New Year New Patch

After watching from my kitchen window 9 collared doves and 30+ sparrows dispatch my expensive bird seed (supported by a rather fat woodpigeon)  I decided to have a look around the village.Made my way to Bubwith bridge and noted a female sprawk trying to finish eating a blackbird. At the bridge there was the usual wigeon,teal,mallards lots of crows and rooks playing in the thermals at the newly exposed field (water is going down slowly!).

Then decided to have a look around the village church, fieldfare and redwing active in the shrubs which are still surprisingly heavy with fruit.Big numbers of blackbirds and robins as well as the usual noisy wrens. Walked towards dingle dell and could see 15-20 whoopers at the back of the farm (no wonder I can not see them from the bridge!!)

Moving on 40+ rooks were very vocal and huge flocks of starlings and woodpigeon were noted.
Single magpie keeping a beady eye on proceedings as was a number of jackdaw.I then came across the following flock approx 100 birds.

Mainly sparrows but also in with them dunnock, 4-6 yellowhammer,chaffinch,greeninch,brambling,bullfinch,and siskin, they were swooping onto the field feeding and then darting back into the hawthorn.Brilliant to watch even if the light was poor.

 

A further stroll and a bird which I have never seen in the flesh and one that gets people all worked up.

 

now I guess i get it.Very nice to see and was in fact a bit of a poser,obviously very hungry.

Moving on and leaving him to his afternoon tea,

I had another big sprawk fly across my path and a very wet field with over 20 moorehen in it. 4 more yellow hammers and a GSW completed a very pleasant walk.

 

Spent the last 30 minutes in the GS hide pintail,teal,greylags whoopers,mutes,robin,wren,BHG, big juv herring gulls, loads of lapwings and the usual flypast by the ever reliable barn owl.

 

I make that 30+ differnt birds for a two hour stroll.