Pittswood Birds

Heavy rain this morning had me getting a lift in to work, but the rain had cleared by the time I left for home early this afternoon, leaving a legacy of dark and threatening clouds for my afternoon patch visit, so the camera had another day off!

I went over to the Lakes via the Small Holding and Wet Woods, the Small Holding had a mixed feeding flock moving through, mostly LONG TAILED TITS, but with them there was also a TREECREEPER, a GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER and one of the species I had hoped for this afternoon, a GOLDCREST (49). The other species I had hoped for this afternoon was a Songthush, but not one was seen in the two hours I was out - unusual!

In the Wet Woods, only the songs of  ROBIN and WREN were evident, also a KESTREL that flew along the edge of the woods and out into a large garden. I hope we get some of that heavy rain promised to us, the woods needs a good deluge to fill the pits up, then I might get a Teal visiting here :-)

There wasn't any Teal on the lakes today, more's the pity, just MALLARDS and MOORHENS again, but at least there was a CORMORANT there this afternoon, a bit of a variation  :-)  A good look for a Songthrush, in the Scrubby Woods was a failure, as I said earlier, in fact the only thrush species seen was a BLACKBIRD, not much else was about here either, more Robins, Wrens, DUNNOCKS and a distant calling BULLFINCH. I left to visit the Tree Nursery with the light beginning to fail, ( it was only 3 O'clock!!), where I walked the lines of shrubs, this is where I was sure a Songthrush would fly out, but only Dunnocks, Wrens, Robins, and Blackbirds did  :-(

I just had enough light left for a quick circuit of Migrant Alley, it was bit livlier here than of late, with 6 YELLOWHAMMER, and 2 CHAFFINCH trying to hide in a sparse hedgerow,  4 PIED WAGTAIL were on one the paddocks, and the first LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL (50) for the month that flew over was the 50th species for November, but no further additions were made to the months list. By four o'clock it was all but dark, so with nothing more to see or hear apart from the singing Robin, and the ''chinking'' of Blackbirds I had to call it a day.