Business as Normal

Garden feeding has settled down to a pretty standard pattern. The fat block on a tree in the front garden is being taken by blue and great tits. In the back starlings and blues and greats are taking fat and the tits are also taking sunflower seeds. I have been putting dried mealworms on the ground tray and have only seen wood pigeons take these so far. We had a visit from a party of long tailed tits on one day, I couldn't count accurately as they were in and out of the bushes but I would say between seven and a dozen. I had a glimpse of a marsh or willow tit, far too brief to be sure of any markings. One slight oddity was a dunnock perched on the feeder taking sunflower hearts, normally these are very reluctant to come to the feeders.

I realised today that I hadn'twalked in the surrounding countryside for nearly two months, all my exercise being confined to walking into Chesham. Ignoring a reproachful bowl of washing up I went out for an hour this morning. It was fascinating watching the kites. One just hung in the air, forward momentum perfectly balanced against the wind. The fields had been sown soon after harvest and seedlings could be seen as green rows against the grey / brown of the field. The kites were swooping low and snatching beetles or other insects off the ground without landing. It was fascinating the way such a large and distinctively marked bird could vanish against this background and then reappear as it moved upwards again.