Winter Wols back in Wesidence

As Bawwy Kwipky would say (if you are not a Big Bang Theory fan the reference will be lost on you!). Today (22nd) saw me walk from Hailsham to Chilley Farm in the morning before a later pootle out to Lookers Cottage.

Low light of the day was this Shortie which was on New bridge road between Horse-eye farm and Rickney. Whether this bird was the subject of a collision or not was impossible to say but I would be of the opinion that this would be extremely unlikely given the speed you can drive around the levels at. I turned it over to check for evidence of shot and rings, neither of which were obvious. All very depressing.
On a more positive note this mornings walk produced a couple of Golden Plover over White Dyke, there plaintive call evocative of wild places, a couple of Snipe (flushed by Hazel), 4 Wigeon, 2 Marsh Harrier, 2 Buzzard, Kingfisher, and a showy Cettis', all on Horse-eye/ White Dyke, a Chiff-chaff along New bridge road, and numerous small flocks of Redwing and Fieldfare pretty much everywhere.

On the insect front a Buff-tailed Bumblebee was loitering around the last flowering Ivy on New bridge road in close to freezing conditions. The moth trap has finally been moth-balled for the winter now the mild weather is over. The four nights I was able to run this month yielding a total of 10 macros' and 3 micros' the best of which were the male Feathered Thorn pictured right on the night of the 3rd and 2 Silver Y on the night of the 1st.

So to this evenings visit to Lookers where a couple of Shorties were putting on a good display as they hunted the rough areas looking back towards Hailsham, hopefully they will be around for the rest of the winter since they brighten up the dullest of winter days, along with another Buzzard, 3 Kestrel, Little Egret, one of the resident Little Owls, and a spanking sunset a good end to the day.