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As the year runs out

As 2015 runs out, the light levels are low, the countryside is soggy and the sky is grey.  I think the year is feeling a little weary.  It's been a tough one for the world, but as hope always springs eternal, I think we have to look forward to next year with a positive heart.  

 One good way to restore one's sense of wellbeing is to take a walk.  Even on a grey midwinter's day, there are joyful little sparks to be seen and heard.  
Apart from the daily pleasure of seeing blackbirds, pheasants, blue tits, coal tits, great tits, robins and chaffinches, today I saw :

 A bellowing of bullfinches
Our local buzzard, gliding silently through the trees on the edge of the wood
A squabble of goldfinches (that's my own new collective noun for goldfinches!)
A murder of crows
A skein of greylag geese
Our male greater spotted woodpecker
One of the nuthatches
A jenny wren
A charm of yellowhammers
A volery of long tailed tits

 Not a bad little haul for a grey December day.



Comments

  1. Rambler28 December 2015 at 17:52

    The 'volery'of long-tailed tits is a new one for me! Must try to remember that. I've been seeing a few extra birds in recent days too; it's usually my permanent flock of sparrows who live in the thick, back hedge plus starlings and a pair of pigeons. But this morning I saw a pair of wrens, 4 blackbirds, 2 robins, 3 small bluetits and a pair of jackdaws. The never-ending supply of fat balls are definitely the attraction.
    I too, went for a walk today, just to get from beneath the permanent grey cloud that hangs over our high village on Bodmin Moor - I took my dog and drove to the beach, about 9 moiles away. It was BRACING!!!! But oh so good.

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    Replies
    1. the running wave28 December 2015 at 18:39

      Lovely to hear your tally of birds for today! Aren't they a joy? We get a ridiculous amount of pleasure from just standing at the window and watching them jostling for position on the feeders! The collective noun for long tailed tits took me a while to find! The other noun I didn't manage to collect is for the yellowhammers. They are buntings I think, and I couldn't find one for them either. They seem to get lumped in with finches, hence the 'charm'. They flew away, taking off from the top of the hedgerow, like little bright yellow darts - beautiful colour on a grey day! Happy New Year to you when it comes, and thank you for your visits to the blog this year. A

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