Home thoughts

Partially-leucistic woodpigeon

For various reasons I couldn't be bothered today. The fierce North wind that blew a hooley all night put me off the original idea to have a wander round the Salford mosses and try and avoid the Easter Monday crowds and the trains not running today due to maintenance work put the tin lid on it. One or other would be an inconvenience, together they put me off completely. I could and should have gone for a walk locally but a bright and sunny (but cold and windy) bank holiday Monday tends to be a day for constantly skipping out of the way of cyclists.

Partially-leucistic woodpigeon

I finally got a good look at the partially leucistic woodpigeon that's kicking around. As well as pure white flight feathers and tail it's got a lot of white on its wing coverts, a white breast and a nearly completely white belly with a few odd patches of light grey. A striking-looking bird whenever it clatters into a tree with its conventionally-coloured companions. Out on the school playing field it would be easy to mistake it for a feral pigeon until seen next to an ordinary woodpigeon, the size and shape being identical.

• Blackbird 1
• Blue Tit 1
• Carrion Crow 1
• Coal Tit 1
• Collared Dove 3
• Goldfinch 2
• House Sparrow 11
• Jackdaw 1
• Magpie 1
• Starling 1
• Woodpigeon 8

Lostock Park

I had a teatime stroll round the local patch. It was predictably quiet, everything was settling down to rest after a very windblown day. 

• Blackbird 4
• Blue Tit 5
• Carrion Crow 3
• Chaffinch 1
• Coal Tit 1
• Feral Pigeon 2 overhead
• Goldfinch 7
• Great Tit 5
• Greenfinch 1
• Herring Gull 2 overhead
• House Sparrow 8
• Magpie 11
• Robin 4
• Song Thrush 1
• Woodpigeon 13
• Wren 2