Croston area 30th November

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Paul Whittaker
Golden Eagle
Posts: 241
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2010 12:20 pm
Location: Croston

Croston area 30th November

Post by Paul Whittaker »

Just an update from Croston.
Early mornings on most days we have small skeins of Pinkfoots over the Grape Lane area but yesterday at first light there were about 500 birds flying low over the pasture between Grape Lane and Highfield Road. I thought they were coming into land but they continued in a westerly direction. This part of Croston is also home to many hundreds of Corvids at present. During the day small groups of Jackdaws and Crows in particular hold the highest tree tops but yesterday afternoon something put them all in the air together and there were huge flocks around Grape Lane and the top end of the Moss. The noise they made was incredible! It's hard to get an idea of the numbers as they were spread out so widely.
My garden feeding station which is about 100yards from the corn mill is very active with mixed flocks of tits with goldfinch and tree sparrows joining in. Robins, Dunnock and Wren tend to keep under the shrubs, wary of the ever present Sparrowhawk who paid a visit in the morning clinging onto the trunk of a tree where I hang my feeders, having just missed out on a meal.
The river Yarrow seems very quiet at present. I walked down from the weir to the bridge on Westhead Road yesterday and there were just a few mallard on the water some happily head bobbing away to each other! I did hear from a reliable source that there were 3 Great Crested Grebe on the river near Westhead Road last week.
Along the river across the Croft Field there were lots of tits along the riverside trees including a party of Long-tailed Tits with the usual blackbirds and robins.
On my way home I found a flock of 15 Pinkfoots on the stubble between Highfield Road and Grape Lane (viewed from the old hall gateway on Grape Lane) almost in sight of my back garden. Now if I could just persuade them to come a little closer that would be a mega garden tick!! Although they would drive my little westie mental!!
Sorry it's a long post! I will be more regular and briefer going forward.
peter hodkinson
Woodpecker
Posts: 33
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2011 7:58 pm
Location: coppull

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