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| Barton Clough |
The morning started bright and breezy but soon clouded over, which has been the pattern this past couple of weeks around the storm. A couple of dozen house sparrows stormed the feeders first thing and decided to linger all day. The hoped-for gull bonanza across the road was seriously underwhelming — twelve black-headed gulls, two lesser black-backs and a common gull and they'd all disappeared before the kids went back in to classes after lunch.
I didn't really feel like doing much and had some Christmas shopping to do so I limited today's efforts to a walk around the local patch. Most of the small birds would probably still be keeping undercover whatever cover was available so I was expecting it to be dead quiet. It was even quieter than that.
- Blackbird 2
- Carrion crow 1
- Goldfinch 1
- Herring gull 2
- House sparrow 7
- Lesser black-back 5
- Magpie 7
- Starlings 16
- Woodpigeon 6
The absence of birds that rely on there being some undergrowth about is a worry, I can't imagine someone won't be taking to the nettles and bramble patches with a strimmer again this Winter. I notice on the old cornfield that the goldenrods have taken over the areas where the bramble patches were strimmed last year. Their tiny seeds aren't especially attractive even to goldfinches and are a poor substitute for cover and blackberry pips.
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