Bedford Patch (1 Viewer)

[RiB]

Hi,

I though you might be interested in the Black Vulture story! It certainly caused a few chairs to fly back today. I was on the 'phone to a colleague when another colleague came over and said "Vulture going over!". Another colleague had seen it the day before over Sandy station and posted to the newsgroup so it wasn't a complete surprise but nonetheless - great fun as several of us dashed outside to see it being chased by Jackdaws over the gardens. RSPB HQ isn't by any stretch full of birders, but there are quite a few and the grapevine is pretty good. I managed a quick snap as it went overhead - posted here http://bedsbirds.blogspot.com/ My mate who first saw it called Shuttleworth who confirmed it was theirs and they were on their way. Amazingly, they caught it later this afternoon.

Fortunately, you can get away with slamming the 'phone down on a colleague for a bird at the RSPB... She understood these things happen. Hopefully next time it will be for a wild bird! White Stork please.

Richard

 

[Peewit]

Black vulture

Hi,

I though you might be interested in the Black Vulture story! It certainly caused a few chairs to fly back today. I was on the 'phone to a colleague when another colleague came over and said "Vulture going over!". Another colleague had seen it the day before over Sandy station and posted to the newsgroup so it wasn't a complete surprise but nonetheless - great fun as several of us dashed outside to see it being chased by Jackdaws over the gardens. RSPB HQ isn't by any stretch full of birders, but there are quite a few and the grapevine is pretty good. I managed a quick snap as it went overhead - posted here http://bedsbirds.blogspot.com/ My mate who first saw it called Shuttleworth who confirmed it was theirs and they were on their way. Amazingly, they caught it later this afternoon.

Fortunately, you can get away with slamming the 'phone down on a colleague for a bird at the RSPB... She understood these things happen. Hopefully next time it will be for a wild bird! White Stork please.

Richard

Hi Richard

I was amazed when I heard about the Black Vulture story. It look rather big, and impressive in your picture, comparison with the Jackdaws chasing it as is mentioned in your blog.

Yes, if you are in the middle of a phone call it would cause a bit of a stir. To anyone who is in the middle of a chat and you mention the bird 'Black Vulture Ahoy', yes, that would make anyone think - is this person mad !!! No!!!! not really :t:

Just factual to what is seen out of the window. At least the bird in question is safe back where it should be. :-O :t:

 

[Peewit]

A short walk today, around Putnoe Nature Reserve (Part3)

Another walk to our favourite patch today. Weather was not in our favour today.

We did our circuit a couple of times, and I have to say it was very blustery, sunny, rainy and then dull today. The shelter of the wood was better for us to be able to bird watch.

There was lots of creaking and groaning of trees and we walked through. The birds where a little more sparse than yesterday because of the high winds, but we where determined to make the best of the time there, so we did our regular circuit of the woods.

There was lots of Woodpeckers hammering trunks of trees making a lot of noise from all ends of the woods. I could hear the Yaffling of the Green Woodpeckers, and the more sedate vocals of the Great Spotted Woodpecker, but no sightings today of either. The density of the undergrowth and the Trees themselves made it difficult to see any movement at all for most of our walk.
A few Crows cawed and Woodpigeons , and Stock Pigeons moved around high up in the canopy of trees.
A Wren make a lot of alarm calls from nearby long grass and it was so well hidden from view.

We could hear groups of Goldfinches twittering in the tall evergreen trees nearby. This was a regular sound to us in 2 or 3 areas we walked by. They seemed to co-exist in groups close to other finches like Greenfinches, and Chaffinches. Many finches flitted about from tree to tree chasing one another.
There where lots of Great tits and Blue Tits and they liked to sit in the branches right above our heads although they where watching us, watching them.

At one point we spent a good few minutes, listening and watching a lone Goldcrest flitting about the ivy laden trunks of trees. It seemed to be oblivious of our presence and moved about the Ivy no doubt in the hunt for food.
A Male Chaffinch sat on the branch closeby the Goldcrest.

There where so many Robins sitting on branches singing I lost track of how many we could hear and see. A Male Blackbird takes some berries from one of the nearby bushes and moves on quickly. At the same time I could hear some hooting type noises coming from the nearby hedge on the track up to the Golf course.

