13/12/11

During a break in the rain and our assignment writings, my boyfriend and I went for a walk this afternoon. It was overcast overhead and a cold wind, but this didn't deter us. We walked over some fields near my house and around the local reservoir, which is very popular with the local anglers. We saw:

• A kestrel hovering over the field where the police helicopter lands. It's a great field because it has lots of tall grass, great for small mammals. I wish I brought my camera (I didn't because it looked like it was going to rain) since the kestrel looked very dramatic silhouetted against the gloomy sky with dark rolling clouds and the rolling hills behind it. (My boyfriend's impression of a kestrel by flapping his arms about like crazy was also highly amusing and photo worthy). 
• Great tits and blue tits.
• Tufted ducks, which I love to see, since I only see them on the reservoir in the winter.
• Lots of coots
• Mallards
• Mute Swan
• Great crested grebes
• Black headed gulls. There are lots of them around the reservoir. 
• I heard a flock of gold finches and then saw them fly over.
• I also heard but didn't see a great spotted woodpecker and a green woodpecker. 

One thing that did upset/bother me on the walk is the amount of litter in the small woodland at the side of the reservoir. I didn't know if it had came from the road nearby or if it was the children who play in the woods, but either way, it made me think about how there needs to be an increase in education for people to appreciate and care for these areas.