Parakeets

Although I have seen an occasional ring neck parakeet flying over the village, it is only recently that I have reason to believe they may have colonised the area. I saw an individual bird the other day, but it flew off over the North Downs, so I thought little more about it. Today two birds were mobbing a kestrel suggesting they were protecting a nesting site.

Sowing

The farmers both behind and in  front of the house have been sowing their fields over the last few days. These fields have been left as stubble over the winter and have attracted a large variety of birds. The disturbance caused by the sowing has led to an invasion by crows, jackdaws, black headed and herring gulls. These birds have appeared in large numbers, (two hundred plus). The gulls are normally flying over these fields each day enroute to richer pickings, and, although there have been a few members of the crow family around throughout the winter, I am left wondering where all these extra birds have appeared from.

Butterflies

Become so warm over the last few days that I have seen three different butterfly species. I would have expected to see a brimstone, but tortoise shells are a bit of a surprise.
It never ceases to amaze me to find birds retuirning yuear after yesar to the same areas to breed. Swifts, swallow, and martins obviously do so, but this morning so a group of linnets in exactly the same hedgrow they bred in last year.

First Migrant

Not surprised that the first spring migrant of this year, heard this morning, was a chiffchaff. The weather has turned very mild so that we have bats flying up and down the lane in the evenings. Blue tits are building in the nest box just outside the kitchen window. Heard yellow hammer singing and the chaffinches are singing away. The flock of chaffinches is still around but I have now been able to determine that they are mainly females. The males are establishing their territories and presumably their mates wil accompany them soon.

Nest Building

A blackbird and a wren were busy this morning carrying nesting material into the garden hedge.
A large flock (approximately 100 birds) of chaffinches were feeding on the maize field. As the local chaffinches are singing and staking their territories, I wonder if these birds are winter migrants that will soon be heading northwards. Still plenty of fieldfares around.