November 12th

I managed a late afternoon stroll, on what was another misty day here, for the most part it was quietish again, 8 GOLDFINCH flew round the veg garden and 3 FIELDFARES flew up  from there. Several GOLDCREST were heard maybe 7 or 8 in total, including 3 together in a mixed flock that included a NUTHATCH and half a dozen LONG TAILD TITS. I walked one of the new hedges where the Chats had been earlier in the autumn, nothing was using the hedge but a few things flew over SISKIN, 11 MEADOW PIPITS, 5 PIED WAGTAILS and a good number of corvids, well over 100 birds. The stubble field yielded 22 SKYLARKS and 11 HERRING GULLS went over in the edge of the mist, a REED BUNTING also called from by the stream. I decided to wait by the lake until dusk to see if anything came in to roost, a small flock of REDWING and the odd BLACKBIRD were the only birds noted. Walking back to the car a TAWNY OWL was heard calling from the near the stream and as I stood and listened to it, a WOODCOCK flew by about 15 feet in front of me, at head height, a really nice surprise and only the second I've seen this year :-)