Chiltern Birder

After a lot of blustery weather and few chances to pay attention to the birds March finally went out "like a lamb". On the drive to the station today I encountered a partridge taking a leasurely stroll across the road and had a nice view of a kestral on the way home. In the garden the leaves are about to break on the quince trees. Hopefully I will have a little more time and opportunity to look at what is around me during April.

As the forecast rain arrived very late in the day I was able to take a short walk in the unexpected sunshine. The fields behind the village are down to brassicas this year and they seem to be providing suitable cover as I heard a skylark while I was out. There was a breeze blowing and he was upwind so every time I turned to look for him the wind noise drowned out the singing. There was also a woodpecker drumming which makes me hope that they might come back to the feeders this spring. Not much of note in the garden apart from wood pigeons marching around the lean-to roof giving the impression of somebody trying to break in.

The unseasonable weather is making the birds think it is spring. A walk in the fields behind Chesham yesterday saw several dunnocks singing their hearts out although with the clear sky the absense of red kites was striking. An automatic bird scarer in one of the fields did seem to have kept a lot of birds out of the area although a massive flock of wood pigeons was disturbed from the outskirts of the town and flew across to the woods behind Ley Hill This morning I saw another sign of spring with a suicidal cock pheasant strutting down the middle of the road with the hen watching from the verge.

The wood pigeons seem to be a permanent fixture now. Yesterday morning the pair of them were on the garden fence indulging in their courtship display. I thought that they were supposed to wait until St Valentine's Day. Another effect of global warming? A party of long tailed tits as been in residence for the last couple of days and has been delighting us with frequent visits to the fat feeders. Apart from that it has been a case of the usual suspects with the exception of greenfinches which seem to have abandoned us entirely and brief visits by a song thrush and a pair of house sparrows.

I have spent a lot of time hoping the the small brown job in the middle of the lilac is going to turn out to be a wren but every time a dunnock hops out. So it was quite a nice surprise when getting breakfast ready this morning to hear one at the front of the house. He sat in my rowan tree for a while making the usual racket before fluttering across the path and exploring my neighbours honeysuckle. This afternoon I stepped rather boldly up to the window as the sun was right in line with the feeders to see what seemed like half the birds in Buckinghamshire take flight. I was in time to make out a nuthatch which is one I haven't seen for quite some time. Of course it didn't return.

Living near the top of a hill in the Chilterns flooding isn't much of an issue for me. The present spell of rain is clogging the feeders and means that I tread mud back into the house every time I top them up. It also means that pruning of my quinces keeps getting put off. At this rate it is going to be back to using an old fashioned saw if it isn't going to be safe to use power tools in the garden. On the bird front the goldfinches seem to have moved on and I have seen very few greenfinches this winter. I have had a couple of house sparrows in the garden recently, and they are not the commonest of birds around here and also had a brief visit from a long tailed tit. The squirrels are becoming a serious problem and I think I will be ordering another baffle with my next batch of feed. I am wondering about covering the ground tray as a mesh small enough to keep the squirrels out will also keep out blackbirds, thrushes and pigeons. I did hear a green woodpecker this morning. I have...

I went out to top up the feeders today. When I took the top off the ground hopper I found a mouse inside. He must have dined well on the contents because he had great difficulty squeezing out through the feeding port. Not much of note otherwise although I did see a cormorant over the Chess valley between Chesham and Latimer. They aren't exactly rare these days but unusual enough in the area for me to take notice.