A short drive west to Toothill first thing this morning. Hoping to find some more "classic" farmland as opposed to the New Forest type Heaths, and boggy Woods that seem to dominate the area round North Baddesley.
Small network of footpaths I chose combined a small pheasant wood, which I'll investigate more closely next time, some farmhouses and cottages, horse grazed fields, and some larger fields of crops.
Morning was pleasant enough with a few Nuthatches, Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming. Saw the tail of a covey of Partridges, which "could" have been Grey, but expertly disappeared over a ridge without me gettign much on them.
At the far end of the walk saw a reasonable flock of around 100 Fieldfare, and a few Red Legged Partridges. The last field I saw had a good sized flock of about 80 Linnets.
Still missing a few species that I was used to seeing regularly in the Milton Keynes area, notably Yellowhammers, Reed Buntings, Golden Plovers, and Lapwings. Will venture even further west next time towards the River Test, to see what that farmland has to offer.
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