Pittswood Birds

It was clear and frosty early this morning, but by the time I got out at 08:30hrs the fog had rolled in, making for a frustrating couple of hours.

My daily check of the lakes was well rewarded this morning, as out on the smallest of the three lakes a male TUFTED DUCK (54) could be made out in the mist, as with any duck species, this is a real treat to have on my patch, Tufted Ducks are a less than annual occurrence here, and to have a male is a bonus, the last Tufted Ducks here, back in September, concerned 3 females.

Also on the water this morning were 14 MALLARDS, 6 MOORHEN a KINGFISHER and the MUTE SWAN pair on the Ornamental Lake, the Main Lake had 4 Mallards, another 4 Moorhens plus a GREY HERON.

The fog was slowly clearing as I walked through the Scrubby Woods, and some weak sunshine broke through, making it feel warm for the time of year, it also brought some song from a variety of birds, including MISTLETHRUSH, SONGTHRUSH, COAL TIT, TREECREEPER, WREN, DUNNOCK and ROBIN, plus the deep cooing of a WOODPIGEON. GREAT SPOTTED and GREEN WOODPECKERS were seen, plus the calls of LESSER REDPOLL, NUTHATCH, GOLDCREST and BULLFINCH were heard. The sun had now come out fully, so I went back to the Small lake to try for a photo of the Tufted Duck, but it had already gone, you can see how fortunate I have to be to have a visit coincide with a Duck Species!

On the way home I visited the Greenhouse grounds, where a large female SPARROWHAWK sat on a hedgerow, needless to say, with her around not much hung about for me to record! I did see two LITTLE OWLS sitting together on the edge of the Greenhouse Copse where I photographed yesterdays individual, but on approaching the two birds, in stealth mode, I was most annoyed to see a CARRION CROW dive at the Owls a flush them deeper into the copse  :-(

Not much else to report from the visit, the female KESTREL was on a telephone pole along ashes Lane as I neared home, and a lone MEADOW PIPIT called as it flew over.

At least I have a few blog brighteners today, images from my garden feeders!

GREAT TIT

Great Tit

GOLDFINCH