Rare birds

The field across from us has been reseeded with grass recently. The combination of easy access soil (seed and bug combo meal) along with a clear view has made it easier to see those not so rare seasonal visitors.

Sometimes they arrive in ones or twos and other times they descend in flocks, blocking the roads whilst focused on their prey. Mostly they will move on with a subtle nudge to let you past and sometimes the tamer ones will follow you into the garden and brave the cats and chickens before fluttering off again.

Occasionally you get one that's a bit more aggressive than the others who gets quite irritable that you might actually want them to not sit in the middle of the road and be able to get drive your car into your own driveway. Even these though usually shift when you appear to be about to make a loud noise and frighten off their prey.

On the whole we're happy to see these occasional visitors, they are for the most part harmless and don't bother you. We did however unintentionally frighten off a flock that threatened to land later in the evening when they saw us practising with our sabres in the garden.


The twitcher excitement was all about something called a buff breasted sandpiper. The birdwatchers very kindly and patiently pointed it out to me but it kind of just looked like any other sandpiper to me (and I'm not sure I could pick one of those out in a line up). However it's always nice to see people passionate about something and I have to say they carry and impressive amount of photography kit around.