Something new

March 7th/8th - my lovely lady and I had discovered an abandoned mansion house come school house not far away, actually, she discovered it via Tok Tik or some such internet thing So, it being 6.5 miles away and the sun having decided to show itself, we headed up there for a look.

There's a kind of space alongside the road where a couple of cars might park, there are two entrances with gates that are probably very rarely used but, I'm not one for blocking gates so, onto the grassy verge for us.

The walk in is only half a mile through tall pines, a young pine plantation then mixed deciduous woods and in the good weather it was a really nice walk, during which we saw three raptors, Sparrowhawk? Peregrine? Didn't really have time to ID them but, I loved the fact they were around, for the future

We passed another metal five-bar gate and I could see a house through the trees so we carried on by, until we came to a second gate with a grassy curved lane, leading back to the same building; then I realised, that's the place so, back top the first gate and in we go. None of it is closed off but the second lane had a lot of tree fall over it, hence back to the first one.

I won't get into any more about the house itself, suffice to say it is pretty amazing with a very sad history and has been empty for around thirty years! I have since discovered there's a caretaker lives inside!!!!! SPOOKY! 

The surrounding garden areas are completely overgrown, mostly by large trees and shrubs but, a haven for birds, the sounds all around us were fabulous.

I just happened to turn towards a Scots pine behind me as a Goldcrest popped out onto a branch, I could have sworn it was a Firecrest but that would be too special for the area it was just a glimpse of bright orange on the head that fooled me, ach well.

I will definitely be going back asap, today is Sunday and I usually avoid heading out at the weekend, too many people around for me so, Monday, weather permitting.

There were Coal & Blue Tits everywhere, I could hear Great Tits but didn't actually see them; Chaffinches chasing around in the tree tops and Corvids galore. It's all very overgrown but I'm sure I'll find some good spots to watch from.

After a really good wander all around the house, we headed back out onto the main lane and carried on as before, see where it went. I could see something very white through the trees which turned out to be a Mute Swan bum! There's a wee loch through the trees so, a duck, dive and .... mind your footing through the woods and we were on the bank of a small loch that looked man made, a reservoir, for the house?

Whatever, there were a few birds on it.

A pair of Goldeneye across the other side.

A pair of Tufted Ducks

They were a little more obliging although I was hiding behind a very sparse bush

The Mute Swan came closer of course, as they like to do but was still quite wary.

I might try the portable hide next time I go up.

A pair of Little Grebe appeared from round the corner, must explore further.

And, you can see a couple of Mallard in the background there, two pairs drifted around for a few minutes.

And that was that! I was happy to have found a new place for a short walk and to watch birds, with the added bonus of an abandoned building, I do like an abandoned structure

So, a steady walk back, in really nice sunshine for a pleasant change, no more major sightings but I now know there are plenty of possibilities. It's not far from ym fave reservoir so a faint chance of Eagles, definite Buzzards and Red Kites so, looking forward to spending a bit longer there, watching and waiting.