Other stuff

I recorded my first butterfly of 2015 on 1st March when, whilst visiting my daughter, I saw a Peacock flitting about in a sheltered glade, yesterday I saw two Small Tortoiseshell (the same one twice?) in our garden - Spring can't be far away. The fifth Common Buzzard, of the year, appeared over Vine Close last Thursday afternoon and I'm sure that there have been others, un-seen, because of the agitated state of the local gulls on several other occasions. We appear to have five pairs of Herring Gulls prospecting the bungalows for nest sites and, over at Pyson's Road, there are already several pairs of Lesser Black-backs present amidst the burgeoning colony of Herring Gulls on the various factory buildings.
I had a quick sortie across the farm, this morning. I suppose I was hoping for a Wheatear, although a White Wagtail would have been good enough - nothing doing on either front. A singing Blackcap is possibly a bird that over wintered locally, but it was good to see several small groups of, newly arrived, Linnets scattered around the hedgerows and feeding out amongst the cauliflowers and I managed a "year tick" when a lone Siskin flew overhead.

Not the greatest image of a Linnet - but good enough to accompany this offering

Wood Pigeons continue to dominate the avian scene, still descending on the fields in huge numbers - no shooting has been noted for nearly three weeks. The best bird, however, was discovered last Wednesday as I walked across to work at 05.30 hrs. A male Grey Partridge was calling vigorously from the small field beside the Scaffolder's Yard. This is the first record for two years, and a bird which I feared was never going to be recorded here again. Quite where it came from and how it got there, is one of those mysteries, the answer to which will never be known. They are planting the new crop of potatoes out there this morning so I'm hopeful that this individual might hang around. A Song Thrush is in fine voice over in the paddocks beside the main farm and Blackbirds are starting to sing from various points well before the dawn. I saw a female carrying nesting material into some ivy at the end of West Dumpton Lane as I walked to the shop earlier this morning. So what if I couldn't catch a cold? There's always something to keep me amused whenever I go outside.
I have had the good fortune to bump into Neil Davies on the last two angling sessions - he tells me that the birding around Sandwich Bay has been rather slow - so very much like my fishing? It's been nice to be able to have a chat and compare notes, Stonechats, Cetti's Warblers and Common Buzzards all feature prominently, with odd sightings of Little Egret, Kingfisher and Marsh Harrier also making our notebooks.