A day of two halves...

Half past eight this morning was very poor indeed. It was almost dark with a strong SE7 blowing some sleet horizontally against the windows, but after lunch the wind dropped and the sun came out, making the day seem almost spring like.

Until 2pm we were working in our new house where I added to the garden list with a nice Reed Bunting calling from the buddleia on the drive. A couple of Yellowhammers were in the small copse next to the garden and a Grey Wagtail flew over.

As the weather was much better and our days work was done, I went to collect the dog and returned to have a stroll around the area.





Unlike Boulmer, there are some nice wooded areas here, though they are more parkland than wild wood there are still good numbers of woodland species to be seen. The small lake holds a few ducks on occasion too, but today all I could see were 1 Little Grebe, a Moorhen, and the resident Mute Swan pair. A Goldcrest called and displayed its crest in the willows nearby.

Further on, 4+ Bullfinches were feeding on dropped seeds and a Jay was mobbing something in the pines. Back in the village, near our house, a Marsh Tit showed but proved too elusive to photograph.

We then did a lap around the road edging the coastal fields and had 153 Curlew, 157 Golden Plover, 29 Lapwing, 4 Mistle Thrushes and 2 Fieldfares. I heard my first Skylark of the year, but I still haven't seen one yet...

So much for us getting a foot of snow...