Feb. 9th

Before I start on todays birds, I did manage a quick stop in at the castle last night on the way home and heard Little Owl in the vegetable garden, Barn Owl not far from the lake and 2 Greylags, seen in near darkness, were on the lake. The most surprising sighting for me was a bat! flying up and down infront of the Granary looking like probably a Pipistrelle, being very small, I thought they would be still holed up for the winter!
This morning was mild and grey and sounded spring like again with plenty of birdsong. One Treecreeper was singing well by the moat and two others called near the lake. This morning when I noticed four large birds flying over the lake they turned out to be Cormorants. Coal Tits and Marsh Tits were heard from the wood and a flock of around 10 Long Tailed Tits were sharing the Alders with a dozen or so Siskin. There was not a lot else to report, although 6 Canada Geese flew north as I went back to the car. An average total in 50 minutes of 34 species were seen.

I think these are Colchicums, adding a bit of colour but the poor light doesn't do them justice.