Chiltern Birder

I came in just before noon and looked out of the back window to see a totally undistinguished brownish grey bird, about the size of a great tit, at the bottom of the garden. Without any outstanding markings I couldn't identify it so fetched the binoculars, just in time for it to fly into a bush. With some patient waiting it reappeared and returned to the tree, I found the spot with the glasses just in time for it to fly away. Whatever it was it didn't show any interest in the feeders. In Chesham this morning after heavy rain, and reports of flooding elsewhere in the country, water was actually flowing under the Town Bridge. How much of the rain will actually enter the water table is another matter, on recent performance I don't hold out much hope for the flow outlasting a few dry days. Contrary to expectations we are still not seeing more than one or two goldfinches in the garden those that come are still regulars along with the coal tit and nuthatch. The blue and great...

We get the occasional nuthatch in the garden during the winter but typically these are very brief visits to take a little fat from the starling feeder. For the last two days, however, we have had not one but two individuals making repeated visits to take sunflower hearts. It is striking that they never share the feeder, one may perch nearby but will wait for the other to finish before occupying one of the ports. A little entertainment was provided yesterday morning by a rather aggressive robin who wouldn't let any of the tits perch on the fat ball feeder. I didn't see him attempt to use it himself but he stood guard on the squirrel baffle ready to attack any blue tit that did. A solitary goldfinch turned up yesterday and there was a pair on the feeder this morning. If they follow the practice of previous years I suspect that we will have serious numbers turning up in the next day or so. The long tailed tits haven't returned but the coal tit is a regular and a blackbir...

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...

The species count in the garden for the winter is slowly increasing. We have had a couple of brief visits by a nuthatch and one by a blackcap. There are at least 3 bullfinches visting regularly as we have seen a pair of males and a mixed pair at different times. I spent a couple of days in Bristol over the holiday. This wasn't a birding trip but I was lucky to see a grey wagtail on an ashfelt roof at the MShed in the harbour area. I have only ever seen greys by running water before so this came as a surprise. Sadly we have not had any more visits from the pied wagtail in the garden recently. There is not much chance of wagtails by running water in Chesham at the moment as the Chess is dry at the Town Bridge again. House sparrows are a great rarity in my garden but the area's entire population seems to have colonised one garden hedge in Ley Hill. Walking past the other day the birds were very loud but in the thick hedge there was not one to be seen.

When I first started this blog eleven years ago greenfinches were the predominent finch visiting the garden. These days they are most unusual so I was please to see one bullying the goldfinches on the feeder today. It has been a very active morning in the garden a brief visit from a coal tit as well as the usual blues and greys. Among the finches our solitary cock bullfinch paid us a visit as well as chaffinches of both genders. Down at ground level the pied wagtail is still around as well as the usual selection of wood pigeon, robin and dunnock. Since writing the above at lunchtime we have also had a brief visit by a nuthatch.

Perhaps I should spend more time just looking out of the window. This morning I had two goldfinces taking sunflower seeds. When I fetched the camera one flew off and the other resolutely stayed on the other side of the feeder. These are the first that I have seen for a month. This afternoon I walked past the window just in time to see a nuthatch fly off. This was the first that I have seen in the garden since last May. Apart from that it has all been pretty routine. The long tailed tits are still around, the pigeons are still fattening themselves from the ground feeder and the starlings are regular visitors.

The starling chicks have been demolishing the fat bars, unfortunately their appetites are starting to run beyond my budget now that I have retired. A new visitor today was a nuthatch who kept returning for sunflower hearts which were taken away by the beakfull. Conveniently it stayed put admiring the view while I unpacked the camera. On the other hand the long tailed tits have long since moved on and I haven't seen a coal tit in the garden for quite a while. I have also noticed a lack of yellowhammers when driving locally. On a plus side I have heard swifts over Chesham and Aylesbury in recent weeks.

With the fine weather and a holiday it seemed a good idea to take advantage of the fact that I live in some very beautiful countryside. A walk in the Ley Hill area took me up Broomstick Lane, where escaped cultivated bluebells were mixing with the wild. Then into Cowcroft Wood where a substantial badger set seems to have had somebody digging. (I won't add my thoughts on that as Blogspot has rules about bad language). Although birds were audible there was nothing to be seen and the walk continued out onto Ley Hill Common and along the side of the golf course towards the community wood, now named Crabtree Plantation. One tree had several hollow sections where branches had fallen and a nuthatch was taking advantage of the previous night's rain to plaster mud around one of these. Its mate was on the next branch. A little nearer the road was a recently discarded pair of bright red knickers, I did wonder if the cloudburst had cooled somebody's ardour rather precipitately. In the ...