11/12/2011

It's been a long weekend out in the cold recording path usage again for my dissertation, but I am almost half way through the data collection now. Last night after a full day out, I went to my boyfriend's house, where I was treated with sparkly wine, a delicious meal (with chocolate pudding afterwards!) and a chocolate chilli bubble bath. After surveying today it was an hours walk back to the car in the pouring rain. The cup of tea and marmite sandwich when I got to the car was luxery, as well as the long hot shower when I got home. Anyways, over this weekend I have seen:

• A jay just outside my village. I have never seen them around this area before, it's always exciting to find a new species on your home turf. It was sat in a tree with a magpie.
• Kestrels of course. I do lots of motorway driving. 
• Great spotted woodpeckers. 
• Bullfinches.
• A dog chasing a herd of what I believe to be roe deer. I wasn't very happy the owner had let it off the lead and out of his sight (although it certainly provides me with something to write about in my dissertation with dogs causing disturbance to wildlife!) but I helped the man find his dog, which he then sent into the forest again to spook more deer! I also saw many other signs of deer such as droppings and footprints in the sandy tracks. It's amazing how a deer can be right next to you in the forest, but you can't see it through all the vegetation!
• Flocks of tits and a goldcrest. 
• A chirpy robin.