SUNDAY - Bright day with early sun soon warming things up.

Brilliant morning. I never got to the hide today but spent my time in one of the wonderfull new wildflower meadows on the eastern side of the farm. This field had been cut in early August but within a few weeks the plants had regenerated and the field is now a carpet of Daisey, Black Knapweed, Hawksbit and liberally sprinkled with various meadow grasses. The butterflies love it and as you walk around it you see a wealth of insect life. A grasshopper sang in the late morning sun and dragon flies darted here and there. The shear wealth of insect and seed food attracted all sorts of birds to feed here. A large flock of Goldfinches were disturbed by a hungry female Sparrowhawk. A Little Owl (photo)sat on the fence post beneath an old pollarded Willow surveying the ground beneath it.

A family group of Spotted Flycatchers dashed out from the hedge swopped down across the tops of meadow plants and dashed back to digest its catch on the the dead branches of a nearby Hawthorn. The hedge trees on the farm are showing all the signs of carefull management. There are already decked with fruit, Slow, Hawthorn berries, Elderberry and more. The Winter visitors are in for a treat this year.

A Male Peregrine dashed past and female Bullfinch called from the depths of a bush. This bird was here yesterday and I couldnt work out what it was feeding on.