Resident Sparrowhawk, Owls, Buzzards & Pop Goes The Weasel

Abbey Farm, Flitcham – Thursday 5^th March

Barn Owl

The excitement started before we left home today. I was on the computer and Jan was standing behind me when I felt her hand on my shoulder and heard the instructions - turn around very slowly. Of course I didn’t, only to see a Sparrowhawk disappear into the field behind us. Jan had seen the male Sparrowhawk land on the back fence but seeing there were no birds on the feeders left almost immediately. That is three times he has visited us this week and judging from the feathers in the front garden he’s only been successful the once.

We left home at 2.45pm. It was overcast but dry and the temperature was 9˚C. 

We had to call into Swaffham to pick up some new birdseed but then we went onto Abbey Farm, Flitcham, one of our favourite bird watching locations. On the way we saw a Kestrel and a very lucky Weasel who ran across the road in front of us, it looked as if he’d just been fired out of a pop-gun, let’s hope he remains lucky. 

We were a bit disappointed when we arrived at Abbey Farm as there were already 3 cars in the car park which probably meant the hide was fairly full so we sat in the car park for a while. We saw a Dunnock, Great Tit and some Pheasants while we were sitting there. One of the cars’ two occupants came out and left but we decided to have a drive down the lane to see if we could see anything. 

There were a few small birds moving along the lane, some Chaffinches and Blue Tits. We pulled up by the gate and we could see about 12-15 Fieldfares perched at the top of a tree. Then we went back to the car park and all the cars had now gone. In our experience we know that quite a lot of people only go to Abbey Farm to see one thing, one or more of the Little Owls. On reading the sightings book there were no entries since Tuesday. It was now 4.10pm and we had the hide to ourselves until we left at 6pm.

Fieldfares

Our first scan revealed lots of Fieldfares and Rabbits spread all across the field in front of us. We also saw some Curlews, Coots, Moorhen, Pheasants, Jackdaws and a pair of Greylag Geese. In the fields further on there were lots of Gulls following a tractor and just generally wheeling about in the air and in the fields to our right we could see two Hares and later a big Buck Hare making his way along the edge of the field.

View From The Hide

Then right out of nowhere a Barn Owl came from behind the hide and quartered immediately in front of the hide and then landed on a fence post directly in front of the hide. Jan got a lovely video of the bird, quite short but nice and clear. The video will be going on our YouTube Channel in the next few days. Having had three days out this week there is a fair amount of processing to be done. For us, it doesn’t matter how many Barn Owls we see, each one is a magical experience, they are such beautiful, graceful birds.

Barn Owl In Front Of The Hide

We had four sightings of a Buzzard but I think that three of them were the same bird. There was just one solitary Teal although there were some Mallard visible both in the air and on the water behind the hide. A pair of Egyptian Geese flew over a couple of times and a skein of perhaps 10-15 Greylag Geese flew over as well.

View From The Hide

There was a Grey Squirrel that was busy collecting bedding material behind the hide. We had good views of both a Mistle and a Song Thrush and several Robins were active around the hide. A Wren was very busy in the gorse bushes immediately in front of the hide.

Unusually Marked Pheasant 

(Cock Or Hen?)

We once again saw the unusually coloured Pheasant that we first saw here about a month ago. At that time the Pheasant was with a group of females and we assumed it was a female but if it was the same bird it was displaying more signs that perhaps it was a cock Pheasant but it still has no markings other than an inverted colour. I think it is perhaps a form of melanism (a genetic variation that removes pigmentation leaving a darker and sometimes, black colouration). What was interesting was that the bird was trying to hang out with two cock Pheasants but they were having none of it and eventually chased the bird away. Perhaps, a reflection of how we as human beings treat other people who are different from us.

We stayed until just before 6pm and just before we left a Little Owl made an appearance on the tree roots of the fallen Oak Tree but unfortunately it was now too gloomy to get any pictures. We left to make our way home via the lane that runs along the Farm and we had a sighting of a Rat, a Hare and a couple of Rabbits including one that was small enough to hold in the palm of your hand.

Keep your eyes peeled and good spotting.