Chiltern Birder

As the forecast rain arrived very late in the day I was able to take a short walk in the unexpected sunshine. The fields behind the village are down to brassicas this year and they seem to be providing suitable cover as I heard a skylark while I was out. There was a breeze blowing and he was upwind so every time I turned to look for him the wind noise drowned out the singing. There was also a woodpecker drumming which makes me hope that they might come back to the feeders this spring. Not much of note in the garden apart from wood pigeons marching around the lean-to roof giving the impression of somebody trying to break in.

The unseasonable weather is making the birds think it is spring. A walk in the fields behind Chesham yesterday saw several dunnocks singing their hearts out although with the clear sky the absense of red kites was striking. An automatic bird scarer in one of the fields did seem to have kept a lot of birds out of the area although a massive flock of wood pigeons was disturbed from the outskirts of the town and flew across to the woods behind Ley Hill This morning I saw another sign of spring with a suicidal cock pheasant strutting down the middle of the road with the hen watching from the verge.

The wood pigeons seem to be a permanent fixture now. Yesterday morning the pair of them were on the garden fence indulging in their courtship display. I thought that they were supposed to wait until St Valentine's Day. Another effect of global warming? A party of long tailed tits as been in residence for the last couple of days and has been delighting us with frequent visits to the fat feeders. Apart from that it has been a case of the usual suspects with the exception of greenfinches which seem to have abandoned us entirely and brief visits by a song thrush and a pair of house sparrows.