A wander down to the ponds

October 12th - I headed out for a walk down to and round the ponds near the bottom of our lane, it was one of those mixed, kind of sunny, kind cold, who knows what it will do next days but, I felt like I hadn't been out for ages so, out to the farm yard then off down the lane.

I always like to check the nest box in one of the barns ..

Still there, still sleeping, we rarely see them in the evenings or night. 

I've been looking back through similar shots, we were always on the lookout for young but saw nothing definitive although I have a couple of shots that show a possible fluffier head 

In between a couple of the sheds and round the back to check the two fields and fences, there's a hug old wood pile round there, who knows what lives in that!?

I caught sight of a Pied Wagtail on one of the rooftops.

It looked to me like there's a bit of yellow in the face, a maturing young bird maybe?

When I got round the other side, it popped up again, against a darker sky, perfect.

Is that pale yellow on its face?

Either way, it sat a while to allow me a few more shots.

Onto the lane and down the hill, there's a great mixed hedge all the way down, usually a good spot for mixed sightings.

What looks like a young Yellowhammer dropped onto the lane in front of me for a few moments. Then back onto the hedge where a few more were watching, flitting ahead of me.

I spotted a few Tree and House Sparrows as I walked down but they kept hidden or well ahead of me.

But then ...

A lovely female Reed Bunting sitting up nicely for me, catching the sun.

Of course she was offski as I got closer. 

Onward past the reed beds, nothing to see here and into the wooded part of the lane. I have started leaving a mixed food offering on a post here in an attempt to attract the Jays to stop for a moment, they're super shy up here.

The light between the trees is beautiful and catching the leaves nicely.

A couple of flocks of Pink-footed Geese flew over as I was going down the hill, dodgy to stop and look up in the sky here, end up on my butt very easily.

They're passing over us every morning and again evening in there 100's maybe more!

As I started to put the camera away ...

A few moments of cruising Red Kite.

Down and round to the ponds, there were a few "strangers" out walking their dogs which usually scares off the wildlife and did, so I made my way back up through the woods, to the lane again.

There were two or three Buzzards cruising around over the woods.

And so I was back in the wooded area, keeping an eye out for the elusive Jays, no chance but ...

A Robin popped up out of the ditch and started preening and tidying after a bath, right next to me ...

So I stopped and grabbed a few shots 

I have a feeling it got fed up of me watching and photographing it. ...

Grumpy looks? Beat it you! :)

It flew off eventually so I headed for home, there was a big dark ominous sky brewing over to the SW, a good fast pace almost kept me ahead of the rain, which turned out to be snow, but only on the higher ground, as I discovered this morning. 

More about that another time :)