Little Cressingham To The Arms – Sunday 4th January 2015
We originally weren’t going to go out today because of the forecast
of freezing fog but the day was glorious, there was some mist and it was cold
4C but it was far too nice to stay in.
We decided to stay locally and our first stop was the Watton Brook
on The Cressingham Road. We saw five Hares here along with some Redwings,
Pheasants, Partridges, Wood Pigeon and Blue Tits. Moving on along the
Cressingham Road towards Great Cressingham the mist started to get thicker and
visibility was quite reduced. As we moved along the road we saw first a male
Sparrowhawk hunting the hedgerows and then a juvenile female Kestrel moving
along the roadside verges, she landed on the branch of a tree right over the
middle of the road right in front of us. We stopped and watched the bird for
several minutes before she flew off. Fortunately no other traffic came along
and we had a good view of the road both in front and behind us so Jan was able
to get some footage of her, which is on our YouTube Channel.
Watton Brook
Further along the road we pulled into a corner of a field where
we’ve seen Hares before but not today. The mist was really getting thicker now
and the temperature had dropped by a couple of degrees, it felt quite icy. In
the middle of the field were several male pheasants but in the hedge along the
side of the field was a large flock of small birds, we managed to make out two
male and one female Bullfinches but as the birds moved away from us they were
difficult to make out in the mist.
Hares
As we crossed the River Wissey at Great Cressingham there were a
couple of Moorhens on the river and a couple of Blue Tits in a riverside tree.
We continued on towards the Ford at Hilborough seeing lots of Corvids around
the Pig Farm and another five Hares in roadside fields. We stopped at the Ford
for a little while until some dog walkers turned up so we decided to move to
the church at Hilborough but now the mist was closing in and becoming quite
dense. We tried another couple of places but visibility was getting quite poor
so we de reluctantly decided to make our way home taking a detour up to The
Arms along the way.
Female Kestrel
We hadn’t gone very far up Cressingham Road when Jan stopped the car
and said Barn Owl! When I said where she said beside us. The Barn Owl moved up
the road in front of us searching the verge and hedgerow for prey. Through the
binoculars I could just make out through the mist the Barn Owl sitting on top
of A Passing Place sign. We inched forward and although sat there for a while
we got nowhere near enough to get a picture of him before it was off into the
misty darkness.
The Mist Closes In
I think we were both glad to get home as the temperature had now
dropped to 0C.
Keep your eyes peeled and good spotting.
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