Pittswood Birds

It was grey and overcast with light rain early this morning, but it later cleared to give some sunny spells.

An early visit to the lakes was made, where I found the same birds as yesterday, those being the MUTE SWAN pair and the COOT, which are always most welcome on my patch, a CORMORANT, the CANADA GEESE and the GREYLAG GOOSE with its hybrid family, plus the usual MALLARDS and MOORHENS were all seen again.

COAL TIT and TREECREEPER were both seen in the Scrubby Woods after not turning up for yesterdays full patch walk, plus the other scarcer woodland species of GOLDCREST, NUTHATCH, LONG TAILED TIT, BULLFINCH, JAY, STOCK DOVE and GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER were all heard or seen either there, or in the Wet Woods.

It was a an excellent day for raptors, with 4 species being seen later in the morning, the spectacle of watching the female PEREGRINE chasing the REDWING / FIELDFARE / STARLINGS at Migrant Alley was quite something, around 300 birds swirled around the sky, all trying not to become breakfast! There were 3 KESTRELS up over the Greenhouse Grounds, where a BUZZARD was watched giving its undulating display flight, also at the Greenhouse Grounds a SPARROWHAWK whizzed through the Alder Trees, putting to flight half a dozen SISKINS.

A couple of SKYLARKS and a single MEADOW PIPIT flew over the Ashes Lane Fields, other flyovers of interest were mainly Gulls, with COMMON, BLACK HEADED and HERRING GULLS all being seen, but they avoided the sheep pasture at Migrant Alley - too many raptors about!

No chance with any raptor images, apart from the Kestrel, of which ive posted too many images of already, so its back to the garden birds for blog brighteners  :-)

GREENFINCH

Same bird, just a fraction of a second later!

The GOLDFINCHES also liked this particular perch  :-)

While the Siskins prefer to be higher up.