Blue Eyed Birder: Of Fields, Finches but mostly Partridges and Moth Mines

On Monday I took myself north of the Thames for a plod around some of the farmland just north of Orsett. It was mild but fairly grey nut at least there was some autumnal colour in the trees. It started quite well with a couple of Brambling feeding with nearly 50 Chaffinches in some stubble along a field margin. There were a couple of Siskins calling overhead and Goldcrests moved through the adjacent trees with a Tit flock. My hopes of a farmland bird filled walk sort of ended there and the ensuing four slowly walked miles produced just one Yellowhammer (where have they all gone?) and just a few Meadow Pipit, Skylark and a solitary Reed Bunting.

A dapper little orange Robin - probably of Continental origin

Meadow Pipit

White Dead Nettle

Hogweed

Yarrow - there were quite a few species still in flower

Gulls constantly moved west in purposeful ‘v’s to the landfill site with many Great Black-backs amongst them but I did not see a single Lapwing and not even many Woodpigeons. What there were was hundreds of bewildered Red-legged Partridges erupting from the margins and dotted across the winter wheat fields but conversely not that many Pheasants at all.

mmm... not ideal

A couple of Buzzards were out and about worming and a Kestrel gave chase of one bird while a Green Woodpecker probed around a front lawn of one of the farms

Common Buzzard

A damp Green Woodpecker

To be honest I ended up looking for moth leaf mines as I walked along hedge rows and roadsides so that at least there would be some biodiversity to report. Needless to say I deluged Antony Wren with half labelled images that evening and he was able to advise appropriately and it would appear that I found 22 different identifiable species along with several annoying ones on English Oak that were ‘above his pay grade’.

So I apologise for the next splurge of images comprising of bits of leaves with wiggles, blotches or folds each of which would have and in some cases still did have the larva of some very beautiful but truly miniscule mothlets… Putting them in my blog helps me to learn and although I only have a cursory interest it is still a fascinating but complicated extra subject to add to my natural history knowledge.

Enjoy!

Or if not, then look away now!