Garden birding

House renovations have taken up almost all of my free time recently and Sunday was no exception. Unlike previous weekends though, where the emphasis has been on working inside the house, the forecast good weather meant I had to forgo the last SCAN cannon netting trip of the year, get the big ladders out and concentrate on painting around the windows where new render had been applied and pointing some of the roof tiles.

This gave me the chance to note the number of species seen throughput the day and I ended up with a fairly impressive 51 including two new species for the house list -  as flyover Peregrine and a Lesser Redpoll on the feeders!  The Little Owls appear to be roosting in a neighbours garden and both can be quite vocal during the day.

Unfortunately there aren't many windfall apples for the thrushes to feed on as one of the builders asked Mrs W if it was alright to take some for his pigs. He took the lot, including those still on the trees and was last seen loading three black dustbins full on to his van. The few remaining apples attracted up t o6 Blackbirds and a stunning Fieldfare that stayed long enough for me to run inside, grab the camera and fire off a couple of shots from the bedroom window.

The typically muddy entrance to the cow field opposite and the presence of a feeding trough and puddle of water have attracted a Grey Wagtail and up to four Pied Wagtails. These were joined by at least two Meadow Pipits.

All in all a good day and the new house list stands at 66 species since we bought the place in mid September.