Barn Owl, Felbrigg Park – out late after storm Doris
Just catching up after a couple of days away. Thursday was the day that ‘Doris’ came to call. We had a scheduled Felbeck Trust work-party in the morning, which it was too late to cancel. In the event, seven people turned up and we managed three hours of productive activity, in relatively benign weather, before the wind became too strong to continue.
On Friday morning, I was out early to see if the storm had blown anything in. In the event, it was probably the opposite, with a noticeable reduction of wildfowl on the lake and water meadow. The Barn Owl was much in evidence as I walked down the middle track, by the side of the water meadow. Surprisingly, Wigeon numbers were still high – I saw 19, with the majority of them being males. The 1st winter Great Crested Grebe was still present on the lake, along with reduced numbers of the commoner ducks. I saw a total of eight Bullfinch on my walk, with pairs down The Street and in the hedge below the dam and four, including three males, in Stone Cottage garden. The rest of Friday and Saturday was dedicated to bathroom fitting at my sons house.