Chiltern Birder

The snow hasn't brought anything exciting to the garden. For the last couple of days we have had starlings, blue tits, robins and blackbirds and one brief glimpse of a wren at the bottom of the garden. Out walking yesterday it was cold and foggy. Just the usual woodland birds but in Cowcroft Wood a fox trotted out into the ride in front of me. It was a handsome beast and, in the still air, hadn't caught my scent. After a couple of seconds he became aware of me and loped off without much obvious concern. There were lots of signs of activity in the snow, particularly creatures digging down to get at the earth underneath. I assumed that it was foxes after beetles. There were also footprints of deer and rabbits had occupied a badger set, the droppings standing out clearly in the snow. What was also clear was that a some of out human neighbours regard farmland as a glorified theme park as there were several toboggan tracks going out into a sloping arable field where new crops wer

After yesterday's snow I took a rather muddy walk today. Temperatures were a little above freezing and I didn't have much opportunity to creep silently up to wildlife while squelching through deep mud. Walking along the edge of Cowcroft Wood these boisterous young chaps came to see if I happened to have a couple of sacks of cattle cake about my person. Bird life was not much different to the garden. Robins and blackbirds pretty well everywhere, a jay in the wood. It always seems odd the way such a large bird flies under the canopy. Along Bunns Lane there was a flock of long tailed tits while blue and great tits turned up all over the place and a solitary chaffinch appeared in a hedgerow. The red kites overhead pretty well go without saying these days. I did rather like this fungus that I saw on a tree in Ladies Wood.

Yes, finally I have seen a starling in the garden, something that hasn't happened for over a year. With snow falling for most of the day we had the unusual sight of long tailed tits and a blackbird sharing the fat feeder. We also had a brief visit from a blue tit, something else that has been ususual in the back garden recently while the robin is still the main consumer of sunflower hearts. And finally, late in the afternoon a solitary starling appeared and spent some time on the feeder.

Driving down the Chess Valley earlier today my attention was drawn to a pair of swans on the river and just beyond them on the bank was an egret. I couldn't take my eyes off the road to be sure of the species of course. I don't get along this section of the valley often enough to be sure if this is a vagrant or a resident in the area. The last one that I saw in the valley was seven years ago . Later, returning home via Latimer and Ley hill there was a deat muntjac by the road which would have provided good feeding for the kites if the lane wasn't so well trafficed. At home there has been no new variety although the regular flock of seven or eight long tailed tits always make enjoyable viewing on the feeder. With the recent wet weather there is now an excellent flow in the Chess above the Town Bridge and the mallards seem to have taken up long term residence. After the long dry spell, with a weir cutting off the upper reaches there are no fish visible any more.