Pittswood Birds

Most of this mornings visit was ruined by dense fog, but it eventually cleared, allowing for a couple of hours of birding in some warm conditions  :-)

Fog! Useless for birding!

I visited the Scrubby Woods and lake areas whilst I waited for the fog to slowly disperse over the fields and paddocks of Migrant Alley. I found nothing on the water of any note today, while the Scrubby Woods had a couple of BLACKCAPS and CHIFFCHAFFS, plus a family party of BULLFINCH and a rather dapper looking COAL TIT in its new plumage. My best find there though were a couple of SONGTHRUSH (78), at last, on the 7th visit, I have finally added this species to the months list, that tells a story about the status of this bird in our countryside  :-(

By 09:00hrs the fog had almost cleared, so I walked back to Migrant Alley for a sky watch, on the way I passed through the Ashes lane Field and was surprised by a WHINCHAT that flew up and alighted on the Hedgerow that runs along Ashes lane, they just keep coming!

After scanning the posts and fence lines around the paddocks and sheep pasture, and finding them free from Whinchat or Wheatear, I settled down for a sky watch, this turned out to be very absorbing. The first noteworthy bird I heard going over was a YELLOW WAGTAIL, quickly followed by a MEADOW PIPIT, the Pipits continued to pass through in singles and pairs throughout the 90 minutes I was there, as did small numbers of HOUSE MARTIN and SWALLOW. A GREY WAGTAIL flew over, then dropped down into the Greenhouse Grounds then a large skein of CANADA GEESE flew over. Most interest for me though was watching the activity of the Raptors, a pair of BUZZARDS were mobbed by 3 HOBBIES and a SPARROWHAWK, whilst the KESTREL pair called in alarm from the nearby Greenhouse Copse. I continued to see Buzzards and Hobbies on and off for an hour, even when I had to leave for home I saw two Hobbies from my front garden  :-) Whether these raptors were the same birds going round the area, or different birds passing through I don't know, great to see though  :-)

Just a couple of images for today............

Speckled Wood Butterfly

Collared Dove