Pittswood Birds

A few Red Admiral Butterflies are still on the wing

This mornings walk into work, in near dark conditions, produced a couple of early rising BUZZARDS, but little else.

This afternoon, after work, I took a walk over to the Lake area, via the Small Holding and Wet Woods, little was noted here apart from 4 GREEN WOODPECKERS on a large lawn adjacent to the Small holding. The lakes and Scrubby Woods however were quite busy, I found the first GREY HERON (63) of the month resting in a low bush over one of the small lakes, a scattering of MALLARDS and MOORHENS were as usual also on the water, but no other ducks were with them unfortunately.

I crossed paths with a troop of LONG TAILED TITS while at the Scrubby Woods, and I watched 8 of them pass by me, along with two GOLDCREST, a few BLUE TITS and two COAL TITS, I was sure I heard a Marsh Tit with them, and sure enough, after a bit of a wait, I got short views of my first MARSH TIT (104,64) of the year, in fact the first since April last year. This is a species that only over winters on my patch in ones and twos, and then not every year, so I'm pleased to find it  :-)

At least four BULLFINCH were heard calling from the dense brambles, a GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER was chased by a SPARROWHAWK, and a KESTREL was also up hunting, flyovers from SISKIN and a lone SKYLARK made up an interesting afternoons visit :-)

The Marsh Tit brings me one species nearer to my goal of 109 species for this year, a tall order now, but not entirely impossible, 5 more new species might just turn up  :-)  the October list is now at 64, which is the joint 5th best out of 11.

Long Tailed Tit

I got home and tried to get some more JAY photo's at my garden Feeders, but they have got very good at avoiding my photographic perch now, and go straight to the peanut stash, fill up and fly off again! I also tried to get some better COAL TIT photo's, but by now the sun had dipped behind the garden wall, and all I got were some more dark shots with long exposures  :-( I'll be back for another try though!

Coal Tit