At first I thought the noises from the Hedge where that of an Owl. So we crept up and stood still to see a Female Sparrowhawk. It flew from the same hedge in the opposite direction and into the fields, and did a circle to land back in the same Hedge. This is where we managed to ID it. Bright yellow eye and a long tail. Fabulous to see. We though all the noises it was making might have been to the bird calling its mate or something else. Not sure about that. The call where very sharp and almost like the bird sounded in distress. No doubt someone will explain the reason why?

As we aimed towards home we could see flocks of Finches, and Tits moving along the Hedgerow 2 or 3 Long Tail tits moved about. What beautiful little birds that they are too.

Just a nice way to spend an hour or two and very enjoyable too. must do this more often now. :-O

 

[Peewit]

Priory Park walk

Hi there

Today we went on a walk around Priory Park, just after 12pm. The weather was looking quite bad, but decided to continue our walk anyway. The wind was very blowy as it was yesterday.

A couple of Crows sat in a nearby tree as the branches swayed in the wind. They looked although they where a couple. The car park we went to is the one that has the Beefeater Restrurant situated there

We made way for our walk, and decided on doing the walk in a clockwise direction. We passed a couple of ducks which looked like hybrids, and could see that they wanted food as always.

As we walked we could hear Chiffchaffs calling from the nearby trees. I could hear the twitterings of a group of Goldfinches and the 2 tone calls of the Greenfinch as we walked along the path towards the bird hide. Lots of members of the Tit family where flitting around the trees.
The lake was very exposed and the wind howled, and did its worst and it was cold too. :eek!:

So we stopped off at the bird hide and sat for 15 mins or so viewing what was on Priory lake. There was a lot of Great Crested Grebes in their full breeding plumage. Their head Crests where beautiful, and they where dotted all over the place. I could see them doing a lot of diving for fish.

A least 4 Cormorants sitting on the island in the middle of the lake sitting all hunched up as they do standing very still. The vegetation on the island had been cut to the bare minumum. I thought it was done for the boats to be able to see each other as they move about - or the Swans to nest.

I could see a Tufted Duck all on its on moving close to the island then it disappeared out of view to the other side of the island.

There where lots of Canada Geese on the other side from where we sat. One Canadian Goose flew over making a lot a noise for some reaon. a couple of Mallard flew about and landed closeby to the hide.

As we continued our walk the heavens just opened and the rain came down and the wind made it worse. We where drenched to the skin. So now we had to make our way back to the car. We did and I managed to get a picture of the Wildlife seen today Board - though the rain drops got everywhere on the picture.

I had to cut the Wildlife seen today Board into three as there was too much oinformation to get in one picture

A short walk but still some nice birds to see - wish the rain was not there though :gh:

 

[Peewit]

RSPB, Headquarters, Sandy

We had a great yesterday afternoon out at Sandy RSPB. We wanted to investigate some recent bird sightings. Crossbills had been seen locally so we wanted to have a look for ourselves.

The weather was a bit on the dull side (the weather said it was going to be sunny) but hey ho that is the way it is. At least it was dry.
We arrived at the car park, and we where met by a host of bird song. One call stood out, and it was a call from a Nuthatch. We could hear it, but could not see the Nuthatch. It remained ‘calling’ in the car park, and then we moved on for our walk.

We headed towards the Meadow bird hide. We had a look to see what was on the feeders. It was quiet other than a Blue Tit, here and there, a few Male Chaffinches under the feeders and two Grey Squirrels taking advantage of the Nutfeeder. So cheeky as they always are.
I was really surprised to see that the Ponds around the feeders have dried up. The water was very sparse. So it must have been the dry spell we had that caused the water to evaporate as it has done. Hope that some more water is replenished soon as all creatures need a drink. The pond dwelling creatures need to live too, and need their water supply.

So we moved on, and past a Robin sitting on a branch of a tree sitting his heart out. What a super little songster. We continued towards the RSPB Head Quarters, past all the lovely old buildings and Trees. Then we headed off in to the woodlands. The area was quite and a bit devoid of bird activity. It felt quiet for a spring day, and I was hoping that there would be something of interest to us.

Then we started to notice little twittering, and calls appearing here and there. A lone Wren in the nearby bush, and then he decides to hide once more in the undergrowth. Another Robin starts to sing. Some more shuffling of the undergrowth, the bracken moves, and we could see the movement but not the animal involved. I was sure it was another Wren. There were lots of alarms calls from Wrens everywhere we went, and a Robin joined in here and there too.

