Yesterday whilst in the kitchen making Mum's tea, I noticed a Goldfinch all alone, perched very near to the conservatory door. I took my chances and opened the door very quietly and fired off a couple of photos. The bird didn't move....
An hour or so later I noticed it was now sitting on the edge of one of the pots. Fearing the bird was ill, I took a couple more photos and approached slowly....
and thankfully it flew away. I later saw it again on the feeders and then in the stream having a drink, so I don't think there's anything wrong with it, it was just fluffed up and conserving energy...
Mum's next door neighbour often gets Greenfinches in her garden, but for some bizarre reason they are quite rare in Mum's garden, but one did venture over the fence to share the nyger seeds with some Goldfnches...
Along with the visiting Coal Tit featured on my last blog post, I keep getting a tantalising glimpse of a Redpoll. It's not as confiding as the Coal Tit, and getting a photo has been very challenging. Eventually I got a dark distant shot....
This afternoon Mum had some visitors which meant I could escape for a walk for an hour. After the horrendous storm that swept through at lunchtime, the afternoon was full of sun and blue skies.
I didn't walk too far, only to the local church, St Marys, but could immediately hear the chattering of Fieldfares within the trees. I located a few flying in and out of a yew tree, found myself a bench nearby to observe them from and waited patiently for a photo opportunity. In amongst the Fieldfares were a few Redwings, so a bonus for me to get two winter thrushes in one afternoon. Unfortunately I wasn't the only one observing them as a Sparrowhawk flew over my head straight in to the tree and all the thrushes scattered. No photos of any of the Fieldfares or Redwings, and just a bad shot of a departing Sparrowhawk....
Walking back towards London Gate I saw the familiar silhouette of a Red Kite and managed to fire off two shots as the bird passed by low...
By one of the stiles overlooking the farm land another familiar sight of a Common Buzzard being mobbed by crows came in to view...
It shook off the crows and headed for a small copse of trees....
Just as I started to slowly move around the edge of the field, hiding my silhouette against the hedgerow and heading towards the copse, the Buzzard took off again....
Obviously my Buzzard-stalking skills need to be refined.
But it was nice to be out and about even if it was for just an hour.
Back to garden bird watching for the next few days.
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