Friday 22 April 2011

The things you see down on the farm........

Dougy and I walked pretty well the whole site this morning, mapping all the birds. Tony and Matt added a couple of extra sightings too. The Hoopoe was still there, obliging several admirers; a Lesser Whitethroat was rattling away and showing well in the huge blackthorn hedges in the northern fields; and a beautiful male Ring Ouzel was feeding in the large southern field and perching on the fence. Dougy managed to get this shot from some distance:



I haven't had time to tally them all up from the maps yet, but here are some provisional totals: 3 male and 1 female Mallard, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 1 Merlin, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Cuckoos, 1 Hoopoe, 4 Skylarks, 6 Meadow Pipits, 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 flava wagtail (not flavissima) 16 Wrens, 14 Robins, 9 Dunnocks, 5 Blackbirds, 5 Song Thrushes, 1 Ring Ouzel, 1 Wheatear, 9 Grasshopper Warblers, 9 Sedge Warblers, 9 Whitethroats, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Blackcaps, 24 Willow Warblers, 6 Chiffchaffs, 12 Great Tits, 5 Blue Tits, 2 Long-tailed Tits, 1 Reed Bunting, 3 Jays. Also 3 Slow Worms and several Common Lizards.

But the most unusual sighting of the day was that of three scantily clad young females taking part in a photo-shoot in the cowshed. Bizarre but true! And Dougy missed it as he left early. I felt that I ought to say something, but I couldn't bring myself to approach them without feeling like a voyeur. Any suggestions?

5 comments:

  1. I bet it took at least and a half hours for you to be sure before reporting it....and I take it you had trouble with your 400mm lens which kept steaming up....
    Dougie the Dipper! Ha! If it had been him he would have seen six...

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  2. It was a fantastic sight Three Birds,with no feathers between them.
    John.

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  3. That should have read THREE and a half hours...finger trouble...

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  4. It was a great morning!! lol @ the photo shoot. Terry there were 6 on show!!! The farm is really coming on well.

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  5. With regard to the photo shoot, I think you did the right thing by keeping your disance, as you may have flushed three scantily dressed birds and spoiled it for others. Well done

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