Saturday 7 September 2019

Heaving Hedges !!

Most of my day has been taken up with agility training three of the dogs at Staverton . The usual Ravens were present and very vocal and visible.
My plan was to grab something to eat and have a quick walk at Borough Hill, but as I drove into the car park my heart sank as it was extremely busy and I very nearly drove straight home. However I was hungry after all the training so decided to eat my sandwiches. It's a good job that I did because as I sat in the car park I could hear a Common Redstart calling.  That was all the incentive I needed to get out of the car and at that point was only planning a short walk.
My short walk turned into a two hour amble as I kept getting distracted by the sheer amount of passerines moving along the hedgerows. It was fabulous to watch as the birds were calling, feeding and flitting about as they moved along the hedge. Thankfully the dogs were tired and were very content to simply sit and wait as I stopped and started all the way round. 
It felt a bit like old times as a few years ago heavy movement of passerines was a regular occurrence at this site.
At the end of my walk I had found a Pied Flycatcher, 6+ Spotted Flycatcher, 5 Common Redstart, 2 Tree Pipits, 3 Whinchat, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, Sedge and Garden Warbler, numerous Blackcap, Whitethroats, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warbler. In amongst all these warblers were Blue and Great Tits, Goldfinches, Bullfinches, juvenile Robins, Goldcrests and a few Song Thrushes and Blackbirds.
It was hard to draw myself away and I wonder what else was moving through unseen.
A quick stop at Ravensthorpe where the water level is very low produced a Green Sandpiper and an Osprey heading over the dam.
My final birding of the day was with my two other dogs and at shrike hedge below Hanging Houghton there were 2 Whinchat and a Barn Owl.

Regards Eleanor

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