Pittswood Birds

Again, clear skies overnight gave a frost this morning, much harder than yesterdays though, but the up side of that were the sparkling blue skies and sunshine that were enjoyed all day  :-)

Frosty fields on part of Migrant Alley. The hedgerow marks the NW boundary of my patch area.

Panning round, slightly to the left, the trees on the left hand side are part of the Greenhouse Copse.

Before reaching the above views, I visited the Greenhouse Grounds, all the mud there had turned as hard as stone, but a GREY WAGTAIL was trying to find some morsel of food on it. Just a couple of LESSER REDPOLL and 4 SISKIN were also seen there. A YELLOWHAMMER was foraging along the sunny edge of the Greenhouse Copse, along with two PHEASANTS.

There were 100 or so BLACK HEADED GULLS out on the sheep pasture and paddocks of Migrant Alley, but I didn't find any Common Gulls or the Mediterranean Gull among them today. Walking back through the Greenhouse Grounds I saw the female KESTREL was back on her usul perch, the first time this week I've seen her there, plus a pair of BULLFINCH came down for a drink at the small run off pool, there was just enough unfrozen water at the edges for them to take what they needed  :-)

Ive got lots of images of her, but I cant pass her without snapping away, especially with the blue sky behind her!

She gave a stretch of her wings, then flew further along the roof to enjoy the warm sunshine.

The Ashes Lane Fields had nothing exciting for me, no snipe along the drainage ditch, only 4 MEADOW PIPITS and flyovers from a COMMON BUZZARD and a lone GREYLAG GOOSE were of note there. Approaching the sunny edge of the Wet Woods, I saw a dozen each of REDWING and FIELDFARE moving through the trees, before they flew off out onto the fields.

The Wet Woods and Scrubby Woods were much colder, as they are mostly in the shade, that probably explaining why little of note was found, the normal frequent sightings of GOLDCRESTS was down to just 2 individuals, but a pair of COAL TITS were watched displaying, and the NUTHATCH called.

The lakes were frozen from bank to bank again, so only the MALLARDS were seen, 8 of which sat in a huddle on the ice, waiting for a thaw, but it will take a day or two for the ice to completely go, even without any more frosts.