A Motney morning

The first chill morning for ages, with a cold wind to boot, was not enough to dampen my enthusiasm for getting out early on a morning without rain. I chose the eponymous hill of Motney as a viewpoint, as it had been a while since I'd enjoyed being buzz-bombed by Collared Doves there.

They roost somewhere on the 'mainland', but each morning race up the peninsula to check out one particular garden, where the owner has a very generous feeding regime; flighting past low, in groups of up to eight, I counted 120 through in the first fifteen minutes after sun up; an average morning.

Woodpigeon also come past in numbers, though thankfully a little higher. They usually cross the narrow Otterham Creek heading for the industrial-sized seed feeders dotted about the commercial shoot on Bayford Marsh. If for any reason the Motney garden cafe is shut, the Collared Doves head over to join them.

I appreciate that is not every birdwatcher's cup of tea, but it made for something to count. And I'd have missed the small flocks of Siskin going north as well.

For the hour I was stood there, I was serenaded continually by a Song Thrush, perched up and out against the wind. While I've been used to them singing these past few weeks during the mild weather I really thought the colder night might have dampened the hormones. Keen bird in a keen wind.