A Muntjac Deer appears from the undergrowth, stands for a minute, and then looks at us only to disappear. We stand still, and he looks at us, our eyes lock, then he moves on once more. He seems not to be worried about our presence at all.

Then a drumming noise echoed from a Great spotted Woodpecker, and an additional ‘ Yaffle’ sound from a Green Woodpecker. More drumming occurred. Then all of sudden the local woodland was ablaze with lots of drumming noises from end to end of the wood. A muffled call from a Great Spotted Woodpecker. A bird flies although very fast, fleeing for its life. It had a high pitch alarm call of GSW. More Drumming and it felt although the birds where moving around the wooded area around us as we stood there. It was fabulous to listen to all the bird communication going on from bird to bird. The drumming noises where here there and everywhere. The woodland was ablaze with drumming noises.
We moved on and the vocal call of a lone Nuthatch was very apparent. We could hear his calls but found it hard to see him. I knew in my own mind it would take patience to see him. The bird in question would be moving up, or down some trunk of a tree somewhere. He/she was hard to see. We drew closer, the calls became louder. We moved on further down the path. Now we stood rooted on the spot looking up in the trees and my OH could see him there he is moving up the trunk of his tree. I could see him through my binoculars, and he was moving in the top most branches of the tree. Great spot for us, and it made my day. Another bird to add to my list.

We moved on and by-passed all the drumming in the trees. Some twittering occurred and I knew the call was a Goldcrest but I could not see him, a lot of Blue Tit, and Great tit activity was taking place so that was a give away that the Goldcrest was closeby in the tree canopy somewhere.

We walked towards the Lodge one more. We bypassed the Headquarters, Meadow Hide, and we could hear some crunching noises from the pine Trees above. I looked up in the tree canopy and could see bits of something falling down to the ground.
We looked through our binoculars, and could see a pair of Crossbills, flitting about, while eating and dropping lots of pieces of pine cones onto the ground underneath. They sounded like they where eating a bag of crisps. Lots of crunching of pine cones going on, bits dropping to the floor. It was something else to see. Pine cones are their favourite food source, and that is what they where doing eating their favourite food source. Fabulous to see anyday. All action shots as the events unfolded for us to see.

We continued back to the Lodge in awe what we had seen. The last time we saw Crossbills was in Calendar, Scotland – a few years ago so this sighting made up for all the times we have missed seeing them once more.

After looking at the sightings board (there where Crossbills noted already) we could see that a Budgie had been listed (no doubt someone’s pet). Also Black vulture which I understood escaped from captivity, (was seen flying outside the Headquarters windows) and I was told caught once more. The things that you see on bird sightings board eeek!!!

We enjoyed our amble around Sandy reserve, and we will do it once again in the future as it is so local to where we stay. We bought more bird seed, and fat balls as planned so we have now replenished our stock of birdfood so we are happy in the birdfeeders department.

Sorry for basic photos but a digital Coolpix is all we have but we want to go on to bigger and better things in the near future

Picture 1 and 2 - Bird sighting board
Picture 3 - Pond looking dried up at Meadow Hide
Picture 4 - Bird feeders at Meadow Hide
Picture 5 - Some blossom.

 

[parttimer]

Hi All

I'm over in Dunstable for a couple of days at a sales seminar towards the end of May after all day of being brainwashed a couple of hours Birding would be good. Could anybody suggest any good spots for a couple of quiet hours. Im guessing that the M40 corridor is still good for Red KItes ?

 

[Peewit]

Hi All

I'm over in Dunstable for a couple of days at a sales seminar towards the end of May after all day of being brainwashed a couple of hours Birding would be good. Could anybody suggest any good spots for a couple of quiet hours. Im guessing that the M40 corridor is still good for Red KItes ?

Sorry I am not familar with the 'mentioned' area, and I am sure someone will be able to help shortly.

 

[Peewit]

A lovely afternoon in my favourite Putnoe Patch.

The weather was hot and very sunny today. So my OH and I went down to Putnoe Local Nature Reserve, and see if there was anything of interest there.

As we walked up the grassy track towards the wood, there are a lot of nettles growing along the left hand side of the track. The nettles attracted many types of Butterflies. Butterflies where teaming everywhere we could see.

