ROOKS AND HARES

  Lovely afternoon for a walk at Aldeby where you could really hear the birds singing in earnest for the first time this year. The hedgerows were full of Chaffinches, Robins, Blackbirds and various tits all singing and looking glorious in their spring plumage whilst out in the crop fields Skylarks could be heard. Also out in the fields I could see several Hares in groups of two or three who although not boxing were chasing each other around in the low spring afternoon sunshine. They were too far away for any decent pictures but I will endeavour to remedy that in the coming weeks.
   Up by the woods the Rooks were up in their nests making repairs for the coming weeks use. As I walked past is was nice to hear their raucous calls once again, another sure sign that spring is almost upon us. A multitude of Pigeons were also calling and as I paused to watch and listen a Treecreeper landed close to me and began to climb a tree looking for insects to feed on getting to a height of 20 feet or so before flying to the base of another tree to start the process again.

  Further on I passed a pair of  Mallards in a ditch close to the road and thought about how tolerant they become of human disturbance at this time of the year when they are pairing up and looking for nest sites, indeed my mum has a pair in her pond only 6 feet from her kitchen window most years now. A pair of Kestrels and a Wren which unusually paused long enough for a picture to be taken completed a very pleasant stroll.