A cloudy but still morning, good for surveying.
So I visited another HOEF site, this one being a patch of newly planted woodland between Studley Thorns and Morton Bagot.
The 37 species of birds on offer contained one or two mini-highlights. A couple of Mandarins were flying around over Studley Thorns. The pool behind the trees is private so I didn't investigate further. (I have subsequently discovered its not private at all - thanks to Mike Lane for the correction). A flock of 17 Long-tailed Tits was a pretty decent size, and a Marsh Tit hammered away at a seed defying my efforts to photograph it. I settled for snatching a brief bit of film.
A few Redpolls, Siskins, 19 Goldfinches, and at least 18 Redwings flew around, while a quick look around the churchyard where I had parked produced six Greenfinches and a similar number of Chaffinches.
For a change I was able to record a mammal species, or to be more accurate evidence of a mammal, with the presence of a few molehills.
There were fewer dog-walkers than on some of the other HOEF sites where I have completed Spotter Sheets.
Meanwhile at Morton Bagot Sam was counting six Gadwall, 2 Shoveler, a drake Wigeon, about 12 Teal, at least 12 Snipe, two Stonechats, and a Grey Wagtail. But the place we both should have gone was Morgrove Coppice where Mark C was photographing a couple of Crossbills.
Unfortunately the car-park there is closed for improvement work for the next 10 days and the official HOEF advice is to park at Haydon Way carpark, about half a mile away, and walk from there.
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