Short pre-work walk, round Mursley Pheasant runs was quite enjoyable. One Pheasant feeding station seems to attract mainly Linnets and the numbers are now up to 68. The "main" feeding area is very difficult to scan through as it runs away from the footpath, and unless the birds are at the footpath end, they could be a few hundred yards away. Today, there were about 40 birds, roughly 20 Chaffinches, 15 Yellowhammers, and 5 Reed Buntings. May have been a Brambling in amongst them, but the view was too brief, long distant, and obscured by branches to confirm!
Male Sparrowhawk was sniffing round the edges of the adjacent field, but didn't seem to startle the birds too much which was odd.
8 Golden Plover: 6 overhead, 2 flying low seeking somewhere to land was a welcome sighting. Have seen hardly any this winter.
Passed by Snelshall on the way home.. still nothing in the promising looking ditch behind the factory.. may have to write that location off as a non starter! Plenty of common birds around.. Goldfinch, Bullfinch, etc. Light was excellent this morning, and was treated to some excellent views.
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