Friday January 15 - exercise isn't always good for you.

 I've done a very silly thing. Earlier this week I got it into my head that I could get my daily exercise by running on the spot. I forgot that my legs are 61 years old (my brain being about eight), and after about two minutes of vigorous "jogging" a sharp pain in my calf brought the session to an abrupt halt.

After hobbling around the house for the last four days I decided I had recovered sufficiently to go for a walk up the hill to Skilts Common. The two hour walk was what I probably should have been doing in the first place, but provided very little that could be described as a highlight.

As I returned to the A435, where traffic is a lot heavier than in the last lockdown, I was reflecting that my best bird had probably been a Grey Wagtail which stood on a large pile of manure for not quite long enough for me to take its photo. 

Fortunately fate was to provide a twist in the tale as the stars of the show, a flock of 52 Golden Plovers hurried northwards. Perhaps the morning hadn't been a complete waste of time.

This only leaves our garden to blog about. Since milder conditions have arrived most of the Redwings and all of the Fieldfares have gone. One good thing about staring out of the kitchen window is that I find myself actually watching birds, not just recording them. The two male Blackcaps have sorted themselves out into a dominant bird and a submissive one which gets chased remorselessly. The alpha male is still not satisfied, and has taken to defending "his feeder" against the ever hungry Goldfinches which really only want the sunflower hearts, and even bullying the local House Sparrows which admittedly are more interested in the fat-balls.

Billy the Blackcap

Another bird which has taken to bossing the sparrows about is a scarce visitor to the garden. I recently defrosted our garage freezer and decided to chuck out the soggy bread found therein. Pretty soon this attracted a male Pied Wagtail which, like the Blackcap, became very possessive about this unexpected windfall.

Pied Wagtail

This afternoon it was briefly joined by a female (or maybe a young male) of the same species and all hell broke out. The loser has bounded off to find a less well-defended garden.

This morning the feeder had another couple of visitors. Two Siskins stopped by to see what all the fuss was about. Small numbers of these finches regularly fly over during the winter, but they don't often visit.

Siskins

This is a much better view than I normally get at Morton Bagot. Only three other species of finch have frequented our garden this year. Goldfinches are the commonest, and have peaked at 20 individuals. Three Chaffinches are also present every day, but the third species, a Greenfinch, probably qualifies as a rarity.

The only news I've heard from Morton Bagot again comes from Sam of HOEF. He has seen about a dozen Snipe, four  Teal, and a couple of dozen Mallard. 

My leg is stiffening up again, and I doubt I will be visiting the patch any time soon.