Today was largely sunny with not much breeze. I decided to spend the morning investigating fields between Packwood Hall and Hockley Heath at the north-eastern edge of my Circle. I didn't expect to see much, but it was actually quite enjoyable.
I parked opposite Fetherston House after the very friendly owner confirmed he had no problem with that. Straight away I was watching a decent flock of 75 Redwings and a variety of other small birds.
At this point I heard the unmistakeable call of a Parakeet coming from trees near where I'd parked the car. It turned out to be in the back garden of Fetherston House, and the owner confirmed he had seen a pair of Ring-necked Parakeets visiting his feeders regularly since last autumn. He invited me into his garden, but the parakeet had fallen silent and I didn't actually see it.
I resumed my original walk down the footpath and found a field containing 25 Pied Wagtails, two Grey Wagtails, and two Meadow Pipits.
Back home I was resigned to that being the end of my day's birding, but mid-afternoon Paul Hands posted a photo of a Whooper Swan he had seen on the balancing lake on Arden Forest Way in Alcester.
I was unable to resist going to see it, and found it was still there, sharing the tiny lake with a pair of Mute Swans. A dog-walker had allowed her two dogs off the leash and they were haring around as I arrived, causing the Whooper Swan to honk nervously.
Fortunately it was otherwise undisturbed and very photogenic.
A nice end to the day.
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