Pittswood Birds

What an absolutely gorgeous day today was!! Long warm sunny spells meant not even a fleece jacket was needed for this afternoons patch visit, all the garden crocus' were open and honey bees flitted from one to another, the only thing missing was a Butterfly  :-)

Walking to the lakes, the bird song and calls were loudly echoing all through the Small Holding and Wet Woods, the most obvious being that of the GREAT TITS, with their ''Teacher Teacher'' call shouted out from seemingly every vantage point. Song from DUNNOCK, SONGTHRUSH, MISTLE THRUSH, COAL TIT, ROBIN, WREN, CHAFFINCH and GREENFINCH were all heard, as was the increasing sound of the drumming GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKERS.

There was a small surprise on the lakes as I arrived, I immediately saw the 15 CANADA GEESE, along with the BARNACLE GOOSE, but the surprise was a third COOT, I am being spoilt! It stayed on the main lake, away form the established pair that are on the smaller Ornamental lake.

Canada Goose

Canada Goose

The third Coot, which was very difficult to photograph through the bankside branches!

Not the best photo, but I loved the way I caught it. It looks like it's shocked at me, sneaking photo's whilst it preened!  :-)

A quick scan around the water found 4 pairs of MALLARD, and two MOORHENS, but no Heron or Cormorant today. The Scrubby Woods was alive with bird song and calls, I heard TREECREEPER, LONG TAILED TIT, BULLFINCH, NUTHATCH and at least 6 GOLDRESTS, even a fly through SPARROWHAWK didn't dampen things down for long. Whilst I sat and listened, a SISKIN flew over calling, they will be getting a bit scarcer now as the spring progresses.

Inevitably, I got a Long Tailed Tit photo!

Just as inevitable was getting a Dunnock photo  :-)

I eventually dragged myself away from the Woods in order to visit the Tree Nursery,  where it was noticeably quieter, just a few MAGPIES and two GREENWOODPECKER were seen, a peak over the boundary hedge into the Pub Field revealed just 4 BLACK HEADED GULLS.

I spent an hour around the Greenhouse Grounds and skywatching at Migrant Alley, the best on offer from the Skywatch was a flyover of 47 FIELDFARE, a singing SKYLARK, plus another Sparrowhawk, a female. A flock of 27 GOLDFINCH dropped in to a Holm Oak, its evergreen fiolage is ideal for them to use as a roost site, I pass this at just the right time in the morning as I walk to work, to see them leaving it  :-) The Greenhouse Complex had the first few PIED WAGTAILS come in, also to roost, it was only 16:30 and still an hour of light left, so these birds were early to roost, must have had a good days feeding. As I left for home, another Goldcrest was found in a fir tree, and yet another was singing from my garden when I arrived home.

Nothing spectacular was recorded this afternoon, nothing for the February list or year list, but it mattered not, in such splendid conditions it was just good to out in it   :-)   :-)

Goldcrest in a fir tree at the Greenhouse Grounds

Pied Wagtail, early into roost at the Greenhouses