Successful Village Wander

Having dropped the car off near Cradle End for a minor repair, I wandered along to Costa coffee  at
Tescos for a morning beverage. From here, I headed back towards Bury Green and Green Street hamlets before crossing the A120, through Hadham Hall, visiting the lagoon before a leisurely walk to collect the car some 4 hours later.
A yellowhammer was most confiding in fields near Green Street, but apart from a couple of chiffchaffs, a whitethroat and tits, not much to see or hear.

yellowhammer

From here, I wandered along Green Street, where I met a local rambling group. On the wires adjacent to the lane, a spotted flycatcher. As I was attempting a photo, my attention was drawn to a 2nd bird on the nearby fence. These have not been present through the summer, so clearly migrants on the move and enjoying the insects over the horse field. These 2 birds disappeared into a silver birch, from where they made several sorties. This tree was alive with bird: aswell as the 2 spot flies, 4 great tits, 2 blue tits, 8 long tailed tits, at least 1 willow warbler and 2 chiffchaffs. The movement was constant, until a local dog walker came around the corner and all moved off to a tree further away. On more wires, parties of up to 8 swallows were resting.

spotted flycatcher no. 1

Spotted flycatcher no. 2

Pair of migrating swallows

From Green Street, I cut through a footpath alongside the farmhouse, over a field and on to the main A120, which, after 200 yards brought me to the entrance road for Hadham Hall. Here, little to be seen in or around the moat and ponds apart from this muntjac that sauntered out in front of me, until startled by the camera shutter.

muntjac

one of many rabbits

a successful trap in the web: a common blue damselfly

However, things were to change as I approached the lagoon. On the water, a little grebe, 2 tufted duck and 3 moorhens, but right over the farside, a common sandpiper, only my 3rd parish record in 7 years. I spent a long time stalking this bird to improve on the photos, with these results.

Using the willows to crawl fairly close.

As I was doing this, I heard another piping sound, a kingfisher in flight! Not a regularly seen bird within the parish and my 1st record since the cold snap of 2011! Eventually, this bird alighted right the other side of the lagoon but again, I tried getting nearer but this was more wary and must have taken a good hour to catch up with it as it flew from one side to the other.

Shame about the focus. 

House martins and swallows were constantly drinking whilst overhead both a kestrel and common buzzard.

drinking house martins

overhead house martins

 I then headed towards the garage, whereupon 2 reed bunting flew from the hedgerow. A successful 4 hours.
Insect wise: speckled wood, large and small white butterflies and this smart common blue. Plenty of common blue damselflies, a latticed heath moth but not too much to report.

Species list;
little grebe, tufted duck, common buzzard, kestrel, pheasant, moorhen, coot, common sandpiper,black headed gull, herring gull, lesser black backed gull, wood pigeon, collared dove, kingfisher, green woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker, swallow, house martin, wren, dunnock, robin, blackbird, whitethroat, willow warbler, chiffchaff, spotted flycatcher, great tit, blue tit, long tailed tit, magpie, jay, jackdaw, carrion crow, rook, starling, chaffinch, goldfinch, linnet, yellowhammer, reed bunting. These 40 species constitute somewhere around 38% of my parish list, so not too bad at all.