Med Gull at Prisorlee Flash

Adult Meditterranean Gull at Prisorlee Flash

I dropped the old man off at Asda and then made a quick dash for Prisorlee Flash to look for yesterdays 2nd winter Mediterranean Gull. When I arrived, there were over 500 Black-headed Gulls on the ice. I quickly went though them with my bins and to my surprise found an adult Meditterranean Gull preening. The bird was a long way off in the fog to get any photos and I had to get back to Asda in a few minutes. I quickly dropped the old man back home and just as I came out of the house, I saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker in the Poplar Tree. Another garden tick. Half an hour after I left, I was at Prisorlee Flash and found the bird immeditely back on with 200+Black-headed Gulls. This time it was at very close range but the foggy conditions didn't help the light when taking photos from the camcorder. 

 

Adult Meditterranean Gull at Prisorlee Flash

Adult Meditteranean Gull with over 200 Back-headed Gulls at Prisorlee Flash

Late in the afternoon, Tean and I went for a walk down to Hortonwood, where I saw some birds that I have not seen for a very long time including, Green Woodpecker, Bullfinch and Jay. A single Siskin and 9 Redpoll sp also flew over. Just before dark, I was at the edge of the a field and started to observe a Fox pouncing in the long grass for rodents. It had no idea that I was only a few meters away from it and continued to hunt for a good ten minutes before disappearing through a thick row of Hawthorns and into the next field. In the past, I've had some very close encounters of Foxes and this was one to remember. And to think that people hunt these beautiful animals for fun. I worked on a stud farm for ten years, so I know everything about hunting and it is one of the most cruellest (sports) on earth!  

Female Great Spotted Woodpecker

Fungi?

2 pairs of Bullfinches were at Hortonwood. These were taken pretty late in the afternoon

I could of watched this Fox hunting for hours at Hortonwood. It had no idea that I was standing only a few meters away from it!

This is the first Fox I've seen since over two years ago.

When I was a kid, I used to cycle down here after school everyday and Lapwings were breeding in most of the fields and Yellowhammers were singing in most of the hedges. Now it's all been built over and everything I saw then, has gone!