Saturday's Times had an interesting article by Simon Barnes about the demise of the lapwing. On reading it I was struck by the memory of a large flock in fields near the M25 when I was still commuting from Essex to Berkshire about 14 years ago. The sight of a flock taking flight, looking as if dozens of chess boards had been ripped to pieces and flung into the air, seems such a normal thing that it is a shock to realise that I haven't seen more than a handful together for ages. In the same issue Derwent May wrote that it is time to start hearing skylarks again. Checking back over old posts reveals that I heard one here in late February last year, but I haven't had a chance to take a decent country walks for some time this year. I really must get out more!
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.