Lyn knows best

I wonder how many married birders are familiar with this scenario. It has rained all day and there is a bitingly cold north-easterly. You stagger through the door after work to be greeted with a sympathetic wife shaking her head and saying things like "it's too nasty out there, why don't you postpone the birding until tomorrow?" "Oh no" you reply "this sort of weather could drop anything in", and you leave for the patch determined to prove your point. An hour later I'm back, the highlight was my first two Swallows of the year struggling north into the teeth of the gale. Waders were represented by a single Little Ringed Plover and passerines were virtually non-existent.

Jackdaws

  One species did catch my eye though. Very much taken for granted, the humble Jackdaw roosts in the wood north of the flashes in quite impressive numbers. This evening about 350 exploded out of the wood with a cacophony of chacking calls. The best numbers should be expected after the breeding season and I intend to count the roost properly later this year to see exactly how many there are. Mind you I've said that before and ended up with pretty vague estimates.