Pittswood Birds

This morning was disappointingly overcast, with quite a breeze blowing, finding the birdlife proved to be difficult, with not much about at all really.

My early visit to the Arable fields, hedgerows and ditches, Via the Greenhouse Grounds and Migrant Alley provided me with few songsters, but BLACKCAP, WHITETHROAT and CHIFFCHAFF were among them, also a YELLOWHAMMER was seen making foraging flights from a hedgerow to the bean fields then back again.

The cloud thinned and started to break as I made my way over to the Scrubby Woods and lakes, where the water was occupied by 16 CANADA GEESE with a creche of immature birds, those, a couple of MOORHEN, a GREY HERON and the COOT family made up the species here.

In the Adjacent Scrubby Woods I continued my search to add successfully bred species to the year list, alas none were found though, but there were plenty of already recorded fledged young about, including BLUE TIT, GREAT TIT, COAL TIT, GOLDCREST, BLACKCAP, TREECREEPER, CHAFFINCH and WREN.

The meager list of 41 species for the 4 hour walk was particularly poor for the time of year, I think the highlight was watching three BUZZARDS circling over the Greenhouse Complex as I walked home, each gave that far carrying ''mewing'' call, a superb sound echoing across the ever brightening sky  :-)

After lunch, the day had brightened and warmed considerably, so I went out, camera in hand, on a Butterfly and Dragon/damselfly hunt. I found White-legged, Azure, Large Red and Common Blue Damsels and a rather obliging Emperor Dragonfly, on the butterfly list was Small White, Common Blue, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Large Skipper, Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell.

Meadow Brown Butterfly

Immature Male ( I think!) White-legged Damselfly

Female White-legged Damselfly

Hoverfly, - Volucella Pellucens

Male Emperor Dragonfly

Emperor Dragonfly

I got good and close to this one  :-)

Then Closer still  :-)