The snow from yesterday's 'white out' blizzards was still lying thick this morning , but slowly , a less bitter wind started to melt it , and by lunchtime , it was all but gone . I set off locally soon afterwards , and although it was cool , that bitterly cold wind of yesterday was gone , at last . Heading down towards the horse fields , I just happened to look into an adjoining garden to find six Rose-
ringed Parakeets , taking a siesta , no doubt after their lunch . Just 4 here , the other two probably driven further along the branch by the snoring . A small flock of Fieldfare dropped in momentarily
along the bottom lane , but before I could them in the viewfinder , they were noisily off again . As I
approached the rookery , there were plenty of birds in the air , but very few around the nests . A scan from the end of the lane and up the hill , proved that both my theory of being chased off and Phil's of having gone somewhere warm , were both wrong , as the juvenile Common Buzzard was seen sitting
on a fence post , looking for worms . But another scan heading up the hill , and it had moved . Knowing it's favoured perches , I found it right alongside the lane up hill , in a large Oak . I made my
way quietly , and managed to get within 15 mtrs. , only to find the bird with it's back to me , and many branches in front . I tried to move to the right to get a clear shot , but the bird must have heard
me , and it was off , back up the hill to the fence posts . I left it to it's worming , and on the way back down the hill found two Song Thrushes , fossicking amongst the horse droppings , much to the
annoyance of a male Blackbird , who was trying to escort the pair out of his parish . On one of the tracks on the horse fields , this Rook was seen , apparently collecting stones . I watched it fly up to
the rookery and it seemed to pass the stones to it's mate . The rookery was much busier and noisier
now , with several birds on and near nests , but I didn't see any sign of youngsters yet . I must say , it was nice to arrive back home , for once , not chilled to the bone .
4 comments:
Greenie, how did you get away with it not being windy - still blowing like mad here all day and freezing with it!
Unlucky with that Buzzard, next time maybe ;-)
A nice afternoon Greenie, I did my first patch visit for a couple of weeks this morning and was surprised at the number of Fieldfares and redwings still around, the weather really has made a difference. some nice shots today i like the slightly hidden Buzzard :-)
I still find it odd to see the parakeets! So glad the junior Buzzard is still around Greenie.
I am intrigued by the Rooks collecting stones, have you come across that before? Maybe they were for pelting prospective marauders ;)
Hi again Greenie, I've just popped back with another (more sensible) theory about the Rooks. My husband suggested that as we know Corvids to be very intelligent, could it be that the stones were used to weigh the nest down to make it more robust should there be high winds?
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