Misty Morning

After all the wind and and wind over the past few days, I hadn't really expected to venture out this morning to find low lying mist all around Swindon. I had hoped to get out early to see if there were any owls about at Blakehill Farm NR. The early bit I got right, but spotting any owls in the mist was not going to happen as I pulled up to the car park at 6:15am.

So my next goal then was to track down the Whinchat and Wheatear, seen here for the past week or so. It took awhile until the sun burnt back the mist, but I did eventually spot 6 Whinchats and 3 Wheatear.

Other birds of interest were 21 Cormorants heading south, with 13 heading back towards the Cotswold Water Park 30 minutes later. There was also a Kestrel seen in the mist and a Buzzard calling by the farm at the end of the track. Other birds heard calling were 2 Red-legged Partridge,  1 Green Woodpecker and a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

As the sun came up several Skylark started calling, whilst overhead there were quite a few Meadow Pipit flying through, with one pair stopping off on a Hawthorn. In the cattle field were 40+ Swallow plus 3 Wheatear and 3 Whinchat. There were a further 3 Whinchat in the next field over.

In the bushes along the track I had 1 Common Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff with 2 singing, up to 50 Goldfinch which settled in the bushes and then descended into the field to feed on the thistle heads. There were also 3 Reed Bunting, a pair and a very vocal female.

Despite the mist I did see at least 2 Hare

Here are a few images and videos from this morning:

Spot the cow in the mist

Sunrise was 6:38am

Unsurprisingly lots of spider webs covered in morning dew

Things did brighten up and in the cattle field to the left of the new bench there were 3 Whinchat and 3 Wheatear.

A few patches of lingering mist.

A Kestrel searching for prey from the top of the May tree.

And then through the mist it flew straight towards me and veered off when it saw me!

Two of the many juvenile Goldfinches here on the reserve.

A juvenile Goldfinch

Just a handful of the Goldfinches take off. Very charming!

A female Reed Bunting sunbathing

A female Reed Bunting calling

This is a juvenile Robin, gaining his red breast but still with a spotty head.

A Common Whitethroat was also joined by a Lesser Whitethroat, which alas was camera shy.

A very short video of the Common Whitethroat

A pair of Meadow Pipits rest up on a Hawthorn

13 Cormorant off to the Water park no doubt.

Birds Recorded were: 21 Cormorant, Canada Geese, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 2 Red-legged Partridge, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 8 Skylark, 40+ Swallow, 15+ Meadow Pipit, Dunnock, Robin, 6 Whinchat, 3 Wheatear, Blackbird, Song Thrush, 1 Common Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, 1 Raven, 50+ Goldfinch, 3 Reed Bunting.

Also 12 Rabbits and 2 Hare