A Bitterly Cold Ridgeway

With the word out that there have been some Ring Ouzels sighted around the Liddington Hill area, I decided to have a look myself. Starting at the Liddington village end and heading west towards Chiseldon, I headed along the road with the Ridgeway on my left. It was fairly cloudy at first and though there were a fair few birds around I didn't find any Ouzels. However a Curlew calling was a bonus and two Chiffchaffs calling from the trees/bushes running up the hillside was good to hear. A Buzzard was sitting very quietly on the lee of a hedgerow, keeping out of the way of the bitter easterly wind.

Buzzard

Along the hill top a Lesser Black-backed Gull headed east and disturbed a small party of Rooks as it flew overhead.

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Rook in flight

There are fantastic views from up here and looking north you can see  Swindon's Great Western Hospital quite clearly.

Great Western Hospital

 Looking further east and to the north you can just about pick out the churches of Liddington and Wanborough.

In the foreground All Saint's Church, Liddington and
in the background St Andrews Church, Wanborough

Along the roadside there were Linnets, Chaffinches, and both Great & Blue Tits. In the lower fields looking north a Skylark was singing and every now and then Meadow Pipits flew over on their northerly migration.
 

The trees on the Ridgeway silhouetted against the grey skyline.

Further along the Ridgeway Road there is a turning on your left which takes you up to Folly Farm. This is probably one of the best places I have found to see Corn Buntings and Yellowhammers, in the local area.

As you turn into Folly Farm road, there is a field on your right. Often or not this is an arable field, but this year it appears to be full of sheep. A quick scan across revealed hundreds of  Starlings, Fieldfare and Redwings. It was heaving with birds. Unfortunately no Ouzels in amongst them, though I did spot a couple of Mistle Thrushes.

The road up to Folly Farm, with the sheep field on the right.

At the top of the road you have fantastic views of the rolling hills and especially Liddington Hill to the east. To the west you can also make out the old RAF Wroughton airfield and hangars.

What was nice when I got here, was the sun coming out for a brief spell. Unfortunately it still wasn't enough to get rid of the bitterly cold arctic wind. It was freezing up here.

Liddington Hill in the sun

The Ridgeway looking east

Looking north-east. (The white building is the Hospital again)

Looking north-west towards Wroughton from Folly Farm

There is always something to see here and I wasn't to be disappointed. The Corn Buntings and Yellowhammers were soon seen and in the field on the right (See picture above) there were several more winter thrushes. Often or not they use the two trees on the the right to sit and preen themselves. Today was so cold I think they gave it a miss.

A shy Corn Bunting

Also around were some birds of interest with at least 3 Ravens calling, a Common Gull flying just under Liddington Hill and two fly-by Bramblings.

Despite not finding any Ring Ouzels this was, all in all a rewarding morning. I'm sure I shall find one soon, though it would be nice if the weather would warm up a bit. Bitter summed today up......

Raven calling

Common Gull (left) and Black-headed Gull

A total 27 species of bird were seen and heard this morning along the Ridgeway: Pheasant, Curlew, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Gull, Woodpigeon, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Starling, Raven, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Chiffchaff, Robin, Blackbird, Fieldfare, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Brambling, Chaffinch, Linnet, Corn Bunting and Yellowhammer.