Thursday 9 February 2012

Thursday 9th. February 2012

Another cold , miserable , grey morning , again with light snow flurries . Work up on the Common was cancelled last night because of the conditions .The expected morning 'invasion' on next door's Cotoneaster didn't materialise , but there was a mini version this afternoon , but nothing like yesterday's numbers . Carol was off shopping , and after dropping her off , I gave the inside of the car a birthday , much needed after all the recent hedgelaying , finding quite a bit of hedge in the process . About 11 o'clock , some brightness appeared that hadn't been forecasted , so I grabbed my binoculars and camera bag , and went for a wander around the estate on foot , meeting Carol on her way home down by the bus stop . There followed a really enjoyable hour , a taste of which follows :







All the shots were taken either in trees along the roads , or in front gardens of houses . A good number of the expected species were also seen , including a pair of Long-tailed Tits , feeding in the
same berry laden tree as the last Redwing , and on the way back home , a Pied Wagtail
looking a bit scruffy , but not surprising as it is living rough on the street . By far the most
unexpected sighting of the morning was a Common Buzzard , soaring high overhead . Apologies to anyone fed up with Winter Thrushes , but I know that when the berries run out , that will be it . I would also add that they are not being posted just to wind up a fellow Blogger , honest Warren ! Strangely , after lunch I went to get some fuel and drove a little way out into the countryside , near a golf course were the lane is lined with Hawthorn and Blackthorn . Just a handful of Thrushes were seen , but as soon as I got back on the estate , there they were again . And that sunshine ? It disappeared as quickly as it came , and we are back in the grey again now .

5 comments:

Alan Pavey said...

Great set of pics Greenie, well done catching a glimpse of the sun too, I missed it :-(

Phil said...

Don't think i've managed a single decent winter thrush pic this year Greenie, so I certainly can't complain about yours!!

ShySongbird said...

Well I'm not fed up with them Greenie and you got some lovely ones today. What a good time you had without going far!

I had them in the garden today! I'm sure there are more in general around this year, certainly more than I have ever seen here, with apologies to Warren of course ;-)

Marc Heath said...

Nice shots Greenie, particularly the Redwing shots.

Warren Baker said...

Well Greenie, I just hope as soon as this frost leaves us I can get the winter thrushes in the sheep pasture at Migrant Alley, as they start to return home :-)