6th January - If Music Be The Food Of Love, Play On

2018, a New Year, a new beginning once again.  The weather in the first week of the year has been quite volatile, heavy rain and strong winds at times, then today the temperature falling and skies partially clear.  After a trip to Oxford in the morning I had the chance to go out for a walk in the afternoon.  The cloud had returned and there was a watery sun just making it through the clouds.

Just before I left the house one of the two Red Kites that have been seen regularly lately was hanging over the gardens at the top of the hill.

Also in the garden today, the two Blackcaps, male and female, a Lesser Redpoll and a dozen Siskin.

As is always the way, the first daffodils were in bloom in Lymington Rise.

I turned up Brislands, and as I approached the horse paddock on the left I heard a thin call, and saw a small bird fly to the base of the huge oak tree.  I stopped and waited and it finally came into view, a Treecreeper.

In 2017 I didn't see one until the day after boxing day, so this was a nice surprise.

It worked the moss that covered the bark of the tree, searching for small insects and spiders with its very fine curved bill.

Along Gradwell there was a bit of movement, a calling Marsh Tit, then a pair of Nuthatches that did not want to be seen.

Then a Great Spotted Woodpecker appeared in the thinner branches.

I crossed a very muddy path into Old Down Wood.  In the bushes by the paddock there was a Robin, two Wrens and a very vocal Coal Tit.  I expected to see some thrushes in the field but all that was present was a single Blackbird.  However as I crossed the field a Song Thrush flew past me into the wood.

Walking through the wood I disturbed a Buzzard from a tree.  It flew around then appeared above me calling as it flew around the Larch trees.

Another bird that was not happy to be seen was a Jay, and despite all my efforts to get a clear view all I could see was the blue panel in the wing.

I crossed the field to Lye Way, and then walked to the pond.  However there was a family throwing sticks and stones into the water, so there was little chance of finding anything there.  Over the other side in the trees were a pair of Mistle Thrushes.

I walked back into the wood, and was pleased to see that a lot of the bramble has been removed, and the rides widened by the grass and scrub being cleared too.  This looking north from the Beech tree.

And then south.

Hopefully good news for the summer butterflies.

A little further on and I heard Bullfinches calling.  They were hard to locate but finally I did, two male birds feeding on the early buds in the trees.

If they were difficult to locate they were even harder to photograph as the camera kept focusing on the many branches and leaves that were around them.

Coming out of the wood a Kestrel was hovering over the field opposite.

Last week half the field was given over to grazing sheep, but today the sheep were gone.  Looking across the field I though it was fiull of stones, but in fact it was turnips that are scattered all over the field.  The sheep could be seen in an adjacent field, and as all the fields were growing turnips its likely they will be moved around quite a bit.

At the horse paddock opposite the turn for the recreation ground there was movement once again on the ground.  It was completely empty when I walked past earlier but now there were Redwing feeding amongst the grass.

The Redwing were moving from the field to the surrounding trees and then back to the field.

Then from the tree a flash of crimson red, as a Green Woodpecker appeared in the field, and searched around the tussocks of grass.

This was a typical January walk around Four Marks, plenty of mud, cold conditions and a little bit of excitement as I ticked off the first birds of 2018.  Three hundred and forty nine more days to go to find more interesting things..