GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER, They are back at the garden feeders with a vengeance!

A heavy grey blanket of cloud covered the sky this afternoon, this combined with heavy disturbance during the visit made for a very poor outing. The owners of one half of the Wet Woods were having one of their annual slash and burn outings, cutting back the dead wood and burning it - what a waste of good wildlife habitat, but some people still manage woodland in this old fashioned way  :-(

Migrant Alley had a work crew putting up mesh around the stock fences, and the Greenhouse Complex had pickers out in the poly tunnels, this didn't leave me a lot to visit!  I did the lakes, finding the usual MALLARD and MOORHEN, plus the slightly less usual GREY HERON, nothing else visiting yet  :-(  The Scrubby Woods was also quiet, but it was in earshot of Chainsaws, and drifting smoke also blew through, it gets like this sometimes on my patch!!  All that i had left really was the Tree Nursery, where once again a tramp up and down the rows of Laurel bushes flushed out a few BLACKBIRDS and SONGTHRUSHES, the HOUSE SPARROW flock were also in their favoured boundary hedge, but after noting a few flyover SISKIN and REDPOLL I decided to call it a day, maybe better luck will be had on my full patch walk tomorrow morning  :-)

It was a bit cooler than of late this afternoon, after a slight frost this morning. I made another trip over to the Lakes and Scrubby Woods area after work, where the lakes were devoid of anything interesting, only MALLARD and MOORHEN were seen, but one of these days something else will turn up ( I hope!)

I spent most of the afternoon in this area of my patch, and had quite a nice time in the sunny but cool conditions, most of the regular woodland species were seen, a flock of 6 BULLFINCH contained 2 immature birds, the flock were joined by BLUE TITS, and beneath the large bramble patch they were feeding in, 2 BLACKBIRDS a SONGTHRUSH and a REDWING flew out. A party of LONG TAILED TITS criss crossed the area, and both NUTHATCH and TREECREEPER were seen with them. A COAL TIT called from the still fully canopied Oaks, where at least 2 GOLDCREST were also heard. The afternoon was made, however, when a BRAMBLING (66) flew over calling - my first of the Autumn, I don't often record Brambling this early  :-)

A made my way over to the Tree Nursery a bit later, and was pleased to see a HOUSE SPARROW flock of some 18 birds, a small number, but a good flock for my patch, they flitted along the hedgerow that is the boundary with a large house.  Fewer Gulls were seen today, BLACK HEADED and HERRING, but no Raptors were about - which makes a change  :-)

Sleepy Fox

The above Fox was one of two that were lying together in a sunny spot, one saw me, and casually walked off into the thick brambles, but the other lay totally out of it, asleep, like a cat on a rug, in front of a blazing log fire. I stepped on a twig, and the snap woke the fox from his dreams of Rabbit and Pheasants, he didn't run off though, but just raised his head, looked at me and went back to sleep!  I took my photo and left him to it  :-)

House Sparrow

When I got home from my visit, I found this Nuthatch on the peanut feeder  :-)  I also had my first GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER since August in, nice to have them back in the garden.

Nuthatch

Nuthatch