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Spindle Tree

Walking in the Crabtree Wood communuty woodland in Ley Hill today it was a pleasure to come across a spindle tree. I did come across a specimen in a hedgerow locally a few years ago but when I looked for it recently there was no trace so it is nice to have a replacement.

The are also seems to be attracting long tailed tits which have yet to come to my garden this autumn. Staying in the area the golf course is a good place to see thrushes, I have seen them on the fairways whenever I have crossed that part of the common.

At home the mild, damp weather meant the the sunflower seed feeder was starting to clog. I emptied it into the ground feeder tray, and cleaned and disinfected it. I should have set a camera trap as the pile of seeds was cleared overnight. At the moment we are getting regular visits from blue and great tits taking seeds but they don't seem very interested in the fat feeder. A couple of individuals went to it when I was cleaning the seed feeder but they returned to the sunflower hearts as soon as they were available. I am now seeing goldfinches on the feeder in twos or threes as well as the occasional chaffinch. Most unusually a house sparrow paid a vary brief visit to the garden and landed for a second on the feeder before flying off again.

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