A flock of 150 cranes flew over today but they were seen by Stella and not by me ; she was taking a bit of exercise while I was out birding! A good sign, though, as the last week of October is the traditional start of migration. Some could have gone through already of course. I would not have seen them as I have just come back from a break in Spain.
Despite not seeing the cranes, today was a pretty good one for birds. Large flocks of skylarks were in evidence as were flocks of mixed finches including one which contained a brambling and I saw a few woodlarks close to La Poterie.
What might well be my last swallow of the year flew over me at St Colombe and a red kite flying along the Bonnieure valley was a pleasant sight spite having seen dozens of them in Spain and Southern France during the last couple of weeks.
Buzzards were about in large numbers---at least 15 during the two hour cycle ride--- but I saw only two kestrels and two hen harriers (both ringtails).
36 species were seen in all, one of them being a dunnock, a bird I find often to be elusive in these parts. (I can raise the list to 36 if I include this evening's barn owl.)
The temperature got up 22C as I rode around and clouded yellow butterflies were everywhere along with a few red admirals.
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