Pittswood Birds

Still recovering from my cold virus, I decided to get some fresh air around 10:00hrs, I had just an hours walk over the fields and paddocks at Migrant Alley, then back home via the Pub Field and Tree Nursery.

It was cool and overcast, but I'm sure I saw a glimpse of sunshine, or maybe I imagined it, perhaps I shouldn't have mixed the Paracetamol and Anadin  :-)

This large puddle on Ashes Lane has at least got a little smaller since Monday

I didn't see too much, and was just enjoying some fresh air really, not looking too hard for wildlife.

View along the Hedgerow that divides the large gardens from Migrant Alley, lots of standing water here too, plus is that a BLACKBIRD  on the floor, to the right :-)

Another ''hedgerow'' at Migrant Alley, hard to believe it was planted six years ago. It has barely grown at all, every year it gets hard grazed by the sheep and horses

This is a view across Migrant Alley over to the Greenhouse Complex, the thin line of vegetation you can see are the Alder trees there, and a thicket of Bramble below - good for a drop in Migrant bird  :-)

A few WOODPIGEONS and ROOKS were seen on the fields, and a SKYLARK sang from somewhere high up, just 5 FIELDFARE were noted here today.

Here's the 'Pub Field' ( with the Pub ) you can see the huge pile of manure waiting to be spread on it, ( the field that is, not the pub!) the field will then be ploughed and planted with a Maize crop.

Above is the Trackway through the Tree Nursery, lots of deep puddles here too.

Two GREEN WOODPECKERS, a SONGTHRUSH and a pair of flyover CANADA GEESE were about it for here, but as I said earlier, I wasn't really birding too hard.

Another view of the Tree Nursery. This is where I saw the Barn owl, you can see it is an excellent habitat for wildlife. The whole place is on borrowed time though, the owner and last company to lease it are in dispute over who should clean the field up, until then it's a haven for the wildlife  :-)

Well that was my short walk today, I should be fighting fit tomorrow ( I hope) and get out for an afternoon walk once i'm out of work, - talking of work, next Thursday will be my last day there, no longer will I be chained to a job, although i'll probably have to do some casual work from time to time.

This will give me time for more patch work, as well as visiting other places occasionally. From April I'll be adding to my patch work with some innovations to keep me incentivised, such as having a ''60 species in a day' event. This will be held on the 1st of May every year, or near to as possible, weather permitting. I'll spend from dawn till dusk out on my patch trying to find 60+ bird species. Only once have I recorded 60 species in a day on my patch, so it will be a good challenge  :-)

I'll also be resurrecting my monthly censusing, counting every bird of every species seen, this will take place in the middle of each month. I gave up doing this a few years back as it took too much time.  I may even do an all day big sit, but I have yet to make up my mind about that one  :-)

Most of these ideas come from a fellow patch worker ( Don Taylor) I hope he doesn't mind me knicking them ! It was he who inspired me to get into patch watching when I read his book '' Bird Watching in Kent'' Up until that point I only had an interest in birds not an obsession, visiting a few reserves every year, and watching the garden feeders, now i'm pleasantly obsessed with what I can find on my little bit of Kent  :-) Thanks Don if you're reading this  :-)

One image from my garden, taken before the thicker cloud rolled in - 

Blackbird