Sunday Afternoon Jaunt Around The Locality

Bodney via Little Cressingham-Hilborough-Ickburgh-Threxton – Sunday 1^st March 2015

We left home at 12.50pm, it was 10˚C, bright but very windy with quite a cold wind. We left the Watton Road to go up to The Arms. There were plenty of Corvids both in the air and on the ground, which was much the same wherever we went today. There were also plenty of Gulls and Wood Pigeon about. We saw a pair of Mistle Thrushes in one field and then high above them amongst the Corvids were two Buzzards. The Corvids weren’t mobbing them and the Buzzards didn’t seem in the slightest bit interested in them as they gradually soared away from the area. We saw plenty of Pheasants and Partridges which was again repeated in many of the locations we visited this afternoon.

Moving around to the top of the Cressingham Road we had a good view and saw thousands of birds again both in the air and on the ground. In the far distance we could see a pair of Buzzards soaring at quite an altitude, probably somewhere over Hilborough and Jan saw a raptor fly low and fast over a mass of Wood Pigeons and Corvids putting up a cloud of Pigeons in the air but not bothering the Corvids. Jan thought it was a Sparrowhawk but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared and the Wood Pigeons soon settled down again.

We parked so we could see the back of a hedge where we have recently seen a very large flock of small birds (mainly Finches and Buntings) feeding several times but apart from a few Pheasants there didn’t appear to be much activity at all. We moved around to the front of the hedge but again there was very little activity until we got down to a small patch of trees which adjoined the hedge. Here we could see more activity with birds coming to and fro’ between ivy clad trees and the corner of the field. It was more sheltered from the wind here but even so the birds weren’t venturing very far from the trees and the birds we were able to identify were mainly Chaffinches.

Carrying on along the Cressingham Road we parked up by the Brook where again we had a good view in several directions. Jan saw a Buzzard on the ground in a field to our right which was being half heartedly mobbed by a Lesser Black-backed Gull. We couldn’t clearly see the ground where the Buzzard was so whether it was on a kill or had some carrion that the Gull wanted we couldn’t quite see. In the same field we could see a couple of Hares and Jan saw to our right a Green Woodpecker and three Pied Wagtails.

Pied Wagtails

The overall view on our left towards the camp at Bodney was predominantly a continual movement of Corvids. At one point a Buzzard soared above the trees but quickly moved out of view. Then a bird as nearly big as a Buzzard came into view but it was much more streamlined and had no fingers to the end of its wings, it was a female Goshawk and this was confirmed as two Crows went to mob the bird but before they got to the Goshawk they thought better of it and flew off. You could only describe the way the Goshawk was flying as magnificent as it just appeared completely in charge of the air but once again it disappeared towards Hilborough as quickly as it had appeared. I couldn’t help wondering whether it was the same bird that we had seen yesterday over Hollow Heath, Hilborough.

Continuing along Cressingham Road we disturbed a Sparrowhawk and then came across a flock of 40-50 Fieldfares who came to roost in the same tree as about 30 Starlings. The Fieldfares looked quite exotic. The Fieldfares moved off but we saw them again feeding in a field further along the Cressingham Road. Before we got to Great Cressingham we saw another Buzzard (whether or not it was one we’d seen earlier, we don’t know) and a Kestrel.

As we turned off The Cressingham Road to go towards Hilborough we saw a rather strange litter of Pigs in the Pig Farm. Each one appeared to be a different colour; black & white, brown & white, ginger, spotted and the standard pink! Whether the Sow was a surrogate mother to them I don’t know but the only word I can think of in describing them, is cute! As we went along the lane there were the usual masses of Corvids and Gulls but we also saw a Stock Dove and a few Rabbits. We parked down at The Ford at Hilborough and had our coffee there but apart from one solitary Robin and a pair of Mallards we didn’t see anything else.

We moved to Ickburgh and as we went down to the River Wissey we saw Blue Tits, Chaffinches and Long Tailed Tits. We parked up and once again the main birds were hundreds of Corvids making their way somewhere or other. We did see a Female and Male Sparrowhawk pass over but not at the same time and also a Kestrel. Looking back over the M.O.D. Battle area Jan saw a Buzzard soaring over the trees and a Goldfinch deftly taking the seeds out of a pine cone on a tree, we also three Magpies.

Views At Ickburgh

Making our way back to the Mundford-Swaffham Road we came across a group of Long Tailed Tits, a Kestrel and about 30 Greylag Geese feeding on some lush crops in a field. We made our way back to Watton taking a detour through Threxton. At the Church of All Saints we saw a beautifully marked Mistle Thrush and Kestrel which we have seen in that location several times. Jan also saw 15 Long Tailed Tits lined up on a wire above the sewage treatment plant.

It was now well after 5pm and the light was beginning to go. Jan saw two Mute Swans down by the Brook and we saw another 3 Hares in roadside fields. Then just before we got to Hall Farm, Jan said “What’s that?” and about a 100 metres in front of us was a Barn Owl flying at ground level along the verge straight towards us. Jan said, “I can’t stop, I’ve got someone behind me!” As she pulled over and the car overtook us the Barn Owl flew into the hedge on our right about 50 metres ahead of us. We stopped there for several minutes seeing if it would fly out and I was sure that I could see it in the hedge. Eventually we decided to go forward slowly and as we approached the bit where it flew into the hedge there were some big holes in the hedge so we assumed it had flown straight through one of those; but as we got to the point it was still there, I’m not sure who was most surprised us or the Barn Owl, Jan stopped and the Owl remained there for a few seconds just over a metre from us but before Jan could ready her camera it was gone into the field but then Jan saw it in the rear view mirror as it popped back over the hedge and continued hunting along the verge slowly disappearing out of sight.

Now we thought that was it, a good way to end an afternoon’s bird watching but what do they say: “It ain’t over until the fat lady sings!” Or in this case until the Sparrowhawk says so! Just the other side of Hall Farm about 200 metres further on a turbo charged Sparrowhawk exploded from the hedge on our right and flew right across the front of us. We were only going about 5 mph so there was no danger but now a great afternoon’s nature watching really was all over. Don’t you just love nature and the real privilege of being able to observe it.

This is a summary of what we saw today:

Thousands of Corvids (Crows, Jackdaws & Rooks), Gulls & Wood Pigeon

8 Buzzards

5 Sparrowhawks

4 Kestrels

1 Goshawk

1 Barn Owl

1 Green Woodpecker

3 Mistle Thrushes

2 Mute Swans

40-50 Fieldfares

20 Long Tailed Tits

5 Hares

3 Magpies (Yes, I know they’re Corvids but we saw them separately)

30 Greylag Geese

Countless Pheasants & Partridges

Chaffinch, Blue Tits, Goldfinch, Blackbirds & cute Piglets

So get out there, keep your eyes peeled and good spotting.