Woodland

Is it a human failing to be competitive? To want what someone else has seen? If so, I declare myself human. And so this morning I find myself in a certain piece of local woodland for the first time. To get to the 100 species mark around Cuddesdon was always going to require getting into different habitats, habitats that could provide new and diffferent bird species. This piece of woodland has always looked good for Marsh Tit and Woodcock, with the outside chance of species like Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch or even Crossbill. Any of the above would do! In the event, Marsh Tit is immediately obvious:

Large flocks of Long-tailed, Blue, Great and Coal Tits move around with Goldcrests in the conifers, Roe Deer at the woodland edges and Muntjack in the wood itself. No Woodcock today however. Outside the wood, a local record is broken with a flock of at least 800 Fieldfare, some of which are pictured below:

Opposite our house a Red kite tucks into some local roadkill, sadly a sight which we will only be able to enjoy for a few more weeks as the house opposite is building an extension wihich will obscure our view of these trees. Ok, the Kite is disant, obscured by branches and videoed through our bedroom double glazing, but I'll post it for posterity: