Chiltern Birder

 Health issues mean that I haven't been paying any attention to my blogs but I was roused from my afternoon cup of tea today but a most unholy racket. Yes the parakeets have finallyarrived in my part of Chesham with a flock of five in the tree in my neighbours garden. It had to come eventually as they have been in Rickmansworth for years. Not much else happening apart from the usual circling kites and the occasional buzzard. I haven't seen anything eating my rowan berries but the tree is being steadily stripped. Usually its a mix of wood pigeons and blackbirds. Collared doves seem to be back in this end of the village as I saw a pair while waiting for the bus this week. They used to be garden regulars but hadn't seen any near the house for years.

 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 q...

I had to make a trip to Stoke Mandeville Hospital this morning. In slightly misty conditions there was only one red kite to be seen, just on the Aylesbury side of Wendover. At the hospital itself there were redwings on the grass just outside the room I was in, with one being very close giving a superb view of the plumage. I haven't seen any around the village for a few years, I don't know if this is due to the birds being absent or my being absent at key times. In the garden the pair of collared doves finally returned after a prolonged absense. They make a nice change from the wood pigeons, as long as they keep quiet. The pinhead oatmeal in the ground hopper is proving popular with a song thrush who has returned to the garden several times. Normally it is quite unusual to see a thrush in the garden. There were only two robins around today but they kept up a fascinating dance around the feeders. The dominant bird (clearly brighter red plumage) would visit the feeder while the ot...