We could see Commas, Brimstones, Little Tortoiseshells (to many to count), Peacocks, Whites, and Red Admirals. We managed to take a picture of a very obliging ‘Comma’ who sat on a nettle for a few minutes. He let us place the camera close to him – bless him

There where a few fleeting glances of many ‘busy’ Brimstones everywhere we looked during our walk. The ‘Yellow’ colour of the wings was vivid, as the butterfly flew from pillar to post. Yellow shone out in the sunlight everywhere we went in the woodland. The yellow sparkled, while the Brimstone flew amongst the undergrowth. A beautiful sight to behold for us. I felt transfixed as I saw them fly by me following their shadows above my head.

We walked though the wooden gateway into the wood itself. The carpets of flowers everywhere all opened up in the sunny weather.
The place was alive with bird song. We walked slowly through the wood. The area thronged with birds moving about, singing vibrated in all directions. Robin here, Blackbird there. Chiff Chaff’s calling ‘chiff-chaff’ ‘chiff-chaff ‘non stop.

We could hear lots of little twitterings from the ‘Tit’ family, as they remained in their little groups following each other around. I can think of three occasions when a Great Tit came down to the nearest branch to where we stood. It was although the Great Tit was sussing us out. Shy, no, they are not in the slightest bit shy. They are very inquisitive birds. Blue Tits are more so, as they are quite confident little birds with their abilities to suss out situations as they do. They are little fighters, and that is saying a lot about the bird kingdom.

We stopped in our tracks when we saw movement up a nearby tree. It was a Treecreeper doing it’s ‘Houdini’ by shuttling up the underside of main trunk of the tree. They are fast movers, and must have strong feet to keep them firmly attached to the wood. They flitted between many Trees, and never sat still at all.
We must have seen another two Treecreepers doing the same thing on this one walk. The wood land was full of Treecreepers. Super little climbers that they are, and they can move very fast up a tree trunk in a blink of an eye.

The drumming noises of Woodpeckers became apparent to us, everywhere we walked in the woods. Lots of drumming echoed around us high up in the trees. The communication between the Great Spotted Woodpecker was there all of the time Lots of little cries, as the Woodpeckers moved around. I could hear a ‘muffled’ call from the Great Spotted Woodpecker, then a loud Yaffle from the Green Woodpecker.

Then we heard a loud Yaffle right above us high up in one of the mature trees. We stood for a good few minutes. We caught a glimpse of a Green Woodpecker on the main trunk of a mature tree. He was moving around the tree trunk looking for insects. He called out and I could see his beak move while he called out, while I looked at the bird through my binoculars. Another call, came back in rebound, a few trees away. We thought it must be his mate, or he is sussing out the place for any more males for territorial reasons.
He sat rooted to the trunk. He turned to face us at one point, when a lady close to us called her dog. He continued shuffled up the trunk going round and round the trunk searching for his favourite food. He stopped for a few minutes, Yaffled once more, and continued to the top of the tree.

We found the Green Woodpecker really hard to see because the moss, ivy, and Lichen growing on the tree trunk, and on the branches. All the greens matched up. The green of Woodpecker and the Tree Trunk matched perfectly with each other. So it was colour coordination in the bird fashion stakes.

Then we moved on once more. Lots of crackling of undergrowth, a Grey Squirrel, then two Woodpigeons shot out, and up to the top of the trees to safety.
A Wren starts to ‘Tsk’ loudly in the undergrowth. I could see the bird moving around. The movement was under cover so we could only see his silhouette. I knew from his shape, a Wren was hiding in the undergrowth as they always love too. They are clever at hiding too.

Two Carrion Crows ‘cawed’ at each other through our whole trip high up in the top tree canopy. We knew it was a breeding pair as they never let each other of their vision at all.
A Magpie calls, and a Blackbird reacts ‘chinking’ like fury, as they do when Magpies get too close for company. They must have met up and wanted to call it a truce in the shrubbery somewhere close to us.

We walked further along. Then we took a sharp turning right, to head towards to Golf course. We could hear cries of a Great Spotted Woodpecker and some more ‘meaningful’ drummings.
So we stood, looked up into the trees, and we saw the Woodpecker in question. It was a ‘Lesser Spotted Woodpecker’ due to its size. I was so pleased as I have never seen one before. Then a second one turned up to join him. They shuffled around a smallish tree with Ivy growing around it and headed towards to the top of the Mature Trees, nearby, and flew off together. They made a lot of crying noises as they one behind the other, following each other around in circles, and landing in the same tree together, and then moving on.
They have a loud call for a small bird. We could see then throughout our walk calling after each other, high up in the Tree canopy.

