A quick visit…

… to Coate Water was all I could manage today. I had hoped to go to Twitchers after work but family stuff got in the way. I had an hour to fill so it was off to Coate for a quick look around. Hardly a bird on the main lake which was disappointing, I had been hoping for a Little Gull or a couple of Terns. There was plenty of birdsong with Blackcap being the main one heard. This was backed up by Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and a couple of Song Thrush. Three Bullfinch were seen by the far hide with small flocks of Gold and Greenfinch also around. There were plenty of Swallows over the lake along with a couple of House Martin. On the way back to the car a Green Woodpecker was heard and then seen on one of the meadows. There seems to be a few around Coate this year. The early evening dog walk just had the usual birds heard and seen. I am hoping to get a decent birding day in at the weekend although the  changeable weather could make it interesting. Deciding where to go will be the hardest part of it.  Finally for now, a friend of mine at work who has a passing interest in birds told me that while he was walking near to Cherhill around seven o’clock he saw five Owls flying around. He said they flew up from an area of long grass not long after it stopped raining. Definitely not Barn Owls being much browner. Sounds like Short Eared to me. An interesting and quite late sighting.