30th December - Who's to Say Where The Wind Will Take You

The time between Christmas and the New Year seems to be completely different time to that in the rest of the year.  Knowing what day it is becomes a challenge, and everything seems to be totally confusing.  Today though is Saturday, although it felt like a Sunday.  Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, on a Sunday, and that will be totally challenging!

This morning though the weather was in complete contrast to that we have had this week.  It was sunny and mild with a fresh breeze.  Helen and I set out for a walk to try and clear out the cobwebs once again, and as we headed up Reads Field the wind was very strong.  We had decided to walk to Weathermore Lane, and then through Newton Farm and back along Kitwood.

Walking along the lane we came upon a flock of Long-tailed Tits with about a dozen moving through, calling all the time.

As we stood and watched the Long-tailed Tits a Nuthatch crawled up the trunk of a nearby tree, and then the mouse like Treecreeper appeared in front of me.

Amazingly this was a year tick for the patch, the first one this year.

The rest of the walk saw little about, we headed up Brightstone lane where a distant Great Spotted Woodpecker called.  Then turned into Headmore Lane, and on past the golf course and down towards the farm.  The one constant were the flocks of Long-tailed Tits.  Almost every 400 metres we would come across a flock, there calls signalling there presence.  This continued on the remainder of the walk, it makes you wonder how many there are in the area.

At the farm there were at least a dozen Pied Wagtails around the barns, and these were joined by a few Meadow Pipits.  In the bushes were Chaffinches, and despite scanning the trees and bushes for a possible Hawfinch I drew a blank.

We headed down the Lye Way bridleway, walking carefully through the mud.  At least two Buzzards flew over us, and then the "cronk" of a Raven as it flew over the path in front of us.  Its difficult to know actually how many there are in the area.

Above the trees was a large flock of Common Gulls, not sure where these had come from, or where they were heading.

Crossing the road to continue on the bridleway we came across another flock of Long-tailed Tits, and these were joined by Great, Coal, and Blue Tits.

We climbed the hill through the Kitwood Plantation, and then out onto the lane.  A pair of Bullfinches were calling in the hedge, and then flew out but never stayed long enough in full view.

We came down past the school, and then up Gradwell Lane.  At the Cottages a pair of Jackdaw were inspecting the chimneys, probably enjoying the warmth from the smoke.

Turning into Brislands a Goldcrest moved through the branches of the hedge in search of any small insect.

We had seen a Red Kite from the house as we left in the morning, and as we came up Brislands one appeared again above us.

It circled around above me, showing off the beautiful forked tail.

It then drifted away, and we walked on.  As we started to head down the hill towards Lymington Bottom I heard the call of a Rook, and looked up to see the Red Kite once again, this time being mobbed by the calling Rook.

There is never any aggression with a Red Kite when mobbed, unlike the Buzzard, maybe this is because it does not possess the talons that the Buzzard does.  Instead it would twist and turn to avoid the attention of the Rook.

Eventually the Rook considered that the Kite was not a threat, and let it drift away.  As we walked up Lymington Rise it came over us and headed towards the house, then moved away over the house and out towards the main road.  I then picked out another one over in the direction of Blackberry Lane.

Back home, the male Blackcap was about in the garden, and there was briefly a single Lesser Redpoll.  There have been two birds about, lets hope they are still around on Monday, they are not always a guaranteed year tick.

And that was the end of the year for me.  I haven't give the patch the same amount of attention as I have in previous years.  I have spent more time away around the county, where quite frankly the lure of more birds is too strong.  I will still continue to records the wildlife in 2018, but it will probably be on a reduced level once again.