Muddy morning

After heavy rain over the weekend, I ventured out on Sunday morning. I had my first wanderings to the east of Hadham Ford, crossing the fast flowing River Ash opposite the Nags Head and heading off towards Muggins Wood. Gunfire appeared to surround the whole area and it wasn't long before I encountered the beaters and guns on the hill behind Field Cottage. A bag of 6 brace of pheasant and a woodcock had already been collected, with more pheasants added later. Whilst standing behind the guns, I was not dismayed to hear the gunfire and then observe 6 pheasants, unscathed heading over my head.
Further along I encountered good numbers of winter thrushes; redwings heading north, calling from high. A lone skylark called, my first for the area. The hoped for yellowhammers were not to be found, instead a large party of long tailed tits, seen in the large oak tree at the top of Brick Kiln hill. A thorough search through these failed to produce any other species.
On my walk back to te village from the war memorial a lone sparrowhawk was working the side of the hill, scattering tits and finches. Mistle thrushes were watched in an open field, before I returned home, covered in mud. The whole area appeared to be awash. In all, a species count of 27. A few photographs and another map, pertinent to this walk will be added shortly.
In the evening, a chance encounter with both the local farmer and gamekeeper gave me the opportunity to seek permission to enter the private woods that surround the village. This was granted, so many thanks to Paul and Steve for this.