An early rise, but stayed local and went to Blackdown around 7am, shortly after sun up. It was still quite windy perhaps an ENE and a thick blanket of cloud. I headed out from the car park with bins and camera and quickly realised I'd left my SD card in the laptop ! - So ended up carrying the camera for 3 hours for the hell of it, not that I missed any real opportunities. After 5 minutes, a rustle in a Holly bush and a familiar 'chacking' produced a
Ring Ouzel, which burst out of the Holly and flew over the gully and landed in a distant pine. A great start to the morning. The theme of hirundine movement from yesterday continued with a steady trickle for over an hour, the majority being
House Martins (132) and
Swallows (124) and I would only have seen a small proportion of the total of those flying through.
Meadow Pipits were also moving although I only counted 8. A young birch copse held a
Firecrest and there were calling
Chiffchaff everywhere , well into double figures. A single
Redwing, flew north calling and several
Song Thrushes did the same. Other birds seen were
2 Kestrel, 1 Buzzard, 2 Bullfinch, Goldcrest and a
Great Spotted Woodpecker. Although slightly disappointed I didn't get another view of the Ring Ouzel, it was clear there is a bumper crop of Rowan berries this Autumn and Blackdown is covered in Rowan trees, the Whitebeams look bare, but I imagine over the next few weeks there might be a thrush bonanza.
I headed home for a coffee, and the cloud lifted a little. Last year was so wet and generally a failure for most fruit crops. I had no Plums and very few edible Apples and could hardly find a Holly berry, the Sweet Chestnuts had a dismal crop and there were few acorns. What a contrast this year. There are 2 Rowans in the Gully at home,several Sweet Chestnuts and lots of Oak, and all are full of fruit. The 3 Mistle Thrushes I saw yesterday appear to have taken up territory around the 2 Rowans (which is great but it means no hope for a Ring Ouzel or other rare thrush at home as they will defend this vigorously). I disturbed the 2 young Roe Deer that appear daily in the fields. There is also a Yew, full of berries in the gully, which is slightly obscured by other trees, but after a brief watch 2 Blackbirds had been hiding within, feasting on the berries. Blackbirds are one of the more visible thrushes and I'm not sure whether this time of year makes a difference, but their approach to this Yew Tree was like being seen near a seedy strip joint, as they were trying their best to remain undetected and almost embarrassed by eating the berries (no doubt intoxicating).
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| One of 2 young Roe Deer inhabiting the house fields. |
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| Rowan berry cluster - just right for wandering thrushes to feast on. |
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| Rowan in the field, bursting with ripe fruit |
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| Sweet Chestnuts are laden with fruit |
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| My plums are bulging ! |
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| Ornamental Crab apples , full of fruit |
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| Viburnum Opulus (Guelder Rose) fruits loved by Bullfinches in Winter when they're beyond ripe |
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