Sunday 25 August 2024

Quiet Weekend

 Most of the action this weekend was in the garden, both in yesterday's rain and today's wind, we have had some interesting visitors, including a Juvenile Female Great Spotted Woodpecker, a flock of Long-tailed Tits and what I'm pretty sure is a Willow Warbler.   We did get out this morning, a walk from the Clayton Windmills to Ditchling Beacon. I was hoping for a bit of migration, but was another slow one, didn't even bother blogging about last weeks walk around the Cissbury Ring, which was a complete dud! Today we did at least get a showy Yellowhammer at the Ditchling Dewpond , but apart from that it was very dull. Having had a good Blackberry picking session earlier in the week, I spent Saturday in the kitchen, producing a very tasty Gluten Free Apple & Blackberry Cake and an equally Gluten Free Blackberry  & Apple Cobbler!!! some pictures below!

Great Spotted Woodpecker, Female




Greenfinch

Juvenile Greenfinch


Grey Squirrel, Visits regularly

Our young Robin, there is an adult as well, but doesn't pose well.

Long-tailed Tit, a flock of five


Not great quality pics through glass and rain, but you can tell what they are!!

The haul, from the foraging!

Gluten Free Apple & Blackberry Cake, icing was bit runny but delicious 

Blackberry & Apple Cobbler had so many berries left made an extra one! Equally tasty!


Some of Margie's pictures of our walk along the South Downs Way this morning below!









Some of my pictures below, Yellowhammer heavy I'm afraid!


Scruffy Stonechat

Yellowhammer






HPP Church



Rook


Some more pics of today's garden visitors!

Blue Tit, we have at least 3 visiting


House Sparrow, numbers have shot up this summer with up to 40 at once today

Back again!






House Sparrow




3 or 4 Adult Goldfinch and a few Young-uns visiting regularly



Bath time

There's always one!





Pretty sure this is a Willow Warbler



Been quite an enjoyable weekend in a quiet sort of way, hopefully migration will kick in soon and things will get a bit more exciting.