BIRD NEWS:374

The pigeons suddenly all flew off to the rooftop - enabling me to catch another shot of them. I next encountered a flock of goldfinches nibbling nyger seed in the wildlife garden.

As I neared the cafe-exit yet again, I found some eider ducks to photograph. I had not seen them on the main pond when having lunch on arrival, but I had heard them fairly close by - now I found them!

My last shot from my Arundel excursion is taken on the bridge over the River Arun on my way to the bus stop to catch the bus home. I thought it amusing to spot a rook and a jackdaw eyeing one another standing on the bridge!

Back home, you can see my natural-wild back yard. The strands of bindweed hanging in front of the kitchen window attract the wren and blue tits right up close while they scurry about it for bugs to munch. If our winter is as cold as expected, the yellow berried bush to the right of the windows will be alive with blackbirds and robins in a couple of months.

As September entered its penultimate weekend, I took a trip to Pulborough Brooks RSPB reserve - where regular readers may recall a group of white show pigeons. They were there again - along with some other enjoyable sightings using the noccies (and a couple of other enthusiasts' scopes) - a spotted flycatcher was seen preening on a hedge and then flying up to grab flies, a blackcap was darting about the bushes too - along with a stone chat that I 'glimpsed' as it flew past - but did not see properly. There was also a rare sandpiper to grab our attention.

After coffee, Liz and I ventured around the woodland surrounding the reserve and spotted a group of long-tailed tits flitting about the trees. Alas, although I had my noccies, I had no camera on this excursion, so did not capture anything - not even a show pigeon piccie - to share.

HEREis a link to an article about Magpies.