Morning visitors

Back at the barn the most visibly elusive of birds was the jay. I say visibly as you can hardly ignore presence of a schreachag choille – the screamer of the woods. Here they appear less reticent about public appearances and along with the mistle thrush are regular visitors to the yard. Our principal absentees are great spotted woodpeckers who have been supplanted by their green cousins; though now I come to think about it, I haven’t seen much in the way of sparrows or dunnocks. Blackbirds predominate, crows and buzzards...and along the track, skylarks and redwings. Above all else, however, it is still the pheasant (and the guns) that rule the roost.