I don't normally expect any bird activity in the Garden until well into November but today a nuthatch turned up and investigated the empty feeder.I have put a bulk order in with Haiths, hopefully he will return and I won't get food rotting in the feeders as has happened when I have tried feeding early in the season before.
I haven't done much birding during the summer but a recent visit to the Forest of Dean did result in a close encounter with a wild boar. I was in the sculpture park on an old raiway embankment when I heard a boar grunting just below me a few yards away. I couldn't see him as the undergrowth was very thick but from the volume it was about the same distance as you would be from a pig at a city farm. I moved a little down the path before leaning over the fence to see if I could spot him but without luck. I did see a small heard of fallow deer later on though. Earlier in the day I had stopped at Brierley to have a look at the beaver release. I did manage to see a beaver dam but no animals.
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.
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