Autumn is just on the doorstep and that means that a lot of the birds who visited the woods in the summer are migrating back to warmer climes. But there are still a lot to see – the feeding station is host to Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Blue and Great Tits and Great Spotted Woodpeckers although they tend to come and feed when it is really quiet in the morning as they are quite shy. Down on the ponds there is still a lot of fowl activity. Kingfishers, Moorhen and Mallard are frequent visitors and Jimmy spotted a Little Egret not long back. Although early mornings are getting a little chillier, we have seen Adders and Grass snakes basking down on the banks of the pond in the warm sun. At dusk, the bats come swooping down to feed on the midges and flies over the ponds and you can hear the Little Owls in the woods with their distinctive squeak. As for the woodland mammals, they are mostly getting ready to hibernate. We have stoats, mice, hedgehog Muntjack deer and, of course, the scourge of my life, the squirrels!! It is quite difficult to spot the shyer creatures as they tend to scoot off at the first sign of human footsteps. Finally, we now have turkeys in the wood!! 18 Kelly Bronze turkeys are free ranging at the top end of the woods. They are living as wild turkeys would have done in their indigenous America – they roost in the trees at night time! This keeps them safe from Mr Fox. I'll be updating the blog a little later into the season as the animals and birds prepare for winter. All best Dolly |
Dolly has known the farm and the woods almost all of his life and has a wide knowledge of the birds and wildlife that inhabit the area. He will be adding posts to keep us up to date with the changing face of the farm through the seasons. 
