Update To Yesterday's Post

Monday 6th October 2014

I forgot to mention yesterday that the two Butterflies (Peacock & Small Tortoiseshell) are two Butterflies that hibernate during the Winter. They normally find a frost free spot to go into hibernation. I've seen many people who find these in churches in the Winter who say they should be put out or that they are dead. The problem is, if you put them out they will certainly die 1. Because there is no food for them and 2. Any frost will certainly kill them. It is much better to leave them where they are because they will be producing next year's Butterflies.

I mentioned that yesterday Jan saw two Buzzards soaring above our home; I have just read on Birdguides that 2 Buzzards were seen in Watton about the time Jan saw her two and one was a Common Buzzard and the other was a Rough Legged Buzzard.

I learnt something new today from Autumnwatch. We generally call a flock of Starlings a murmuration of Starlings. The reason for this is if you have ever been fortunate enough to see a large murmuration of Starlings coming into roost at night, the air passing through their feathers causes them to murmurate which causes the noise you hear. What I didn't know is that a small group of Starlings, like the ones that land in your garden and normally start squabbling, are called a filth. As it happens I have just been watching a group of about 40-60 Starlings swirling around in front of our home; I suspect they would be called a murmuration rather than a filth of Starlings.

We've had a Chiff Chaff in the garden again today. It was feeding off the plants around the edge of the pond. When I saw it I was carrying something so I couldn't get a picture of it. It's the second time I've seen it in the garden in the last week.

Keep your eyes peeled and good spotting.