Haven't seen many Spars this year, especially not the local one, in fact I think I saw more Hobbies. They seem to have dropped from
#1 spot a few years back and are now outnumbered by the Kestrels and Buzzards.
Earlier I went for a rather disappointing walk over some different fields. There are lots of gnarly old oak trees, some of which are usually inhabited by Little Owls, but I saw and heard none, or the Barn Owls even though I stayed out until dusk. They were our commonest owl, Barn Owls second, Tawnies third but come to think I haven't seen or heard many of any of them since the Beast From The East. Short Eared Owls are coming in along the coast, mostly in winter but in the past I've seen them in most months. Long Eared Owls are occasionally reported but as masters of concealment not by me.
No Lapwings let alone Golden Plovers, not even any Fieldfares or Redwings, or even Linnets. A small flock of about 8 Yellowhammers and about the same number of Bullfinches, and some tits mostly Long Tailed and Blue and a couple of Goldcrests. I saw a magnificent male Kestrel, later being chased by a Rook, and heard a distant Buzzard, and that was petty much it except for the regulation Rooks, Jackdaws, Gulls, Pheasants and Partridges.
I walked round the lake that the farmer dug on top of the hill, but since he died there was naff all there either, it used to have a huge roost of Greylags in winter and Barnacles and various ducks and waders all year. Also he had a couple of Black Swans.
Oh well, it was a nice walk as the sun went down, definitely a three sausage day (with PSB).
Those Great Spotted Woodpeckers can be a pain, some years ago one hammered out the weld in my nut feeder and all the peanuts fell on the ground.Come to think, I haven't seen or heard as many of them as usual, though there are still some Green Woodpeckers to be found.