Coal Tit and Buzzards

I was thinking at the weekend that I hadn't seen a coal tit in the garden for a long time so yesterday one decided to remind me that they were still around with a brief visit to the feeders.

Today I had decided that I was getting a bit flabby and, with the winter weather, had been taking shorter walks. What was striking was the buzzard that seemed to be following me around. I saw it over Cowcroft wood as I crossed the fields from Bottom Lane to Tylers Hill. I saw it again over White End Park as I followed the path beside the claypits and a third time as I made my way back it flew from over Cowcroft Wood across the fields towards Waterside.

A pair of kites were busy over the Botley end of Tylers Hill Road and I did wonder if they were nesting in one of the tall trees flanking the gardens and paddocks around there.

At the back of Meadhams Farm a muntjac stopped and looked at me and then quietly walked away without any fuss or sign of panic. It makes a change to get a chance to study one rather than get a quick glimpse in the headlights.

In the woods the bluebell leaves are starting to emerge and at the edge of the claypit there are clumps of daffodils.

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Kites Spreading East

I haven't been posting much due personal matters but still have my eyes open. One thing that has struck me is the eastward spread of birds of prey. I have seen buzzards over Havering-atte-Bower but the big suprise in the past month as been a red kite over the M25 near Stapleford Abbotts in Essex. The skys still look empty by Chiltern standards though. A nice little spot last week was a goldcrest during a visit to Kew Gardens. I have downloaded the Merlin app which supposedly identifies birdsong. I have had little opportunity to try it out but a quck test in the garden showd that it correctly told me that I could hear jackdaws and a robin. I look forward to using it on the coast to see if it can distinguish the various waders for me.

More Starlings

At least one brood of starlings have been regular visitors to the feeder and today the fledglings got the hang of taking the food for themselves. Other broods must be less developed as adults were still taking away quantities of fat. The tits aren't so common at the moment, I don't know if this is because they have dispersed, if wild food is available or if pressure from the starlings has driven them off. Single blue tits are dropping in fairly regularly and a coal tit took fat away as well. The woodpecker seems to have become a regular visitor and still has a brood to feed. He definitely comes before the starlings in the pecking order and keeps them off the feeder until he has finished. The new feeder with perching rings is popular with the chaffinches and the goldfinches, the latter suddenly seem to prefer the high energy mix to the nyjer seed. With all this demand for feeding young ones the fat is going down very rapidly and I am putting larger quantities out on the ground t...

A Little More Normal

After a couple of days of frost the garden looks more like a typical winter's day with birds visiting throughout the day. Blue tits are the main visitor plus one or two marsh (or possibly willow) tits and the occasional great tit. A flock of long tailed tits paid a fairly brief visit. Robins in the back garden have paired, seemingly a little later than the ones in the front. Due to ill health the ivy on my back fence hasn't been trimmed and has developed a good crop of berries. The only bird that I have seen showing interest has been a wood pigeon which spent some time yesterday feasting on them. In the front I put out a fat block yesterday afternoon which, so far, has attracted a grey squirrel. The pair of robins and the occasional blackbird are active on the hanging table.

Chiltern Birder

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