Pittswood Birds

At last some welcome sunshine was had today, although I only got an hour of it this afternoon as it had clouded over by 15:00hrs!! Still, thats better than none at all, and at last  I could take the camera out too  :-)

I went to lakes again, by way of the Small Holding, where the KESTREL was perched up at the very top of one of the old pear trees, but it soon flew off before I got a photo. Also here, were a flock of a 15 -20 CHAFFINCH and GREENFINCH, one of the former did hang about for a photo  :-),  in the Adjacent garden 2 GREEN WOODPECKERS were feeding on the large lawn.

Chaffinch at the Small Holding

I entered the Wet Woods and was straight away confronted with a small troop of LONG TAILED TITS, feeding along the sunlit edge, one of which stopped to check me out, giving me another chance of a photograph.

Long Tailed Tit

Further in the Wet Woods a GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER was tapping on an old decaying Oak limb high up the tree, and a MOORHEN croaked from deep inside the tangle of the wood, a SISKIN flew over calling, and a TREECREEPER also called, but went unseen.

Approaching the lakes,  a CORMORANT was seen, which took of and alighted in a Silver Birch tree, just a MOORHEN and two MALLARD were on the Small lake, or so i had thought, as a second scan proved more fruitful, when from behind the small island a COOT (56) appeared! Always good to get this species on the year list, they can be hard to get here, and are rarely seen ( apart from last year when a pair tried to breed for the first time here)  that cheered me up no end!

Cormorant

First Coot of the Year  :-)

Another cheering sight was that of my first butterfly of the year, a Red Admiral , it fluttered past in the warm sunshine, probably having just come out of its hibernaculum in one of the nearby out buildings, time to start the butterfly spread sheet for 2012  :-) After a quick search of the surrounding area, 4  BULLFINCH, were about the most noteworthy sightings, and a couple of singing GOLDRESTS, then as I went to leave, an almighty scream was let out from nearby, sounded like a screaming baby, I listened to it for maybe 10-20 secs, then realised it was a Green woodpecker in it's death throws, having been caught by the Sprawk, I didn't see it but the noise was unmistakable!

A quick look around the Tree Nursery, didn't provide much, the sun had gone and it had turned dull and chilly, a MAGPIE and a few flyover BLACK HEADED GULLS were it. An even shorter look around the Greenhouse Grounds was made, short because another SPARROWHAWK had beat me there and scared everything off....time for home then!

Sprawk beats me to the Greenhouse Grounds!!