Monday 28th. March 2011

Carol and I were getting ready this morning to go out , when , from the back bedroom , I heard a shout of 'what was that' ? Carol had just looked out the window and seen a large bird that was being mobbed by a Crow . By the time I got to the window , the two birds had disappeared behind the large Eucalyptus tree in our neighbour's garden . While we waited , hopefully for another sighting Carol uttered 'I'm sure it had a forked tail' . After a tense period of time , partial views of the two birds was all that we got . Then , they drifted from behind the tree and out into full view , and Carol's forked tail was confirmed , a magnificent Red Kite . The Crow , probably one of those that are nesting at the bottom of next door's garden , was relentless , and all the time , driving the Red Kite higher and further away . Eventually , with more of the local Corvids joining in , the Red Kite was driven out of view . Not a bad garden siting , especially just 12 miles out of central London . I only had time for a short walk up on the Common when we got back . Plenty of birdsong to be heard , but not a lot in view apart from a Chiffchaff that stopped singing for a very short time to be photographed . A pair of Pheasants frightened the life out of me as they lifted noisily out of some thick vegetation , the cock landing just 10 mtrs. away and swaggered away to find his hen . Only other interest was on an old fire site , where Hairy Bittercress/Cardamine hirsuta had produced a display of white flowers . Interestingly , there wasn't a single plant of the species on the ground surrounding the fire site . And finally , a message for ShySongbird who kindly spent time and effort to ID yesterday's moth . It not always about being right , it's the trying that's important .Thanks again .