Reasons to linger longer in bed...

A strong wind blowing from the West on a miserable, damp, grey morning...
the bedroom is nice and warm...
the bed even cosier...
we have a cup each of Taylor's on the bedside tables...
and each a pair of binoculars...

And we are watching the birds...
Our view is a little restricted...
but we can see the ridge opposite.

From left... Long wave radio for the cricket [unplugged], bird book, binos, cat brushes and McDougalls Flour Men

First some pigeons having a "fly around"....
back and forth...
always a straggler...

The odd pair of crows...
making their way westward against the wind...
then a flock of small birds rapidly westward across our view!

Too fast to identify properly, but all the "jizz"...
the way they are flying, the way they behave....
shouts...
starlings...
busy aiming toward feeding grounds....
that they probably hadn't finished working yesterday...
before heading home to roost...

Then something larger glides slowly into vision...
just a buzzard!
Three seem to be around again...
nice to see them back after about a month's absence.

Buze Variable

It is hunting the ridge opposite...
using the wind to hold it steady whilst it watches the ground...
hunting...
hunting...
the primary feathers are completely spread...
like fingers at the end of the wing...
they twitch and flicker...
the wings jiggle...
the tail twists one way...
then the other...
controlling its position minutely...
it must be rising and falling as it makes its way against the wind...
but it is imperceptible...
it looks like it is travelling on rails...
all the time the head is moving left and right..
scanning the ground...

Common Buzzard

It sees something and begins to hover...
like a kestrel...
not as smoothly...
but enough to hold station...
eyes fixed on the ground below...
the wings close into the body as it stoops...
but then, almost as quickly they flick back out...
and the buzzard rises on the wind...
allowing itself to be carried up...
and back to where it began the stoop...
it had lost sight of the prey.

Three times we watched it pass the windows westward...
working the ridge...

The ridge up by La Jarrie

A sudden burst of activity nearer to us...
a cloud of LBJs lifts into the sky from our riverbank...
then two crows, chasing a raptor, come flying past...
making the deep cronking call we've noticed...
when watching them harry predators...
From what little we saw of the raptor...
it was probably the female sparrowhawk...
she's a regular along the riverbank and past the house.


Reasons enough I think to stay a little longer in bed...
on a Sunday!!

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[LBJs... Little Brown Jobs... usually used to group the mixed flocks of winter buntings, finches and tits... often seen in silhouette against a grey sky... but often 'hiding' interesting species.]

The Eagle has landed...

Well, that's what the birds on the feeders by the house might have thought....
Woke up this morning to a covering of snow again...
and the sight of that Long-eared Owl [Asio otus] Hibou Moyen-duc here again...
normally I don't look out of the bedroom window early...
haven't got my eyes in!
But Pauline groggily asked "Is it still snowing?"

Perhaps I should more often...
the Long-Eared Owl was perched on part of some willow brash that I'd left last year....
nice, I thought, it's still around.
It flew off towards the dead willow....
almost a silhouette against the white.
It struck... in the snow.. and flew on with something.

I came [sorry...was dragged]down to feed the cats....
job done... went to re-vamp some old coffee...
look out of window to see something large fly past toward the cherry tree feeders...
something about that shape, the "jizz",  said...
that wasn't the Kestrel....
no....
it was.........

Wozzat? {Excuse the quality... I still hadn't got me eyes adjusted}

Just scanning...

just perched.. and I got that shot before it flew off again.
The most amazing thing to me was that the small birds...
mainly Siskins and various Tits...
happily carried on feeding...
as if they knew it wasn't looking for them as food.

This shot shows how close...

It was on the left...

 But in taking that last shot, I notice that the feeders are getting low...
I'll trudge out in the snow in a few minutes...
when I have cocooned myself in warm, weatherproof clothing...
and refill the feeders....
the field one is totally empty!

The field feeder is towards the bottom left... and look,  there's a Jeremy flying in!

Now is not the time to stop feeding the birds...
it is time to put out extras!

A small party of Reed Buntings [Emberiza schoeniclus] Bruant des Roseaux are here...
foraging in the willow nursery area...
one of the few areas of bare ground...
they'll come under the house feeders.

These are either females, or still in Winter plumage.

And the Pheasants are right by the house...
under those feeders...
except the cock who...
hanging around on the opposite side of the millstream...
is desperately trying to attract one of them...

Look at me... please look at me... I'm the greatest... look at my pretty colours!

Here... look at the other side!!

Go on...
he looks good against the snow, girls...
despite the silly posturing.

Lapwing update...

They did come back around coffee time today....
and I got some pictures that I shall share here [with descriptions after the photo.]
Click on all the photos to view them full size... they will open into a separate window.

There were about eight groups of Lapwings visible as one looked down the valley....
and ten or so groups of Golden Plover...
but they didn't join up as I watched...
which makes me think that last night's huge flock was a roosting gathering...
so following my update for today in the previous post....
they must have been away when there was barely enough light to see by.

This was the nearest grouping to me.... just over the lake.
There were more flights in the distance.
It is difficult to judge the size of the flocks when they are wheeling around so much....
but they can be counted from photographs...
but it is tedious and numbingly boring... but we may well have underestimated yesterdays flock...
in the middle view, the bottom group has a 'tongue' that projects towards the tree... it is about one sixth of the total... I counted it and there were at least 120 birds [before the group double in depth] which makes that group around 700 birds... and then there are the other two bunches above.
The flock we saw yesterday was bigger and denser... so may well have included the groups further down the valley.

The loose "W",  with some stragglers behind, in this picture are the Golden Plover.... it is one of the patterns to look for. The other pattern is a crescent shaped flock.
The birds at the bottom right of the picture are part of the main Lapwing flock.

Here is another flight of Golden Plover above some of the Lapwings... if you click on it to see it full size you will be able to see the difference in shape between the species. The "W" at the top is very clear in this image.

A lot of birdwatching is based on "jizz"... the way the bird flies; its size; the other birds that it is with; impression of colour; etc., etc.

Here's another picture taken one minute after the last of the above shots [10:37 to 10:41 for the above shots]

But these aren't either of above species... they are thrushes....
probably Fieldfares [the large ones]... and Redwings [the smaller]....
the wingshape and body outline tell me that... and knowledge of those species behaviour at this time of the year tell me the rest. No need to see colour sometimes.
Both species migrate into the region for the winter and are often in association with each other.
They are often seen around the local orchards.... feeding on the apples that were too small to pick and have been left on the tree.