Having given up one of my two bird surveys sites I’ve been doing for Cheshire Wildlife Trust (due to the difficulty of accessing the site), I felt the need to find another location to survey. So, I offered my limited skills to one of my local volunteering colleagues who has a smallholding not far from where I live.

This morning I set out just after 7:00am and spent half an hour or so monitoring the birds along a 500m transect from the house to the far end of the plot. The smallholding is largely open pastureland with hedges and a few large trees but with a plantation in one corner.

The birds were all typical of the Cheshire landscape in spring except for the large mixed flock of winter thrushes, perhaps delayed in their migration north by the recent cold weather. There was also a passing of around 200 gulls as I started off.

The nicest record was a buzzard sat in one of the trees along a hedgerow – it’s nest can be seen from the window of the farmhouse kitchen window – lovely.

I’ll be going back again in May/June to do a follow up survey and hopefully there’ll be a few new species on the list.