Thursday 6 November 2014

This morning was like a proper late Autumn morning, with a frost and a clear blue sky, I had to wait until gone midday to get out for a patch visit though, as my old mum needed a lift into hospital for a minor op, reckon she has to come first!

After 4 hours in the artificial air of a hospital, I was glad to get out on patch and breathe in some real stuff, albeit only for 90 minutes and in now cloudy conditions. I walked over to the lake area, not expecting much to be around, but as I approached the main lake I could see a crowd of CANADA GEESE loafing about on it, as I set about counting them, (there were 53), a pair of TUFTED DUCK (56) popped into view, now that is a real treat for my patch, in fact it's the first time Tufted Duck has been recorded on my patch in any November, taking the 13 year combined November species list to 89. I also saw the KINGFISHER and a GREY HERON, those plus the MUTE SWAN family, 4 MALLARDS and at least 9 MOORHEN made the lakes look like the real thing  :-)

Whilst at the lakeside I saw a KESTREL fly from the Scrubby Woods, plus a minimum of 3 pairs of GOLDCREST and a flock of 34 GOLDFINCH were noted, but not much else in the way of passerines was found. I walked back home via the Ashes lane Field where I watched a SPARROWHAWK fly over, also, seeing 3 SONGTHRUSH together in the boundary hedgerow was unusual for my patch. A short but rewarding visit......................alas though, i've run out of photo's to brighten the page!


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