Tuesday 23 October 2007

A cool, frosty morning with just a light easterly wind - good conditions for a few flyovers. It proved to be so, at least to start of with, as a lone CORMORANT flew to a small lake just off my patch. Thereafter it was all frustration! At the lake, a noisey chainsaw rang out as one of the large gardens bordering it had the groundsman felling the hornbeam trees, and putting in rhodadendrons! This is likely to go on for weeks, so finding anything on the pond will be a bit challenging to say the least.
As I walked through the waterlogged wood the chainsaw could still be heard, and nothing was seen there. I stopped off halfway round at my house, for a quick snack and drink and carried on to the tree nursery and farmland, where I picked up a few common species and suprisingly again found a WHEATEAR, probably the same one as seen at the weekend. Things took another turn for the better when a COMMON BUZZARD flew north, chased by a dozen crows, this upturn didn't last long! Hedge trimming had started, and a hedge destroying machine went round all the fields and tracks, how annoying. Then I found a freshly dead badger on the road, only the second record of badger here (the other was at least alive!) it wasn't going to be my day! There was a small consalotion as I neared home - a CHIFFCHAFF was found, the first since 11 oct, I wonder if it will over winter?
Todays total was a surprising 44 species, none new for the month though.

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