Pittswood Birds

A light NW wind brought increasing amounts of cloud this morning, but some good sunny spells were also enjoyed.

I got round for a full patch walk today, finding a good total of 48 bird species as I went, 49 if I add the TAWNY OWLS (63) that were heard in the early hours as I lay awake in bed, the first to be heard here this month.

In contrast to yesterdays 2 hour visit, in which I didn't note enough to even make a blog post, today there was plenty to note, first off, a CUCKOO was heard calling as I left the house, the call came from over the back of the Scrubby Woods, better was to come shortly after, when a pair of RED KITES (64) were seen hawking over the fresh cut silage field at Bustard Hill, they even alighted on a nearby old Oak Tree, the first Red Kites to ''touch down'' on my patch that I have recorded! As I watched them I noted 3 SPARROWHAWKS circling high up, this was the second of four raptor species seen today, the other two being BUZZARD and KESTREL.

A LITTLE OWL sat in its favoured tree over at the Small Holding area, where in a nearby garden the first fledged SONGTHRUSHES were recorded for the 2016 ''successfully Bred'' list, then over at the lakes the first CANADA GEESE young were seen, two families of four were on the main lake.

Time spent in the Scrubby Woods looking for Odonata species proved better than recent efforts, when a female Hary Dragonfly was seen and photographed, as was the first White-legged Damselfly of the year, an immature specimen.

Female Hairy Dragonfly

Immature White-legged Damselfly