I had been wondering over the last couple of days if the redpolls would return after last year's visit. Luckily today I saw two on the feeders. As they did seem to prefer ground feeding last year maybe they will clean up some of the mess the goldfinches and bullfinches leave. The finches tend to bite sunflower seeds so that they eat the middle section while the two ends fall to the ground. The only other sighting of note in the garden has been a collared dove. Not unusual in itself and they are common at the other end of the village but it is the first time that I have seen one in the garden for several years. I paid a brief visit to the Upper Ray Meadows between Aykesbury and Bicester on Wednesday. I picked the wrong shoes and ended up with the half melted frost soaking my socks. With the dampness on the uppers refreezing I decided to call it a day before noon but still managed to see a flock of redwing, four lapwing, a snipe and an unidentified wader that flew across too quickl
Once upon a time you could find me birding on the Thames marshes almost every weekend through the winter. For various reasons I am now seldom able to travel to good birding sites. I am lucky, however, to live in the beautiful Chiltern Hills and this blog is to document the birds that I see on my own patch.