worth, I thought at first one of the pesky stable cats had got hold of it, but all was revealed when it came flashing past me being pursued by a female SPARROWHAWK, the Woody did manage to evade its pursuer in the end :-)

My walk back home was uneventful, nothing at all to be seen at migrant Alley, so after lunch I walked the Tree Nursery, this was quiet too, and I ended up photographing Butterflies ( which ill post tomorrow), only a CHAFFINCH, a DUNNOCK and another Green Woodpecker were seen.

As it was clouding over, I thought a skywatch over on my seat at Migrant Alley was in order, and in an hours vigil I had some good raptor sightings, 3 BUZZARDS were up together, a pair of HOBBIES chased the local SWALLOWS, and another Sparrowhawk hunted low over the hedges. I decided to give the paddocks one last try, and on reaching them, my first scan of the fence line revealed a lovely WHEATEAR, it must have dropped in in the last couple of hours! That wasn't the only bird to have dropped in though, as the Wheatear was then joine by a WHINCHAT, fantastic! A really good pair of passerine migrants, i'm glad I checked those paddocks again now :-)

I'm on a bit of a purple patch now, with Stonechat and Whinchat on consecutive days, a feat never achieved before, and I dare say wont be achieved again for a very long time !!

Below are a few of the photo's I took, the first 3 are of the Whinchat, the next two are of the Wheatear, the last is when I got lucky and they sat together ;-)