Lockdown Birding: Up with the lark, well, the owl

Last Sunday, I got up at dawn and went out for my daily exercise by bike, looking for wildlife. The chorus of birdsong was breathtaking and uplifting. Rabbits nibbled along the lane verges, whilst their rangier cousins, hares, loped about in the fields. I saw several Roe Deer and near the old church, some angry Song Thrushes and Blackbirds drew my attention to a pair of Little Owls. The owls scowled at me, although seemed unconcerned by my presence. On the ings, a pair of Little Egrets hunted frogs in the remnants of the great flood.

Little Owl and Little Egrets

A little further on, I found a female Wheatear busily feeding in a ploughed field; my first of the year.

As the sun rose, the mammals melted away into their daytime abodes and the hunting Barn Owl headed for its roost. A Red Kite cruised past.

As I headed for home, a last check of the ings revealed a distant pipit. Interesting! Surely a Water Pipit? Following a patient stalk, its credentials faded until I realised it was 'just' a Meadow Pipit.

Distant pipit.

Just a Mippit...