Now that the clocks have gone forward, I was able to enjoy walking my dog in daylight this evening
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I know that some of the birds who feed in my garden fly off to the nearby woods for the night , so that's where I headed first, it's just 2 minutes from my house
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I could hear lots of birds singing and spent most of the time looking up into the trees to see if I could see them. One of the first things I noticed was some tree buds scattered on the ground. My first thought was Bullfinch as I know there are some in the area , I've twice seen a Bullfinch in my garden.
I could hear a Robin singing and after standing quietly listening while scanning the trees, I spotted it
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Next, some movement caught my eye so I studied the tree and noticed several Coal Tits fluttering in and out of the ivy covered trunk
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I also saw lots of Jackdaws and Rooks settling in the treetops for the night , and lots of Blackbirds flying in and out of the undergrowth.
I came across 2 male Pheasants too. The first was at the edge of a field I walked round. I had my dog on her lead as I discovered there were some ponies grazing in the field. Although she has a very reliable recall and she is used to being around horses , the ponies may not be used to dogs so I put her on the lead until I left the field.
The first Pheasant was just wandering around , not in the slightest bit startled by our presence.
After leaving the field, we were back onto a quiet road and I made my way to a bridge to have a look over. The road crosses a valley with a little river and some marshland. The bridge is very old sandstone and has a high archway over the river. I've seen a Heron there before so will keep a lookout for it and anything else which favours this habitat. I looked over one side, then crossed the road to look over the other side. No birds there this evening but I did see a roe deer hind peacefully grazing beside some low scrub. She didn't even notice I was there watching her. She even lifted her head and looked towards me but then just carried on grazing
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Heading back along the road towards home , I could hear lots of singing but didn't see any birds. I noticed quite a few nests in the smaller trees though, and lots of rustling in the rhododendrons by the roadside.
As well as the birds , I saw several grey squirrels scurrying off up the trees. We came across another male Pheasant which ran off quickly as we had startled him. My dog wanted to chase after him but I told her to "leave" which she did. She was off lead at this point and the Pheasant just suddenly appeared from the undergrowth.
Making our way back through the woods towards home, I saw a hare running off across the adjoining field, my dog didn't even lift her head
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Almost home and approaching the main road , I could hear Blackbirds singing again. They have songposts everywhere on and around the houses and gardens
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Looks like I have some exploring to do as although I've lived in this village for a few years , I've never really taken much notice of the birds and other wildlife right on my doorstep
. I'll have to go without the dog though as she just wants to run around everywhere
.
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