I headed off for the arable part of my patch first, via the Greenhouse Grounds and Migrant Alley, and found just 30 species by the time I had looped back round to Migrant Alley for a sky watch at my seat there. The best of those species seen, were a pair of BULLFINCH at the Greenhouse Grounds, where the KESTREL was hunting, a flock of 50+ SWIFTS over the sheep pasture and paddocks of Migrant Alley and a YELLOWHAMMER singing in one of the hedgerows along the bean fields. CHIFFCHAFF, BLACKCAP, WHITETHROAT and SWALLOW were the only summer birds singing, but of the resident birds, SONGTHRUSH, CHAFFINCH, SKYLARK, WREN, ROBIN, DUNNOCK, GOLDCREST, and BLACKBIRD were all in song too. My 40 minute sky watch produced added just 4 species to the day list, with three of those being Gulls, HERRING, BLACK HEADED and LESSER BLACK BACKED, the other was a very tatty looking BUZZARD that was in moult.
Next destination was the Scrubby Woods and Lakes, via the Small Holding and Wet Woods, where I did manage to find a few more bits and pieces, making the day list up to 48. Nothing out of the ordinary, certainly nothing to add to the months list! Of interest, were families of TREECREEPER, COAL TIT and NUTHATCH, also five MALLARDS that had appeared on the lakes with the CANADA and GREYLAG GEESE.
Walking back home through the Ashes lane Field, the 'tatty' Buzzard flew out from a mature Oak, and set of the last species off the day calling - a LITTLE OWL, that was somewhere in the same tree :-)
49 species for the day was quite a good total really, cant complain at that on my patch, but it would have been nice to get one more new species for the month, and maybe to have found some more species that have successfully bred.
The camera stayed at home today - again, the early gloom is just rubbish for photography! I did however get a couple of photo's from my garden feeders, during a fleeting bright spell this afternoon.
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| HOUSE SPARROW, a real treat for my garden :-) |
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| desperate for food to feed their nestlings at this time of year,even my garden gets a visit! |
2 comments:
I got a bit of 'patchwork' in today Warren. I can never bring myself to ever calling birding rubbish but often come close to doing so....like today.
'families of Coal Tit, Nuthatch and Treecreeper' Sounds like one of my Reculver dreams I had the other night. Keep plugging away mate, the reward will be arriving soon!
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