We moved on to an area that is a favourite patch for Goldcrests. This is a favourite group of Conifers in a row sitting on the parameter of the gold Course. Lots of ivy in the nearby trees for them to find insects, and hide in. They love to hang around in this spot. There was a call from one bird. We thought that we had no hope of seeing it because of the density of the foliage of the trees. We looked and looked for a few minutes for any movement to give the birds location away. Then we saw the bird in question flitting about the pine branches, looking for insects. It never remained still at all and its trill little calls was almost continual as it moved about. What a lovely little singer.
So we are so pleased to know this is an area we can see Goldcrests. We moved on, and walked on the path parallel to the golf Course track.
More members of the Tit family watched us from the nearby bushes. Little cuties. It was although they where watching us – like people watching!

Lots of calls from a group of Goldfinches nearby. So many all in one place.

We stopped in our tracks once more. A beautiful singing tune came out of the nearby bushes. What a songster, and it was as loud as a Blackbirds song. No signs of the bird in question.
I scratched my head, and though I wanted to know what the bird was. Anyway I investigated bird songs when I got back home and found out was a singing voice of a Redwing.
This explains that the 2 Redwings we saw last Monday must still be residing in the same woods. To hear a Redwing sing was fantastic and they are strong singers like Blackbirds. They are more illusive though, and not ones to like our gardens as Blackbirds do.

So we had our fill of our 2 hour walk and made our way back home.

We past some more Butterflies in the nettle patch as we left the reserve. It was a busy little spot for butterflies. It just shows that Nettles are important to Butterflies, and it is good for us all to have some growing in our gardens.
So this is our ‘local’ trip out today and we enjoyed ourselves a lot.

Plan to have another visit or too yet, and see what we see once more.

Pictures 1 and 3 - A ground canopy fill of flowers
Picture 3 - Comma Butterfly

 

[Peewit]

Putnoe, Local Nature Reserve, Bedfordshire

Sunday 12th April 2009

What a dull old day today. So I decided to have a walk around Putnoe Local Nature Reserve. I thought it would be a bit more devoid of people, so that would give me a chance to study the birds.

The bird songs where low key but still held the ‘bird’ interest. A Robin sat in a tree inches above my head singing happily.
I continued walking around and I could hear Great Tits shuffling about in the bushes nearby. A Wren bursts into song in the nearby bushes, and then continues his ‘Tsking’ to whatever he saw in his patch.

Some hammering above my head and I could see a Green Woodpecker flying off into the distance, and some more Yaffling noises from the Green Woodpeckers. I could see that there where 2 of them flying about together as a couple.

A Chiff Chaff made a continual ‘Chiff Chaff’ call, and I could see him sitting in the nearby tree. Another Chiff Chaff answers his call, closeby.

I could hear a lot of very loud twittering going on in the nearby Hawthorn bush, I tried to creep up on the resident bird but I could not see him at all. At one stage I could see some twigs moving on the ground, and the bird disappeared into the undergrowth once more.

I think it may have be a Warbler of some type. A Blackcap is one bird that goes through my mind. I have made enquires as to what it might be and Blackcap is one bird that fits the bill. It has a very tuneful song was one of the loudest songs in the woods. It seems as loud as the Blackbirds singing nearby. It was like a competition to see who could sing the loudest. I then lost the sound when the bird in question moved elsewhere. He seemed to like to move around a lot.

The same bird then shot out of the bushes, and flew over my head (as a silhouette) and into the Hedgerow nearby. He continued singing his song. Then he flew into the fields at the back of the hedge and out of my sight.

Continued making my way around the reserve, and up towards the Conifer trees. The 2 Goldcrests where twittering away to one another as they moved about the mature Conifer trees. The Goldcrests sang inhigh pitch song, many notes going in a circle of fluty pitches. They have a really endearing little song, and very distinctive to listen too. It is very easy to recognise to the ear. It is good to know where to find them now.

The 2 resident Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers flew about overhead. They followed each other around from one tree top to the next. So I know they must have paired up. They seem to be a lot more ‘vocal’ than the Great Spotted Woodpecker, which is quieter to a point, (plus the hammering), and the loud Green Woodpecker with its loud Yaffling call.

