Bonus Thursday – 27th January 2022

“Every day, birds that are defined as common are overlooked. However, as you immerse yourself in the world of birdwatching, you come to appreciate the beauty in the common species as well as the scarcer ones.”  Joe Harkness

Another day spent here at the hide , bonus Thursday as i like to call it , and it’s a return to the cold, damp typical winter weather here in North Wiltshire. Not that I’m complaining, in fact I’m very thankful to have the meadow and wildlife for company. And it certainly beats any day sat at a desk in an office !

Our main goal this year is to record a complete list of the comings and going’s here at the meadow during the whole year. What species visits and when , is there a pattern to individual species movements and who’s a year long resident and who just pops in for the free seed and nuts. We also want to record who breeds here , and how many young they have. 

So who’s in the visitor book today , well the usual gang are all here. Great tits , Blue tits , Long tailed tits , Robin , Wren , Chaffinch and Dunnock. Then we have another regular and my favourite the Blackbird , followed by the Jay , Great spotted woodpecker , Wood pigeon , Magpie , Pheasant, Redwing and Crow. The birds of prey , Kestrel , Red kite and Buzzard. The only visiting mammal today was the Grey Squirrel.

As Joe Harkness says in the quote above , it’s great to see the rare and exciting birds , we are very lucky to have resident Jay’s , Woodpeckers and Kestrel here at the meadow . But we also have wonderful small common birds , the Robin , Blue tit and Wren. And to be able to spend the day watching these fascinating creatures is a pleasure and a privilege. Happy Thursday everyone.

Gallery

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