Downland Walk

 At last a sunny day coinciding with a day off work,whoop! Decided to head up the Downs, parking in the Titch Hill layby, I was hoping for some farmland birds, Corn Buntings, Skylarks, Yellowhammers etc, I wasn't disappointed as i opened the car door I could hear Corn Buntings, calling and singing across the road, which decided me on which way to go!!! There were loads of Cornies calling and flying about in the cattle fields, difficult to say how many but well over twenty. Linnets, Goldfinches and Skylarks were flying about as well and Pied Wagtails were heard flying over. 

Corn Bunting

Nice to hear them singing, my favourite bird song though possibly not the most musical

I followed the path heading east, sadly the initial frenzy dried up somewhat, but had a Peregrine on top of a Pylon, but it wasn't until the other end of the escarpment that things picked up again more Cornies, Stonechats and a field full of Skylarks, sadly apart from a couple of brief bursts the Skylarks weren't singing but they were chasing each other about a lot!! Not sure if I've ever seen so many Skylarks in one place the field was crawling with them! There was also a massive mix flock of Goldfinch and Linnet, but they were very flighty.

Peregrine

Fantastic views from the escarpment 

Skylark

Caught out of the corner of my eye, grey bird, black wingtips, could it be ?? No it's a Gull!!! 

Corn Bunting

Stonechat

Part of the huge flock that was swirling about!

Skylark, mostly posted this pic, cos of the blue sky!!

Another group of Corn Buntings, lovely to see so many

Skylarks

I completed the loop, Red Kite and Kestrel seen as well as some Meadow Pipits. A diversion north saw me find a couple of Grey Partridge. On my return to the car,  there was no sign of any Corn Buntings in the cattle fields, Either deep in the Kale feeding on buggered off somewhere else. Spent a pleasant few minutes, watching some Gulls feeding over the fields, mostly Common Gulls but a few Black-headed Gulls as well!! 

Pied Wagtail on Dung!

Meadow Pipit

Red Kite

Kestrel

Reed Bunting

Stonechat

Skylark

Grey Partridge

Black-headed Gull

Common Gull

Pied Wagtail

Highly enjoyable walk, nice to see some blue sky for a change. Corn Buntings are one of my favourites and lovely to see so many!