Around the Patch

A little look around the patch over the past few weeks, I walk through the park in the town centre most mornings on the way to work and i'm still squeezing in a visit into the woods before work a couple of times a week too, plus I visited a bit of a neglected (by me!) park at the other side of town.

There has been work going on in this park, a new children's play area and the old tennis court and unfortunately a lot of surrounding trees/bushes which were great for Tits and Finches have been removed to make way for an all weather pitch (I think). Still there are a lot of birds around though definitely not as many of the smaller song birds as usual.

Dartmouth Park

I've seen lots of nesting Woodpigeons and Magpies all around the patch and seen plenty of other birds gathering materials too including the first Blackcap of the year this past week.

In the woods the Woodpecker has been drumming regularly, there are Nuthatches, Song and Mistle Thrush, all the usual Tits, Robins, Dunnocks, Woodpigeons, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Doves and Blackbirds. I've not seen a Treecreeper again after the one on the 1st January.

I've taken the camera with me on the way to work a couple of times, I saw my last pair of Redwing on the 9th April on a foggy football pitch, the latest i've seen any here.

There are lots of signs of spring around finally, it's good to see, Bluebells are even out in the woods this week.

There was a Sparrowhawk in the garden at the end of March, sat in the top of the Laburnum as the Sparrows were coming in to roost.

A different bird to this one I saw the following day over the town centre

And not the same one that was in the stand off with the Magpies?

Elsewhere in the garden the birds are in full song and there are a lot in and out of the garden. A couple of Chiffchaff have passed through too. A pair of Starlings have been nest building in the gutter as happens every year. Sparrows have been collecting materials and the Robin has paired up over the weekend. Also just over a week ago we had the first Hedgehog in the garden this year and it's been back most nights since. 

Now bring on the Swallows and Swifts!