Thursday 27th January 2022 - Stanton Prior.

 

After our trip to Slimbridge Bryan and myself found ourselves on 99 species for the month so close to the 100 but what chance have we got to get that illusive extra species to reach the magic 3 figures as the chance of seeing something in the garden or local would be improbable and there is no chance of a day out until next Tuesday which is the 1st of February. BUT today the chance arose for an hour or so, but where shall we go needs to be fairly local due to the time restraints. Stanton Prior about a 15min drive from Bath would give us a chance of a Yellowhammer so it was there that we headed for. On the way a single Rook was in the rookery by the Globe and a Pheasant was in one of the fields. Driving into Stanton Prior a large mixed flock of Starlings and Redwings flew from tree to tree as we drove towards them. Carrion Crows were well represented. Parking by the farm we found a very large flock of perhaps as many as 300 Chaffinch with a double figure count of House Sparrows and 4 Pied Wagtails. 2 Collared Doves were on the telephone wires and a single Dunnock joined the flock and a few Great Tits were in the bushes. Walking towards the church 4 Woodpigeon were in a bush and 3 Robins were playing chase and 2 Blue Tits were in the same bush, then a flock of 20+ Jackdaw seemed to explode from nearby farm buildings, a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew in and landed on a telegraph pole. We walked on finding nothing new until we reached a house with an old orchard where more Chaffinches and Tits were flying around then a few birds flew into the back of one of the apple trees which we were able to identify as our target species a Yellowhammer in the end we saw 4 of them. Back to the farm where we started, there were still 100’s of Chaffinches then we noticed a Red Kite drifting around and landing in the distant in a tree.

 

Record shot of a Red Kite-Stanton Prior(Bath Birdwatcher)

2 Herring Gulls were in the same field and a Blackbird flew into the hedgerow. Back in the car we drove home via Marksbury where a Magpie was the last new sighting of the day.

The magic 100 in January was reached for the 1st time EVER.

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