Buzzard

While gardening I looked up and saw another buzzard, this time circling high above our garden. Unfortunately by the time I got my camera it was circling away to the west and was little more than a dot in the sky.

Buzzards

While walking through my local park (Easthill) here in Portslade I noticed two large birds flying high, from the north east.

As they got closer I could see they were buzzards.

They are probably common buzzard, markings can be quite varied in this species so identification is not always easy.

One had a ragged tail.

As they flew over the park they circled effortlessly. It was a spectacular site

They eventually drifted off towards the south west. The pictures were taken on a 24x zoom and then enlarged.

Longtailed tits, Gold crest and Redwing

As I walked back from taking our daughter to school I was attracted by the sounds calls of Longtailed tits up in the trees. I watched them as they flitted around, hardly staying in one place for more than a second, making them quite difficult to photograph.

I carried on and walked through Easthill Park. There was lots of bird activity today; blackbirds, thrush and numerous blue tits. I was attracted by a small bird in the bushes at the edge of the park. I followed it as it flitted from branch to branch, bush to bush. My perseverance was rewarded, it was a tiny goldcrest. The goldcrest is the UK's smallest songbird, dull green above and buff white below with a distinctive orange or yellow crown stripe. In winter it may join with flocks of tits and other woodland species. It was the presence of blue tits that first attracted my attention. I managed to take a few pictures. They are not very good as it was quite dark and the goldcrest moved very quickly.

As with many of our songbirds, the goldcrest population has declined recently. Goldcrest also suffer in very cold winters, this year being a change to the recent succession of mild winters.

They are known to take up residence in suburban parks and large gardens. Apparently large numbers of migrants arrive in the UK in the Autumn and may be found in coastal bushes, particularly on the east and south coasts.

Just before left the park I noticed a small flock of Redwings. Unfortunately they were disturbed by a car before I got a close look and they flew up into the trees.

Redwing