Of Birds & Cake the Blog of Paul: Better Than Expected!!

After feeling bad all week, though bravely struggling on at work obvs😏,so brave! I've pretty much just rested up this weekend, so after trips to B&Q and Tesco this morning I decided to have a lunchtime walk down Bullfinch Lane, the bright skies and strong breeze leaving me hopeful of a bit of Raptor migration, been a couple of Black Kites reported along the coast this week, would be an overdue lifer for me, but to be honest not that hopeful but you never know could be an Osprey, Honey Buzzard or one of the released WTE on the move, I'm ever hopeful or deluded you decide!! 😂😂 To be honest wasn't really expecting much due to the time of day!

I actually drove the half a mile from my house to Bullfinch Lane with reduced energy didn't want to waste it walking through a housing estate!! Quickly kitted up and headed down the lane the top is dark with overhanging trees, a couple of very active Speckled Wood Butterflies which I failed to get a pic of and some nice bluebells which were easier to take pics of 😂

Bluebells

At the first Junction I turned right for a little excursion to look over the Horse Paddocks, one day there will be a Hoopoe or at least a Wheatear, but not today though nice to see a couple of Swallows on the wires, not seen a House Martin or a Sand Martin yet this year!

Swallow as you can tell the light was at a point that was beyond my ability to get a decent pic despite the birds being very patient

The pair male with the long streamers

Back on the lane I took my traditional pic of the church and while grilling the dung heap at Pakyns Farm a Goldfinch landed on the wire right above my head!! Painful on the back but nice to see.

HPP Church

Goldfinch

I carried on down the lane, heard but couldn't find a couple of Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap but as expected was pretty quiet. As the track turns to a footpath things open up, with great views of Wolstonbury Hill and the Downs, as I walked up the path there were Skylarks singing on both sides, blue skies and a nice breeze as promised, very pleasant. headed down Yellowhammer alley to Yellowhammer corner, the hedge here has been taken down at least 2 feet since I've been in HPP however the Yellowhammers have hung on, as I walked along I heard a bird calling on the edge of the hedge, quick check in the bins, yep a Yellowhammer whoop! It posed quite well, giving the monosyllabic call, no "little bit bread and no cheese" song though!

Yellowhammer

Probably a few too many pics but a little cracker!! I made a stand at the crossroads and spent a happy hour listening to the Skylarks and scanning for Raptors, on the Yellowhammer front, after the initial bird above I had a female fly deep into the hedge then pop her head up for a couple of minutes a couple of flyovers and a distant bird singing along the hedge right at the bottom of the field, has to be said the hedge was quiet, last year there were a pair of Dunnocks and a pair of Wrens, neither of which I saw or heard today and also last year standing in the same position there were calls coming constantly from the hedge which this year once the original bird left was very quiet, still on the bright side at least there are still some about!

In terms of Raptors I had about 5 Buzzards mostly distant, a Kestrel also distant, a Sparrowhawk also distant and then from the southwest heading straight towards me a Kite could it be? Obviously not, soon became clear it was very bright Red Kite with it's 5 primaries and disgustingly white wing patches, it did at least have the decency to fly right over my head although I mostly just got a dislocation of my spine and some horrible silhouette pics!

Red Kite

Think this is the point where the back went 😂

Had one Buzzard in close being harassed by a Crow, a couple of flyover Stock Doves, lots of Gulls mostly Herrings plus the usual Corvids and Woodies

Stock Dove

Herring Gull

Buzzard/Crow battle

Getting a bit tasty

Female Yellowhammer

The only sign of any migration were three Swallows, at 3o'clock I called it a day as I walked off a Skylark took off quite close by, up to now they had all been singing massively high in the sky and those on the ground were to far from the path for pictures. My usual rubbish pics below😂

Swallow on the move!

Skylark in song flight

I headed back down the lane, quiet again til I got to the farm, where the Goldfinch once again performed well, I was just bemoaning the absence of the House Sparrow flock that used to be here when one started calling from the Ivy on the wall, judging by the commotion there were at least 3 in there!

Robin

Goldfinch

House Sparrow

Goldfinch on Dung, i am not obsessed with dung heaps!! honest guv!😂

I had a quick diversion for another quick squint at the horse paddocks, still no Hoopoe 😢 But were a couple of Mistle Thrushes running about in the long grass of the field opposite difficult to get pics, there were three Mole Hills in the field one of the Thrushes headed towards them, would it step up on the hill allowing for a pic, I waited on tenterhooks, it skirted around it ,back and forth and then Bingo!! Of course once up there it pranced about like a good un!!