11 February 2018

Headed down to the Lyde Road patch hoping to get better views of firecrest than last months bird at Pen Mill. A walk along the railway line failed to produce much except a few Ravens and a Jay, so I headed back to the eastern field. It seems I find a new patch tick every time I set foot in this field, but my hopes weren't to high to get 4 in a row! I spent most of the time scanning the South side of the river, and I eventually found a few fieldfares in amongst the redwing, an overdue patch year tick. Whilst scanning, a yellow blob in the nearer bushes caught my eye - turned out to be a male Yellowhammer! Yet another patch lifer! On closer inspection, there were at least 2 female type birds also. Is this another overdue tick, or a genuine patch scarcity? This site's somewhat scrambled my ability to tell. Also of note was finally connecting with a Pheasant in one of the field margins south of the river and at least 2 Stonechat (potentially the first pair I had here last month). Another surprise was a flyover Little Egret, a species I've only seen twice on patch in the last two years so another good one for the year. My patch year list is now on 63, it's looking good for target of 100!

Yellowhammer - Lyde Road

Pheasant - Lyde Road