I went full circle and back to the area where the suspect Blackcap is hiding. Yes, the bird was back in his patch singing his loud tropical song once more. I still could not see the bird in question. Not an easy thing to do. I think a lot of patience will be part of the future daily walks around the Reserve.

I will have another look around tomorrow and see the same bird in question once more.

Monday 13th April 2009

Yet, another shorter walk today, this time along with my OH this time. The weather was a bit better than yesterday, so the bird where singing very loudly indeed. We decided to have another try to see if we could see the illusive (Blackcap!) bird. We found his favourite area of bushes, yes, we could hear his singing. It was still hard to see him.

Now I have worked out that there are two of the mystery birds on opposite sides of the wood. So that is good to know. They must be claiming their patch as it is not a large area to live in.

We did another circular around the Reserve and the 2 Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers where at their most vocal. The amount of noise they produce makes them easy to spot in the trees above.

My OH was lucky to see a Green Woodpecker shuffle up a tree and make his Yaffling call while moving around the tree trunk. All the other Green Woodpeckers joined in the chorus.
A scraping of branches above and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew off to the other side of the woodland.

I could not hear the Goldcrests today, as the loudness of the bird songs must have drowned them out. I knew that they where still in their favourite mature Conifer Trees.
A great view of a Peacock Butterfly appeared as the sun came out and it sat on the same flower for a while. We could see a Small Tortoiseshell on the Nettle patch on the track as we walked towards home.

Lots of activity for the local Grey Squirrels and they made a lot of noises to one another and chased each other around in the tree tops

A shorter walk today, but still great to see the birds and the area does put ones mind at ease. It is a lovely place to be anytime.

Picture 1 - Going into the Reserve
Picture 2 - Coming back from the Reserve
Picture 3 - Harebell

 

[Johnny Allan]

Hi there,

I'm trying to find out which Counties still use the Watsonian Vice County system to record birds in and which go by whatever the political boundary may change to (and why).

The Watsonian Vice County system was set to accurately record and compare historical and modern data and it seems that there can be/is confusion when some counties no longer use this system whilst others do. Does anyone in your county have a view on this ? Discussion here if anyone has a comment:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=142074

ps this is not about getting more or less county ticks, more a question about uniformity in recording.

Johnny Allan

 

[Peewit]

Hi there,

I'm trying to find out which Counties still use the Watsonian Vice County system to record birds in and which go by whatever the political boundary may change to (and why).

The Watsonian Vice County system was set to accurately record and compare historical and modern data and it seems that there can be/is confusion when some counties no longer use this system whilst others do. Does anyone in your county have a view on this ? Discussion here if anyone has a comment:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=142074

ps this is not about getting more or less county ticks, more a question about uniformity in recording.

Johnny Allan

Hi Johnny

I could ask around for you and see if I get an answer. I am not familar with system myself. I will put forward what you have posted. Will see what I can find.

Will reply asap.

Regards
Kathy
x

 

[Peewit]

Hi there,

I'm trying to find out which Counties still use the Watsonian Vice County system to record birds in and which go by whatever the political boundary may change to (and why).

The Watsonian Vice County system was set to accurately record and compare historical and modern data and it seems that there can be/is confusion when some counties no longer use this system whilst others do. Does anyone in your county have a view on this ? Discussion here if anyone has a comment:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=142074

ps this is not about getting more or less county ticks, more a question about uniformity in recording.

Johnny Allan

Hi Johnny

I just wondered if you managed to get the information that you where searching for.

Not been on this part of the forum very much as I was out of action for a few months - broken leg. So I will be posting a lot more here in the future.

If you are still searching for information I will look around for you if need be. :t:

Regards
Kathy
x

 

[Peewit]

A day at the RSPB Lodge, Sandy - Sunday 15th November

Hello there

We decided to not go out at all on Saturday due to the bad weather. It would have spoilt the whole day if we did anyway. We left the whole walk until Sunday. Yes, sunny, bright, and what a beautiful day. The sun just shone all day long, and we where not disappointed about the weather at all.

