Pittswood Birds

I saw little point in visiting my patch this afternoon, with periods of drizzle blowing through every ten minutes, little could be expected. However,  I did get out for a couple of hours late this afternoon and early evening, as the weather relented somewhat.

I spent two hours at my seat over at Migrant Alley, and was surprised at what I found really, first off I could hear a BLACKCAP singing from the Greenhouse Grounds, where both Whitethroat and CHIFFCHAFF were also seen. I sat down and gave the KESTREL box a scan, and was well happy to see at least 3 new fledglings sitting beside it, they were visited by both the adult birds, and squealed expectantly when presented with food  :-) This is the first record of Kestrel breeding on my patch, brilliant!

Over head a total of 14 HERRING GULLS, 3 LESSER BLACK BACKED GULLS, and 4 BLACK HEADED GULLS (49) - the first this month, all flew southwards. a flock of WOODPIGEONS flew up suddenly from the sheep pasture, so I automatically scanned the sky for a raptor, and I quickly found the culprit, a PEREGRINE (50) from the Hadlow Tower, not seen one since April, nice bird to bring up the months 50th species  :-) Things went into a bit of a lull after that, but I heard a SKYLARK up singing, plus the TURTLE DOVE could just about be heard from the Wooded Headland some 250 meters away, a PIED WAGTAIL ferried back and forth from its nest site in the Greenhouse Complex, from where the sound of an agitated BLACKBIRD had me scanning the ledges, and the expected LITTLE OWL (51) was soon found  :-) A JAY, plus both GREEN and GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKERS flew past, as I watched the mix of SWIFTS, SWALLOWS, and a few HOUSE MARTINS wheeling around in the sky. As I reluctantly got up to make my home, another species was added to the months list when a PHEASANT (52) called, not very exciting, but they all count!

In all, a positive visit then, made all the more pleasant on the way home by the waft of the perfume from the flowers of the Lime tree, as well the privet blossom along the hedgerow at ashes Lane  :-)

Sorry no photo's today, the Blog folder is empty! Just waiting for some sunny weather, so I can refill it with flutter photo's!