the 16th was the friday of my first week back at brack for my last ever term at uni! its an excellent spot though, and one i like to watch, so i'll be returning over the years anyway!
it was a beautiful day at brack, the sun was shining and there was only a slight breeze - it was a proper spring day. I sat and ate my lunch in the gardens before setting off, a nice place to eat dinner, as there's always plenty of birds in the trees and the view is nice. there were lots of Greenfinch and Goldfinch, as well as the other common birds.
Walking across the field i saw my first Swallows of the year for this patch. the farmer had holed his sheep up in a pen at the end of the field, which was a photo oppurtunity if ever there was one!
The fields were peculiarly quiet today, normally there is loads of farmland birds everywhere but all i really saw were Chaffinches and Carrion Crows. It wasn't until i got to sheepwalks fields that the birds started cropping up! I saw a few Skylark up in the air singing away, and there were lots of tits and finches calling too. The most notable thing i saw were lots of Yellowhammer dotted around sheepwalks, in the hedges and willow carr. This is odd as they are normally holed up around the ringing area and the hedges in halloughton field, but today they seemed to have dispersed around the area. This one flew off just as i focused in on him!
I sat for around half an hour enjoying the sun on my face while i watched 3 Buzzards circling very high in the thermals, i suspect it was a female and 2 males, as they seemed to be displaying and vieing for attention. they were calling a lot too, which made for a very enjoyable experience. they seem to be roosting in the woodland in the SW corner of the estate. There were also lots of chiffchaff singing in the trees.
I moved on to sheepwalks pond, and there were lots of birds calling in the trees by the dumble. At the pond, there were 3 canada geese, a pair i think, with one male tagging along! Also present were Mallard, Coot, Moorhen and a Little Grebe. Lots more Yellowhammer were seen around here.
I continued around the fields, not really seeing much until i reached the SE corner, where there were several singing Willow Warblers and my first pair of Blackcap of the year. The bird ringing area was quiet today with only a few birds about, nothing of note! I heard the buzzards again and would have loved to have stayed longer but needed to get back to go to work. On the way back i saw a Pied Wagtail drinking from a puddle, letting me get within a few metres to get a shot or two.
Blackthorn was in flower in the hedgerows, much to the delight of the honeybees.
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