Sunday 10th November - Pigeon domination

The Woodpigeon-fest still seems to be in full swing, over the last few days I've regularly seen hundreds of birds, Saturday morning I counted well over 2,000 in just an hour with birds continuously flying through in flocks off 100+. Birds from the house have been my only outlet over the last week, but the weekend weather has been hugely unappealing

Last Saturday (2nd) was a dry morning and I had to make the most of this as I've had around 1,000 bulbs to plant in the new flower beds - I got about half done and it's been too wet since to finish off (and I'm a little worried about the drowning the planted ones must have had in the last week), but luckily they are mainly Tulips so I can plant right through December assuming I find dry weekend.

On the night of the 7th  I woke around 5.00am hearing an Owl call, once I'd tuned in and shaken the sleep haze I realised,  it wasn't a Tawny Owl but a Little Owl. It had been calling continuously for what seemed around 5 minutes by the time I made it to the curtains but it ceased as soon as I stuck my head through making me think it was probably sat on one of the barns - but that was it, and no more sight or sound since.

Despite seeing 2 new birds for the house list, these probably weren't the highlights over the last week, instead I would count the Woodpigeon spectacle at the top, a pair of smart Grey Wagtails that have been visiting the new patio, and a build up of the Siskin, Lesser Redpoll  and Goldfinch numbers feeding on the Alders next to the orchard allowing some scope viewing with maximum counts of 55, 15 and 40 respectively.

The new birds were a flyover Yellowhammer, which I would have ignored if it hadn't called at the right moment, and 2 fairly distant Egyptian Geese. Impressive numbers of thrushes have been seen in the hour or so I've been watching, notching up around 100 each of Redwing and Fieldfare. The Redwings being small groups and individuals and the the Fieldfares in 2 flocks of 50 strong. Another highlight has been 3 Bullfinches, 2 smart males and a female, that have been on the bramble in the first field. A single Marsh Tit is roaming in the gully and has been around for a few weeks being quite vocal. I haven't seen the Firecrest again but a couple of Goldcrests have been seen in the same area. 2 Flyover Skylarks also were of note.

Can never quite capture it , but this was a Woodpigeon flock early morning last week