Pittswood Birds

Dense fog shrouded the area this morning, visibility was down to less than 100 meters, and all I saw (heard actually) as I walked a circuit of Migrant Alley was a SKYLARK as it flew over, and lots of ''ticking'' ROBINS. realising I was on to a looser, I headed off home for a cuppa, while the fog cleared.

By 09:30hrs the fog had lifted a bit, so I went off out to the Greenhouse Grounds, finding 3 BLACKCAPS and a CHIFFCHAFF. I soon became aware of the roar of engines coming from the Pub Field, harvesting time had arrived, and the Maize there was about to fall, so I headed off to watch, spending until 15:00hrs there   :-)

The Pub Field starts to be Harvested

In the photo above, the hedgerow on the left divides the Pub Field from the Ashes Lane Field, its about 100 meters long and filled with wild fruit. I'll take a photo from the same place in a few days/weeks time, when no doubt it will have been thrashed to pieces by the flailing machines  :-(

I always try to be here when the Maize is harvested, as it hides so much life within, in the five hours I stood and watched I saw the following fly out of the crop.
23 BLACKBIRDS
18 DUNNOCKS
10 CHAFFINCH
13 Chiffchaff
4 MEADOW PIPITS ( but more were flying over)
6 BLUE TITS
5 PHEASANT
2 GREAT TITS
2 SONGTHRUSH
1 Blackcap
1 GOLDCREST
1 LESSER WHITETHROAT, this is the second latest date for Lesser Whitethroat here.
and lastly, the best of all, the one I was waiting for,...............a SEDGE WARBLER (105,73)  the first and probably the only one i'll see this year! It flew from the Maize, into the hedge, and I just had time to point and shoot the camera before it dropped down into cover, not the best of my photo's, but a momento of a scarce species on my patch  ;-)

Sedge Warbler - I think you can just make it out as such  ;-)

Also running for their lives were numerous Rabbits and five Foxes.

I broke off watching the maize being havested for a few minutes whilst I went home to get my camera, a fortunate move, as I saw this WHEATEAR in the Ashes lane field, it was gone when I returned ten minutes later.

 Wheatear in the Ashes Lane Field, shame about the wire in the backround!

Other notables seen whilst I watched the Maize being cropped, where flyovers from KESTREL, BUZZARD and a pair of SPARROWHAWK, just 2 SWALLOWS were seen all day, HERRING GULLS and a single BLACK HEADED GULL were seen, and a LITTLE OWL called from the old shack in the adjacent Ashes Lane Field.

By 15:00hrs the field was finished, so I went home and changed my lens on the camera, then went over to the Greenhouse Grounds to get some more Migrant hawker photo's  ;-)

Migrant Hawker

Migrant Hawker

Migrant Hawker