Chiltern Birder

Not for long fotunately. I was walking though the village this afternoon and noticed a lot of birds in the air. After paying attention to where I was walking for a minute I looked up again and the sky was empty. Suddenly a red kite came into view and circled alongside Botley Road for several minutes. Once it moved away to the north other birds were quickly taking to the air again.

Walking over the Town Bridge the river was looking very sluggish with a pair of moorhens walking through it and much of the bed blocked by weeds. There was still enough, however, to attract a grey wagtail. There was no flow above Water Lane with all the water coming from the spring by the car park. It shows how little the water table has really recovered when you remember that once the river had sufficient flow to drive a mill at this point.

After commenting on badger sets at the weekend I was a little late home on Monday and driving back in the dark I was lucky enough to see a badger trotting rapidly into the hedgerow. It was quite a surprise to see one actually running, on the rare occasions when I have seen a live one it has been snuffling around quite slowly. Looking back over the blog this seems to be my first sighting since April 2006

Today, taking care of the damanged tendon in my knee, I took a very gentle stroll down Broomstick and Bottom Lanes and back across the fields. What was very striking was the badger sets. They had all been clearing out old bedding. At first I thought somebody had been fly tipping garden waste but the heaps were sheltered by undergrowth and mixed with earth. There wasn't much to variety in the way of birds but the jackdaws were making a lot of noise and on the open field a skylark was singing. At home the fat block hanging from the quince tree in the front garden is getting a little attention. This afternoon a dunnock was perched on the branch regarding it suspiciously. After a while it finally hopped onto the top of the feeder which, as it hangs from a single chain, promptly sun round. The dunnock clearly didn't like this as he promptly hopped back onto the branch and then flew away. Being October there are a lot of cobwebs in the garden. One magnificent one links the curently u

Its strange how kites will be so common for ages and then suddenly vanish for weeks. When I came home from holiday on the August Bank Holiday weekend there was one circling over my house which was a lovely way to be welcomed home. I didn't see another for a full month when, heading home from the dentist, I saw one over White Hill in Chesham. Travelling to work yesterday a large bird of prey flew low across the road being mobbed by several crows. It was too quick for a firm identification but the lack of forked tail or bright russet plumage has me putting it down as a buzzard. I have seen them around here a number of times although they are nowhere near as common as the kites. Having overstocked on fat blocks at the end of last season I have put one out in the front garden, although I would not normally start feeding for several weeks yet. I haven't seen anything on it and it isn't going down very fast but there are a few beak marks. It certainly isn't prompting me to pu