A morning stroll around Lake Farm CP

I've got a few days off work so will be blogging a fair bit this week.

 

This morning I decided on a whim to go for a stroll around Lake Farm which is a ten minute walk from home. We get lots of Common Whitethroats at Cranford Park, but we get lots more at Lake Farm. I also wanted to check on the Skylarks. Lake Farm was a stronghold for them but numbers dwindled after the school was built on a quarter of the land.

 

I wasn't disappointed. At least three pairs were displaying, although the dreadful light made getting any photos quite challenging.....

 

 

There are also more Linnets at Lake Farm then there are at Cranford Park. Yesterday at CP I saw just the one pair. Today at LF there were flocks of birds flitting from bush to bush. Many perched up high to sing.....

 

 

I didn't have quite as much luck with the Whitethroats. There were plenty of them around, but trying to get a photo of one was hard work ! My usual view was below......

 

 

I managed an out of focus shot of two chasing each other in a scrubby bush.......

 

and I managed to add a new photo to my 'Birds Bums' album......

 

This same date last year I was at Minet CP, another park within walking distance, and had cracking views of the Common Whitethroats - see the photo below.....

Common Whitethroat 25.04.15 Minet CP

 

It was a very overcast morning today and when the wind blew it really was quite chilly. I had a wander around the only tiny bit of woodland that Lake Farm has and counted eight singing Chiffchaffs, a handful of Robins, several Blackbirds and three pairs of Long-tailed Tits.

The sun very very briefly came out (blink and you missed it) and a movement caught my eye.

My first Speckled Wood butterfly of the year was emerging from under a leaf. It sunned itself for a few short minutes then disappeared back under the leaf.......

 

 

There were hardly any hoverflies around, and the ones that I did spot didn't settle long enough for a photo.

I stalked a Tawny Mining bee for ten minutes before it finally landed for a photo call....

 

 

Other birds seen but not photographed were two Reed Buntings and a Green Woodpecker.

 

Not a bad two hours out and about on the old patch. Maybe the birds will be less flighty in a week or so when they have established their territories.