Quiet Patch Walk

 Very quiet on the Patch this morning, started well with, 3 Roe Deer in the first field, some Greylags in the top field, once again the best was around the bottom of the vineyard with several Yellowhammers knocking about, not at their best at the moment and very flighty but nice to see em, were a couple of Meadow Pipits here and a few Woodpeckers around the place, though in general in the cloudy conditions was very quiet! Few pics below!

Roe Deer

Greylag Geese

Meadow Pipit

Yellowhammer

Yellowhammers

Yellowhammers

Robin & Great Tit

HPP Church

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Young Woodpigeon

Distant Stonechat

Final Yellowhammer at the car park!

Apologises for the terrible pics, birds were flighty and the skies grey😢

However there are far better ones in this years Calendars see the link below for details

Calendar 2023

Roll Up, Roll Up Calendars for sale!!!

 Hi All

Every year Margie and I do a Calendar, it started as a few for me mates, well mostly relatives as a Birder I don't have many mates😢, whether they wanted em or not, basically I'm to tight to buy Christmas presents😲😂 and now it has spiralled out of control, last year sold over 70!! Basically it is not for profit any money raised after costs goes to the Hurst Hedgehog Haven, see link

Hurst Hedgehog Haven

Last year we gave em just over 50 quid!! So not gonna change the world but every little helps! Though it should be noted I have no official connection to them, we just gave em the excess money for the last couple of years.  

This year there are 3 options on the Calendar, I know fancy or what😀!!!! 

Option 1 is A4 size the design is a single picture above and a grid of dates below, each date is in it's own box so you can write shizz in em. The pictures, of various different species, have all been taken by me in the UK since the last Calendar was done except the Robin which was taken by Margie! See the pics at the link below

Pics for Birds Calendar A4 size

An Albatross in the UK!!? Oh yes!!

A Goldfinch, Don't worry there's a Puffin in it as well!!

Now last year there were a few moaning minnies who are so popular that they have a lot to do and they whinged the boxes weren't big enough to write in all their many social engagements. Obviously with no life and therefore zero social engagements this didn't affect me😏, but having been made aware of the issue I have designed the below!

Option 2 is A3 size the design is a single picture above and a grid of dates below, each date is in it's own box so you can write shizz in em. The pictures of various birds, ( for technical reasons, I won't bother you with, are different to the A4 version), have all been taken by me in the UK since the last Calendar was done! See the pics in this Calendar at the link below.

Pics for Birds Calendar A3 Size

Winter Plumage Red-throated Diver, won't get that in ya high street Calendars!

Dark Phase Arctic Skua for July!!

Now Birders amongst you will obviously want either of the above with the various obscure species in a variety of plumages some of, but not all, match the month they are in on the Calendar😂. However for non-birders I have come up with a special AHHHHH factor Calendar, Puffins, yes it's all Puffins in various cute poses doing various cute things!! Can you believe it? It's true!! Hurrah!!💗

Option 3 By special request is A3and is all Puffins!!!!!! See the pics used for this Calendar at the link below.

Pics for Puffin Calendar A3

C'mon Puffins with blue sky you know you want em!!

All angles not just the front😲😂

Some, if not all, the pictures viewed will be cropped in closer than they are shown here and at the links! This means the bird will be larger and less of the background will be on show, trust me they look good! Even if I say so myself, which I do!!😀

Now obviously, you gonna be thinking about cost, you like Calendars, you like Birds and you especially like Puffins and even though you like Hedgehogs and feel rescuing them is important You don't wanna be ripped off, no sir!! After all you are birders, you need money for high end Optics, subscription to Birdguides and buying cake in visitor centres and this is the problem, at the moment I can't tell you the exact price😱😲!! Say what!! Yeah because it depends on how many are ordered, the more I buy from the supplier the cheaper they get, so if I achieve last years sales of 73 calendars the A4 will be £4.75 + P&P  though I would probably round that up to £5 + P&P for the Hoggies you understand!!. The A3 will be more than that and again will depend on the amount I order? But say I get orders for 30 that would work out at £10.40 plus P&P I would probably round it up to £11 for the Hoggies, though you can add more if you want, so pretty pricey but they are a quality product and if more are ordered they will get cheaper!!

