Tuesday, 29 January 2019

Magpie

Last weekend was the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. It was a wet day on Saturday, so we didn't visit the plot but Sunday I was showing a new plotholder around so I got to the site at about 12:30.
It was an extremely windy day, but the sun was shining much of the time. I sat in the doorway of the polytunnel, with my flask of hot coffee and big camera, so that I could zoom in on any birds who decided to show up.
The numbers weren't huge, but this is what I saw:
4 x Robins
2 x Dunnocks
2 x Magpies
1 x Wren
2 x Wood Pigeon
1 x Chaffinch
1 x Great Tit
1 x Fieldfare (very exciting that he turned up!)
This is the Fieldfare - they're the same size as a thrush (in the same family). Unfortunately it stayed amongst the branches which blocked my view rather - but I could see enough for identification purposes (we initially thought it was a Redwing).

The magpies and pigeons weren't unexpected!
And we like to see the dunnocks.
I couldn't get any more photos. I showed our newest plotholder around and once he'd selected his plot I returned home to make carrot and leek soup (added a bit too much chilli powder, cough cough!). Very tasty though.
This photo is mostly to show off my funky new cutlery
I picked more leeks than intended because they look a bit ropey at the root end. I'm not sure whether I put the fork through them or if it's bug damage - but there was plenty left after I chopped that off. The HoneyBoat squash is for dinner this week.
I know I like the Honeyboat but I think the Crown Prince was probably the most tasty squash I've had this year. I had two delicious lunchtime salads with cold roasted squash and Peppadew sweet peppers.
I struggled to find a song for today's post, but opted for this one by Beth Orton (no-one's written a song called Fieldfare, unfortunately!)

2 comments:

  1. How exciting to spot a fieldfare. If we’d done the count at the allotment we would have had plenty of wood pigeons.

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    Replies
    1. I know! Really good timimg! All the other birds were as expected really

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