Try counting them






This is just a fraction of the wood pigeons
that was feeding in this field, try counting them.

This morning I looked in at the flood, not a lot going on, about 200 Lapwing and that was about it. I had the Westies with me and little Misty managed to find some dung to roll in. So for the second day she had to have a shower when I got her home, great.
After lunch my Daughter and I set off for a walk, starting at Thacka and then following footpaths in and around Newton Rigg. Firstly we had a look at the new ponds at the flood alleviation scheme, and it was good to see they had grown in size after all the recent rain, it will be great if they stay this way like the flood.
The first sightings with the bins was a flock of 50 Starlings perched on phone wires, this was quickly followed by a small flock of 20 Goldfinch which settled in an Elder bush, but when I tried to get a bit closer for a pic they took to the air again.
 We had to shelter from time to time as one or two heavy showers floated over.

This is a  testament to the kind of weather that was about.

At one point a Kestrel could be seen at a distance, and a Buzzard gave us a close flyby to land in a nearby tree. Robins and Chaffinches could be heard continuously on our travels, and then in one field we came across about 20-30 Red-legged Partridge, possibly recently released for shooting.
On passing the new ponds a Thacka on our way back home, there was already Mallard beginning to settle on them, fingers crossed.