For the first two hours of this morning's visit the patch looked pretty much like this:
Which meant that any wildlife tended to look like this:
 |
| Hare in the mist |
To counteract this, Dave and I decided to walk very slowly along the road where the atmosphere didn't get in the way as much. The edge of Bannam's Wood was alive with small birds, and we counted at least six Marsh Tits and a couple of Coal Tits before we had to take the plunge and descend into the mist.
 |
| Marsh Tit |
The above photograph demonstrates that the presence of a hint of a pale panel across the wing is not necessarily useful in telling the species apart from Willow Tit. It was calling just as a Marsh Tit should.
 |
| Bannam's Wood: classic Marsh Tit habitat |
The plan worked pretty well, the mist finally lifting just as we reached the flash field. Unfortunately the birds the clearance revealed were pretty much the same cast of characters, although there were now three Shelducks, and a flock of 39 Lapwings.
As the temperature rapidly rose we started to see Honey Bees on the return journey, plus one or two Brimstones and my first Small Tortoiseshell of the year.
No comments:
Post a Comment