Last Sunday we had a an afternoon out at Croome. It's a great walk with the backdrop of the Malvern Hills and even better it was a lovely sunny but cold day. There were plenty of birds about in the trees and on the lakes and river.
Our first encounter were Pied Wagtails in the car park, followed by a perched but distant Kestrel at our first coffee stop. We walked around the lake where of course the usual suspects were on the water; Mallard, Coot, Moorhen and Mute Swan, I was surprised though to see some Gadwall and Tufted Duck:
The surrounding trees revealed some Thrushes and Long Tailed Tit:
The Mute Swan had a couple of young, can't really call them Cygnets any more:
We left the formal parkland and headed across farmland towards the river, after a while we spotted a Kestel in its characteristic hover and then saw it plunge down and disappear behind a hedgerow. A few moment later it popped back up and headed for a dead tree where it settled. We approached carefully, never going directly towards it and of course not getting too close. We then saw it was having afternoon tea!
That was a real treat, I don't know who enjoyed it the most the Kestrel or us. We left the Kestrel to his lunch and walked on to the river, to find this Grey Heron in a tree:
So onto our next coffee stop a nice bench by a pool at the end of the river, before crossing and heading back. There we were treated to our first Grey Wagtail of the year, sadly no photo as it was chased off by two very aggressive Robins. We did see a mixed flock of Redwing and Fieldfare streaming by a few of which stopped for a breather in a tree the other side of the pond:
Not much to report on the way back, some more Heron, Redwing, Fieldfare and Corvids, but we did get a Buzzard in the fading light, again our first of the year!
The sun did make a final appearance as we were near the end of the walk:
Another great day out!
