Busy few days

Hi all,

I am currently off work but that certainly doesn’t stop me from being uber-busy. Aside from updating my Linked In profile, I’ve continued the analysis of my best birdsound recordings amongst a plethora of tasks.

On Friday 16th September, I ventured out over our local downland and collected many windfall apples and pears (Thanks to Ex Hurricane Katia) and saw a few birds whilst at it. The usual suspects were about, with large gatherings of Swallows and House Martins. On this particular day, these were to be seen in the valley areas and the 2 species were mostly present in separate flocks. Other notable birds were Kestrel, Red Kite and Buzzard.

Saturday 17th September was time for me to visit the Royal Berkshire Agricultural Show (aka Newbury Show). I was able to visit many stalls and watch a few different events. The Wildlife Trusts i.e. Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust, F.W.A.G (Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group), Songbird Survival were among those visited. These were of special interest to me as I am looking for new contacts in this field.

The Sunday 18th September saw my sister and I visit Crookham Common, which is due east of Greenham Common for a walk hosted by the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust. Again, it proved a most entertaining day but also, more importantly for me, an educational day out as well. The purpose of the event was to explain to the locals (of which I am one) the nature of the work that is taking place in this area. A restoration program is currently ongoing in this heathland area and is given the wonderful title of “Heathland and Beyond”. The ongoing work will and already has, made use of volunteers, to help improve the habitat. To give it’s other catchy title, the West Berkshire Living Landscape project.

Until next time!

Tony