Thursday 8 February 2018

Kestrels and more at Cranford Park

I had a shorter visit to Cranford Park today and the weather was completely different to yesterday. It was very overcast and cloudy but a little milder. It made for challenging photography.
 
By the wood circle there were a pair of Long-tailed Tits investigating the tangle of brambles. I managed to capture one of them.....
 
 
There is a large tree by the stable block, which is covered in ivy. It was there yesterday that I saw Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Redwing and Blackbird. Today the ivy was alive again with many Blackbird, more Redwing and more thrushes, but it was very hard to grab a photo in the dull light....

Redwing silhouette
 I checked the nest hole in Bluebell Dell and found the Ring-necked Parakeets were still there. One of them was still excavating the nest hole and spitting out loads of sawdust....
 
 
Last spring when the Great Spotted Woodpeckers nested there it always amused me that they had chosen such a place. This branch came down in a storm and fell 'head' first becoming wedged between a couple of other branches. The branch is completely dead now.....

 
A few years ago Buzzards nested in the woods for the first time. Last March they used the same nest site again, and today I twice say a Buzzard soaring low over the woods near the tree. It's very hard to watch the nest as the birds are incredibly shy and nervous, and obviously I don't want to disturb them. There are only three 'spots' where you can see the nest, and once the trees green up the nest will become invisible. The nest is below as seen today. It is illegal to disturb any nesting birds, so the location is a closely guarded secret....

 
I haven't seen the resident Kestrels for a while so it was great to see the female. I got some lovely views of her as she scanned the woodland floor, it was just a shame it was so dark today as my photos don't do her justice....
 



 
After seeing her once, I then kept seeing her every where.......





 
So a much shorter visit than yesterday, but one that was just as packed.
 

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