Obviously if I get very low orders they would be more expensive, but will not ask for any money until the exact price is known at which point you would have the option to cancel!!

Due to me being lazy and easily baffled by complicated postal systems, sales will be limited to the UK soz to all my overseas readers!!😢

To let me know if interested email me at paulevans331@msn.com or leave a message in the comments letting me know how many you might be interested in buying and which of the options you require. I will probably order halfway through November so soon as possible please so I can formulate the price!

Obviously if I get no Orders you will have to buy the Countryfile one like everyone else!!😀

Wolstonbury Wander

 Margie had to work today and because I'm so wonderfully considerate, I gave her a lift even though it meant I would be late getting on site, that's 💓 for ya, also I was knackered so could have a lay in with out feeling guilty😀, so decided to stay local finding myself at the bottom of Wolstonbury Hill at 7.30AM things started well enough with a Green Woodpecker briefly in the field next to the path.

Green Woodpecker

Shame the grass was a bit long

Things were very quiet through the woodland, I headed up the western flank as it I left the tree line there were a few Chiffies in the bushes but couldn't get a picture, though a Great Spotted Woodpecker put in a brief appearance 

GSW

Nice Male

I inched up the slope admiring the view, translation had to stop regularly to gasp for breath!!😂😨

Traditional Pic of the Church

Brighton

Jack & Jill

Made the top!!

Pretty stunning views all around

Birdwise it was very quiet, I wandered around the summit to little effect eventually finding a couple of skittish Wheatears and a distant Whinchat but they all headed down the slope and I wasn't gonna follow em having struggled up here in the first place!! No Skylarks which was a real surprise this area is usually teeming with em!

Wheatear

Distant Whinchat

I took the high path towards the windmills, where I came across a couple of Wheatears on the path and a small group of Meadow Pipits, however I was the wrong side for the light, so I came up with a cunning plan that Baldrick would have been proud of! Basically was to drop into the field and come up the other side, so not that cunning really😂 But in my defence in worked well, with the birds lit lovely by the sun and even better feeding down the path straight towards me, with one bird coming within 10 feet at one point, always good when the birds come to you! 

Wheatear

Meadow Pipit, good view of the long hind claw

I know what your thinking with the last two shots, the angle it looks like I must have been laying on the floor😲 which of course is ridiculous as I would still be there unable to get back up!! 😁 No a quirk in geography means the field next to the path slopes away steeply so I was at eye level with the birds!! 

I left the birds feeding happily an excellent 20 minute session, I headed back to the hill suddenly I was surrounded by Meadow Pipits, hundreds of em!!  

Meadow Pipit

Meadow Pipit

Meadow Pipit

Chiffchaff

There seemed to be birds everywhere, a small flock of Goldfinches and a few Chiffies in the bushes but mainly Mipits, think there were at least 100 but could easily have been more, were a couple of Kestrels floating around the hill, but always seemed to be just out of range!

Kestrel

Robin having a sing

Hang Gliders over the Dyke

Great Black-backed Gull, a few Gulls about today!

Kestrel

Nipping off before I can close the gap

I headed down the east side I noticed some birds on the fence line, some more Wheatears and Meadow Pipits but also some Skylarks in the area hurrah!!

Skylark

Meadow Pipit

Scanning down the hill, I picked out another Whinchat but couldn't get close to it, more Mipits in the field as well!

Distant Whinchat

Goldfinch

At the bottom of the hill is a small Quarry type area, I scoured the area, but it was quiet, a small flock of Starlings was looking the best, but persistence paid off and I winkled out a Spotted Flycatcher Huzzah!

Spotted Flycatcher

A bit of quality at the end and a couple of good moments but over all a quiet walk, the lack of Skylarks ties in with other recent trips, there are usually loads here! Indeed there were very few resident birds at all couple of Blue and Great Tits, the Woodpeckers and a few Goldies, but no Linnets at all, even Pigeon and Corvid numbers were well down on previous visits, strange times!!