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An individual, of no great importance, who is unable to see the natural world as a place for competition. I catch fish, watch birds, derive immense pleasure from simply looking at butterflies, moths, bumble-bees, etc - without the need for rules! I am Dylan and this is my blog - if my opinions offend? Don't bother logging on again - simple!

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Tuesday 27 March 2018

More backdoor birding

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday's glorious sunshine has been replaced by gloomy grey skies and sporadic rainfall. Hardly the conditions for raptor spotting but, with Spring fast approaching, the birds are still moving through, en route to their breeding territories. The first coffee of the day, saw me watching two female Chaffinches feeding on the aviary sweepings that I'd scattered on the lawn.


It remains quite mild, although the wind has switched to a more southerly direction, than of late, hence the rain? A male Sparrowhawk circled over the cauliflower stubble, beyond the boundary hedge, causing a large number of Wood Pigeons to erupt from their feeding frenzy amongst the harvested crop. There are huge numbers of these birds being seen at present and it is difficult to know whether they are genuine migrants or just a congregation of local birds making the most of this feeding opportunity? A few Meadow Pipits are also present, out in the cauliflowers, they being seen/heard when the lads flush them as they go about the harvest - in all weathers; these guys cut every cauliflower by hand! I was probably on coffee number three when a Chiffchaff dropped into the garden and foraged on the Ivy, around the decking (where that Peacock butterfly had been yesterday). I managed a few shots before it flitted off, over the garden fence, to continue it's journey to a destination, unknown.


Small, tight, flocks of Starlings continue to pass overhead in dribs and drabs and there is a noticeable increase in the number of Song Thrushes being seen. A pair of Mallards was spotted in flight over the main farm compound and the local Magpies are actively involved in nest building, one pair is in the Leylandii hedge just two gardens to the south of us. Not much, I admit, but still enough to keep me occupied as I await the start of another late shift.


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