Just another day in Devon

The damp days of autumn are with us now, always a pleasant time of year once the early morning mists have cleared and the sun has warmed the air.  I mention this because with the robins now singing their winter song, even with your eyes closed you could almost guess the date. I'm sat in the pit hide waiting for a buzzard and, robin apart, it's very quiet. Last evening as I had sat here a buzzard arrived, perched on the log and surveyed the scene trying to sense any danger.  It was a glorious sight from just 13 paces away but it didn't stay long enough to get a photograph, long enough for me to say that it was the lighter of the two birds that have been making regular visits.  These two birds are juveniles and the product of a successful breeding season, as yet no adult has been down to feed but from time to time I see 3 birds together circling above, I don't know why I don't see 4, one of these mysteries that can't be solved. Young Buzzards, in their first year,  will spend the winter in their parent's territory so I expect to see them through until next spring at least.  I have read that buzzards will have several nests in their territory and use a different one each year, one of their nests is high in an oak very close by and it will be interesting to see if it gets used in the coming breeding season.  More than interesting!  It is a large deep platform of sticks in the fork of the trunk, a very stable looking structure. 

I mentioned the other day that I have been seeing a Kestrel regularly in the nearby lane on the other side of the wood, as yet not on my side but I pray for it to move nearer to the hide.  At this time of the year  the small woodland birds move around in flocks of mixed species. A few minutes ago, typically, a small flock arrived here at the feed.  Great Tits followed by Blue then Coal and finally a Nuthatch.  They fed for a few minutes and now it's quiet again.  It doesn't make sense that once they have found a food source they still continue to roam the woods.  This is probably a strategy to escape predators like Sparrowhawks Accipiter nisus who would be attracted to a busy bird feeder.  It is of some surprise that I have yet to have a Sparrowhawk pay a visit but I live in hope.