Thursday 25th.November 2010

I'm not sure if this will count as a ' whilst having breakfast ' post , but here goes . After two days hedgelaying up on the Greensand Ridge with nothing of interest found , Carol was getting breakfast ready , and I was getting ready for a day working up on the Common . As I passed the back bedroom window , I noticed several small birds flying from the bottom of the garden , towards the feeders . I stood and watched as they arrived , mainly Chaffinches , with Blue and Great Tits , the odd Greenfinch and Goldfinch . They tried to feed , but were constantly harassed by the resident Robin , who thinks he owns the feeders . A flash of orange lead my eye to the small right hand open feeder , and that flash of orange turned out to be my first Brambling of the Winter , visiting the morning of the first snow flurry of the Winter overnight . I managed to get a few shots , but they were through double glazing , the second in next door's Laburnum tree . No sooner had I taken them , this Jay arrived noisily , and the mixed flock flew off down the garden . I took the opportunity to open a window and waited . A Blackbird was the first back , and started to eat the Blackcap's berries on the Callicarpa , and eventually the flock returned , one by one . The Brambling returned to the same feeder , but entered from the other side , with the roof now hiding it at times . Later , it and the Chaffinches moved onto the Pyracantha berries on the fence line . Carol had mentioned earlier in the week that she had seen the Chaffinches feeding on the berries earlier in the week . The Goldfinch also returned and posed for a shot , but the light didn't do it justice . Shortly afterwards , a couple of the local Jackdaws chased everything off , probably just as well , as I now had to rush breakfast and get up on the Common .
The work on the Common was cutting and burning Gorse and scrub on the heathland area , and a good fire was appreciated , especially at lunchtime . We were shadowed by a couple of Robins all day , but the only interest were a couple of fungi :The tiny brownish cups of Rutstroemia firma ,and early specimens of Neobulgaria pura var. foliacea .