Blue is the colour

Friday 9th December 2011
Garden stuff, - building up a nice little feeding group of House sparrows, hardly worth a mention a few years back but numbers have fallen alarmingly in my area. A nice change from Blackbirds and Woodpigeons. Also 8 unidentified geese heading SW, this morning ,definitely black geese and definitely not Canadas so may have been Brent.
Bit of local birding on what started out as a lovely morning weatherwise. A stroll round Caldecote Hall produced a number of regular species including: Skylark c60, Kestrel 3, Peregrine imm., Heron 3, Sparrowhawk, Stock Dove 15, Green Woodpecker and Mistle Thrush. Numbers of Redwing and Fieldfare were much lower than last week. It was then on to Bentley Woods. About 25 Chaffinch and Pied wagtail were feeding in the Maize stubble field at the entrance. Further into the wood a mobile finch flock fed in the Larch trees, among the Redpoll, Siskin and Goldfinch were 3 Crossbill. Other birds seen or heard were Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Greater spotted Woodpecker and Common Buzzard. Unfortunately my visit was cut short by a heavy shower.
And another thing;
Claret and blue is good, blue on a Kingfisher is stunning, blue on a Red flanked Bluetail amazing but blue Christmas lights draped around somebodies garage door like the entrails of a radioactive cow I find frankly, quite gawdy, Its an age thing I know but I dont find the penetrating electronic blue which seems so popular this year in any way attractive or in the least bit Christmasy. There, I've said it, my little rant is over. A couple of months ago it was Chinese lanterns polluting the countryside, today its blue lights next year I'll find something else to moan about I'm sure.