I've just had the most brilliant time in Stockbridge and the surrounding areas today.
The idea was to try and find some Grey legged Partridges, but on the way, I saw a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker!!!! I couldn't believe my eyes, I have wanted to see one for the past eighteen months, I was delighted.
Later on, driving down a country lane, I flushed lots of small birds from the trees and the verges. I stopped the car to see if there were any Brambling amongst them........and yes, there were quite a few. Unfortunately the light was very bad today and the photos were only silhouettes of the birds, so not much good.
We saw lots of birds, but no sign of the Partridges, so we decided to call it a day and go to Stockbridge for a cuppa. I was driving up the main street looking for somewhere to park, when I noticed lots of starlings overhead.
I turned into Longstock Road and pulled into the layby beside the River Test, where we sat and watched the starlings.........a couple of thousand of them. I was just thinking what an enjoyable day it had been, when I noticed something in the field next to the layby..........a Barn Owl!!!!!!!!!!! I grabbed the camera and jumped out of the car. It was only 4:15 and there was still some daylight left, though not much. An elderly man came over to see what we were looking at, and then a police car pulled up to see what was going on...........
It really was quite something, with a couple of thousand starlings flying over us and the barn owl flying in the field next to us. I guess it was there for fifteen minutes or so and when it went out of sight, I looked up to see the starlings, but they had all gone as well.
On the down side, the photos I took are very disappointing. There was only one I considered posting on the blog, but even it was mostly black and the barn owl was hardly noticeable. I'm going to try and get back to Stockbridge sometime next week, so lets hope I get to see that Owl again..........
151. lesser spotted woodpecker
152. brambling
153. barn owl
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