Monday 28 March 2011

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 .

7 comments:

Alan Pavey said...

Nice one Greenie, what a great bird to see and get photos of!! :-)

Warren Baker said...

Good house tick Greenie, wish my missus would watch the sky for me whilst I was out :-)

alan woodcock said...

Hi.Great garden tick,I keep hoping one will appear over our garden.

Adam said...

Cracking photos of the Kite and Pheasant Greenie. 'Wife' ticks for me include Waxwings at Paddock Wood and amazingly a Common Crane near Banbury - they have their uses (did I really say that!!!).

Ad

ShySongbird said...

What a great start to the day Greenie and a brilliant garden tick!!

Lovely to see the Chiffchaff, I heard my first of the year this afternoon :)

Cracking photo of the Pheasant!

Thank you for your kind words :)

Ken. said...

Hi Greenie.
Well done on actually getting such a great bird(my favourite) onto you home list.
You realise you are now the envy of many a blogger/birder.
Also wel done on getting a record shot of it.

Paul said...

Hi Greenie, youve done it once again mate!!! To see/photograph a Red Kite from your house is bloody brilliant.