Early Easter Eggs?....8/02/2011

A gloriously sunny day seemed a shame to waste so off I went in the afternoon for a walk down Brake Lane, Hagley. The usual Blue Tits were seen as I parked up. On my way down the lane I could see that two fields away there was a large flock of Gulls rising up and then settling down again a couple of times. On reaching the field I could see there were also about a dozen Carrion Crows feeding alongside the B H GUlls. They took flight again and as I scanned them with my bins for any sign of a Slaty-backed Gull (no luck) I noticed a Gull drop some food. The food looked very white, surely this wasn't bread they were eating in the field. The same happened again as another Gull later dropped a similiar looking item of food. I scanned the field to see if I could see what they were eating but with the furrows/ridges being horizontal to me it was impossible to get a clear view besides the Gulls were on the far side of the field from where I was standing. Scanning the field just ahead of me I found what appears to be a hard boiled egg!!! Now nobody surely had chucked it over into the field from the path so I can only assume that this is what the Gulls were eating and the one I spotted had been dropped by a Gull in flight, it did tie in with the food that I saw being dropped by a Gull. It was too white to be bread. Surprising what you can see on a walk. I will ask somebody from the farm if I see anyone around on one of my walks if they were indeed eating hard boiled eggs! I wonder if they were strewn on the field to deter slugs and snails.....there would need to be plenty of eggshells to do that job properly given the size of the field.lol!!
As I reached the end of the lane a large flock of Chaffinch alighted from the field and fled into the trees and hedgerow, a flock of Siskin and Long-tailed Tits were also in this area. I had hoped to see Redpoll but again no luck today. I started the walk up the bridleway scanning the pine trees as I walked looking for Goldcrests but unlucky today. A flock of LTT's were busy finding insects on the pines and conifers in a large garden alongside the bridleway. Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard drumming in this garden last year so hopefully I will be hearing it again soon. Walking across the top path of the bridleway I spotted several Pied Wagtails feverishly searching for insects close by the ponies in the field alongside the path. I was hoping for Treecreeper and Nuthatch today but alas it wasn't to be. The Lake held several pairs of Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swan and Canada Geese. The fields beyond the railway bridge were buzzing with B H Gulls and Corvids in one field and the field opposite held oodles of Fieldfares, Redwings and Starlings. On the return walk the sun was behind me making viewing much better, the sun is so low in the afternoon, roll on summer when it is hot and high in the sky! A Wren was seen flitting about on the path and the hedgerows and I was really chuffed to sight two pairs of Mistle Thrush, with each pair in seperate paddocks seemingly staking out territory, such lovely birds. I was almost at the end of my walk when I heard the soft piping of a Bullfinch! It didn't take long to locate the very dapper looking male Bullfinch, the first one I have seen or heard on this walk! I shall make this walk a regular one as I am sure it will have a lot to offer over the coming months and hopefully a Wheatear or two in the not too distant future. I aim to do this walk again early Saturday morning, that is if the weather is favourable and I wake up early enough.lol!!


An Eggciting find!


The path alongside the wood is what I call the 'top' of the bridleway.