Had a two-family outing to Linhope Spout on Sunday, and with 5 girls aged under 7 in the group, any hope of any decent bird sightings were rather diminished! Nevertheless, a few things of note. The first was a large flock (50-60) of chaffinch in Linhope village flitting among the pines and down to the stream to drink, followed by a decent flock of 30-40 goldfinch on the walk over the moorland. Lots of meadow pipit still around too in the bushes and ferns, while a buzzard soared along the valley below us. Managed brief sightings of a dipper on the rocks below the waterfall before our crowd descended, at which point it flew up over the waterfall and out of sight upstream. As we ate our lunch, a couple of pied wagtails rested briefly on the river bank downstream and a wren fed in the moss right by the waterfall for much of our time there. But the highlight came on the return to the car above the crag on Ritto Hill(?), where three magnificent ravens soared and tumbled, filling the air with their wonderful croaking! Finally, heading out of Linhope Village, there were a small group of red-legged partridge, which disappeared up a track into the woods to the north, and the largest count of pheasant I think I've ever seen (200+) in the fields to the south, making me wonder if they are "farming" pheasant now..?!
One peculiar observation: the ravens seemed to be dropping objects, possibly stones. They appeared to be passing these objects, but shortly afterwards, a buzzard appeared so I am wondering if this was some kind of defence... anyone any ideas?
