Wild Wanderings
Lone Linnet
Diary Sunday 7th January 2018
The paddock has been very quiet all week with the star visitor being the lone male Linnet which visited among a flock of Goldfinches on Tuesday. He has not returned yet. The weather has been drab and dreary to say the least. I have busied myself this week with repairing the fence meshing in order to try and keep the local Badgers from digging up the paddock at night. It makes it really difficult to mow in the spring otherwise.
I put the night camera out last night (Sat) but only caught a brief visit from the Dog Fox who just looked around before making off into the night. I found the remains of a pigeon at the top gate of the paddock this morning so maybe he'd already eaten before the camera saw him.
Sunday started off frosty and bright and very promising for photography. I decided to take a walk across the fields with my Binoculars and camera to check things out.
My walk always takes me past the old manure heap and there is always a large pool of water around the base of the heap. I usually see Grey Wagtail and Pied Wagtail there if I'm lucky. Today was ne exception. On arrival there was a Grey Wagtail scampering around in its familiar fashion ,head bobbing up and down, and the bird scurrying around in the ice/water But this wagtail was a little different. He had no tail and looked fairly odd. I managed a shot and waited a while. He was soon joined by a Pied Waggy who sat atop of the manure heap ,looked around, and promptly vanished again.
Continuing on I picked my way through the muddy fields and saw a lot of evidence of Badger activity. Their little diggings and borrowings a sure give away. Well at least they weren't in my paddock. I was pleased they had found their meals elsewhere last night.
A Kestrel swooped across the crop field in straight level flight at about 10 meters high. As she quickly traversed the field she put up a flock of about 20 Redwing which had been hidden from my sight. The Kestrel didn't stoop but continued away into the distance. I wonder if she did this on purpose. A sort of game with the birds below. I was pleased to see the Kestrel as I had not seen one for some time.
It is a toss up who was the star this week between that little Linnet or the Kestrel. I think the Linnet get the vote. Such a pretty little bird and such a welcome sight. Hopefully I can build a small community of them and help another RED LIST bird in my small way.
Stay warm
