A mottled blue/white sky and low sea mist made for a warming feeling on a Sunday morning. Overhead groups of Starling, Pigeon and Long-tailed Tits flew. A Red Admiral flitted around some browning Buddleia and black silhouette, long pointed tail feathers and white underwings of a Magpie was seen.
The loud shrill of a Blackbird echoed around nearby trees, in a Weeping Willow Chaffinch moved from branch to branch and a Robin hid in a Bay Tree. Male and female Blackcaps distinguishable by the colour of their heads, black being male and brown being female were in abundance along the hedgerows. Also seen in a similar area were Dunnock, Blue tit, Chiffchaff and Garden Warbler, all moving along and through the dense hedge.
A Carian Crow sat on top of a Hawthorn tree full of fresh, ripe, red berries and as I watched I spotted an odd shape at the top of another tree, focusing in it was a Grey Squirrel, strange to see it so high and open.
As the leaves of Sycamore, Maple, Lime, Elm and Horse Chestnut are turning brown, my attention has moved from the wildflowers of the traditional hay meadows to the corridors of ancient hedgerows that line them.
I checked on the Herefords which all seemed happy munching away on some fresh grass. A charm of Goldfinches flew over and landed in a nearby Maple tree, while also airborne were a small group of Herring Gulls, Swallows and Goldfinches, which looked like they were having a race, the Swallows the supreme flier and out in front.
A large group of Long-tailed Tits 30+ were flying between the hedgerows and scrub patches, so close I could hear their wings beat together as they flew around me. It was a beautiful sight to watch.