Saturday 15 November 2008

Buckland Dinham bird survey - the end.

Leaving the 'sweaters on legs' or is that 'hurdle boxers' behind me, I walked down the hill past a disused colliery (you can just see the chimney in amongst the trees). If I'd had the time, I would have tried to get over there for a closer look, but it was away from my footpath shown on my ordnance survey map and my birding survey had to come first. At the bottom of the hill there was a very small brook lined with trees and it was here that I picked up birds like Blue Tits and this smart looking Great Tit. Now, it's a crap photo, but I couldn't resist putting this one in for my friend Evie http://www.sunnysideup.blogspot.com/ . These aren't a couple of yours that have been beamed over here across the pond are they Evie? (-:There's the disused colliery in the background again. It was at this point that I had to walk along several of these muddy stubble fields. As I walked along I picked up more and more mud on my boots. In the end I felt like I had concrete blocks on my feet! I should have taken a photo of my boots at this point! (-: I love the look of these fields though and the colours at the moment are just lovely.
I finished my stomp through the stubble fields at this farmyard. The green grassy bit in the middle of this photo was a handy spot for scraping off the worst of the mud. Then it was back up the country lane....... ......to the village and my car. It was a great walk with some lovely weather and some brilliant birding. I look forward to doing this route again in either January or February.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another nice post to round off your report Jen. Nice colours of Autumn. I have been trying to locate that chimney on the Google map/aerial, but without success so far. Sometimes you can see the shadow of something tall. Is it N, S, E or W of the village.?
And you found some 'Evie' birds, I bet that made you smile to yourself.
This walk is going to produce some good sightings for your throughout the seasons.

Mary said...

Wow...how long was this walk in miles?? I had no idea what a colliery was and had to look it up...a coal mine? The views look lovely and the weather perfect for all this hiking! I know Eve will enjoy seeing "her" birds over there :-)

Eve said...

Hi Jenny Wren! I could'nt believe my eyes to see those Guineas you ran into!! Did they yell at you??? I wonder who's they were! Thanks so much for that, that really made me laugh. That Great Tit is my very favorite bird of the UK! I just think that is the "smartest" looking bird, as you would say. I too, like Roy was Googling all around that area looking for your trail. I think I saw your muddy foot prints in the field!! All three of these posts are wonderful. I wish I could have been there with you for sure!

Jenny said...

Hi all, I've saved a GE image of the area that I surveyed and will try and show you where I went and the colliery etc soon.
I don't know how many miles exactly Mary, but it was a two hour timed visit. One in early winter Nov/Dec, one in late winter Jan/Feb, one in early spring Apr/May and one in late spring Jun/July. I've done the spring ones for this square already, so only need to do my late winter survey for this particular square to be finished. Evie, glad you liked the Guineas, I had to smile and thought of you when those came into view.! (-:

Quiet Paths said...

Oh I've gotten behind over the wkend. I love the shots of bare earth in the fields. Do they burn their fields over there in the UK? As always, your bird shots are much enjoyed here; crap or no.

Its Time to Live said...

Some great images, especially of birds.

Jenny said...

Hi Christine, I get behind too with looking at blogs. No we don't seem to do any burning over here, maybe in the past, I'm not sure. I love the look of stubble fields and I LOVE the low winter sun too. (-:

Hi 'its time to live', thanks for stopping by to look at my blog and I'm glad you enjoyed the bird photos, I'm continually trying to get closer to them for better shots, something to aim for I guess!

Tuga7 said...

Nice shots, nice walk, love the yellow bird.