As we drove down the motorway A428/A421, there was a lot of Rooks about foraging around on the verges on the motorway, unperturbed by the endless stream of traffic rumbling past. The Rooks where loving the sunny weather just as we where doing so. They flew in the sky catching the odd thermal as they did. They flew in unison and it was a Corvid air display that any bird watcher could never tire of
We arrived just after 11am the RSPB. The Lodge, Sandy, and we found the place full of people, some open Marquees by the visitors shop. It dawned on us that there was an event on today. Santa’s Grotto was there, and the children loved it. I have never seen so many cars before and it was going to be a busy day

After a stroll around the shop, we bought a pair of Country Innovation Mitts each. They are called Thinsulate and they have optional fingerless to whole Mitt. It is good to free the fingers for use of the Scope, binoculars and the Camera – well worth the £15 each. Nice present to have for the coming winter months.
http://www.countryinnovation.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Gloves&x=0&y=0

We continued on our way towards the Meadow Hide. We sat in there for a while, and watched the antics of a Grey Squirrel trying its best to claim some food from the feeders. At the same time a Chaffinch or two decided to make sure that they wanting to feast on the available food.

Members of the Tit family where in combat mode as always - trying to outsmart each other as to who was going to dominate the feeders. The Great Tits, Blue Tits and Coal Tits flew about the nearby bushes twittering at one another as they did. A Crow moved about under the feeders to pick up the titbits landing on the ground underneath. The sun shimmered in the pond areas.

The hide was busy today so we decided to move on.
We moved on, and continued our walk. I could hear a couple of Robins trying to out sing one another. As we past by another clump of sparse, leafless, bushes, a Blackbird shot out, chinking loudly as he did. He was telling us he has his beady eye on us.

We carried on towards the old quarry, and found the walk quite uneventful. There was no air, lots of sun, and the place seemed to be deserted from all wildlife activity. We felt it was going to be a quiet day. We sat down and took time to take the sights, and sounds in as we walked along the reserve area.

As we walked through the dense mixed wooded area, the place had the odd call from a Great Spotted Woodpecker. The Great Spotted Woodpeckers call resounded in the wooded areas and the Woodpeckers where content to move around from tree to tree.

Then an odd dull clunking noise came from the trees above. Dave pointed up to the top of a tree to a lone Great Spotted Woodpecker sitting on a sparse branch knocking the wood in a quiet gentle way. We looked through the binoculars, and we could se that it had its back on us. We stood and waited to see if the birds would turn around, and it did. We got a picture – a distance shot, but it was a picture of the bird and that was the main thing. I wondered if it was a young bird practicing tapping the wood. It was interesting to observe from below.

We took a couple of pictures, and moved on once more. We could hear mewing of Buzzards up above, and we could see at least 3 of them moving about above the trees. We moved on and past by a few areas of Fungus on the ground. Not sure what varieties but one did stand, and I knew it was the Fly Agaric Mushroom. What a wonderful specimen (or two). Sadly a large mushroom had been kicked over, and was lying on its side. There where other smaller ones growing nearby so that made up for the destruction of the larger specimen. We took a few pictures to look at to show the colouration, and the beauty of the fungus.

As we walked on, a BoP in flight caught our eye. It flew around quickly, and embarked on a tree branch. It looked although it was eating prey. A couple came up along next to us, and we all had a good look at the bird. It was a Kestrel. Dave wished he had used his scope but it was not to be. Then the same 3 Buzzards flew over once more – mewing at one another. It felt although there was an abundance of BoP’s everywhere. The calls continued, so we sat down to see if the Kestrel would make another reappearance but sadly not to be.

We moved on and past the ‘temporary’ yellow fencing placed on the left hand side of the path for some reason or another. I guess it is to keep the deer out the area behind (I have seen Muntjac deer in this reserve)
Dave past a dead branch, and he could see a cluster of Ladybirds sitting on the end of a dead branch. I have to say that I have never seen Ladybirds huddled together like this before so it was interesting to see them. They are identified as 7-spots so it shows that they are still around at this time of the year. So it is a question of watching out for them and watch if they are around.

Lots of interesting leaves on the ground caught my eye, and I will see if some ID’s can be placed on the species of Trees. Some of the leaves where large in diameter, and I would love to know what they are.

We had a good enough walk about and decided against going along the Skylark walk as we felt it was going to take us elsewhere. We did not have a map to fall back on. I am sure that we will have another look in the near future and see what the walk offers.

A nice day out and a good walk about, the weather, was sunny and warmish so that was the main thing. We will come back in the future, as we love this place.

Regards
Kathy
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