On the way to Greenwich

The forecast was accurate for once and the world turned white again on Tuesday, prompting us to go in search of photographs because we didn’t get enough of snow this past Winter!

Some of them may be worth sharing, though I haven’t examined them properly yet and in the meantime I have something else to post…

How often does an action you take lead to an interesting discovery, or to witnessing something you enjoy?

At this point, I was going to post another short turkey video, only because it was watching the turkeys that led to the next sighting. I’d shot a video of the Tom turkey showing off to his harem, during which performance he noticed the deposit of corn Grant had scattered on the grass. As he enjoyed his meal, his tail deflated, which offered an indication of his priorities!

However, you are rescued from that by technical difficulties. The video refuses to transfer. I’m not sure whether ongoing problems are due to the WP editor or to my aging computer which totally seized up one day recently causing me to debate the wisdom of purchasing a new one before the price increases more.

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While watching the Tom deflate, I noticed a titmouse sitting on the feeder bracket, Usually they flit off as soon as I show an interest.

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But this little bird was most obliging. In recent years our titmouse population has expanded considerably which pleases me. The other day we heard an unfamiliar song which turned out to be a titmouse singing its heart out from the bush in front of the kitchen window.

Downloading audio files is another technical challenge. I thought I had cracked it recently when I managed to post Lily’s wake-up wail, but can I repeat the process?

While I have never been a quitter, there is only so much time one can sensibly waste!

The titmouse photo was a treat, but it was another bird that got me excited.

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Sitting on his vegetable plot fence, Grant spotted a kestrel.

This very beautiful little falcon has always eluded me. We see them often enough perched on powerlines, but they immediately fly away when we get close.

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The kestrel was focused on hunting and probably did not notice us. We saw it swooping about the field and it came to perch in the waiting room tree for another shot.

This afternoon we saw the bird again, so perhaps it has taken up residence nearby. We are delighted to have it although of course it will be preying on our other friends.

Our bird population in general seems to have expanded this year but with bird food having increased drastically in price, we cannot keep up with the demand for food.

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“That’s right, missus, ‘cos you has to help us too.”

Grant noticed yesterday that crows were poking at the groundhog’s carrots!

Today we went in search of a bag of sunflower seed which took us again to Greenwich. One of the routes we take goes past a barn where we always see a ginger cat sleeping in a window. I tried to persuade the man to stop so I could get a picture, but he claims people get upset about having their stuff photographed and I could not convince him to slow down, even though there was no-one around.

The cat was sound asleep, probably resting up after a busy night patrolling the barn. Even though taking its photo is not an option, we like seeing it. We are so easily pleased!

However, as a result of routing that way, we came upon…

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This lovely creature, walking along the road.

We’d never seen one of those before!

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Upon returning home, I interrogated the internet and AI informed:

Range: They breed on high-altitude plateaus in Central Asia (Mongolia, China, and Tibet) and winter in South Asia, particularly in India and Myanmar.

Altitudes: While often reported flying near Mount Everest (29,000 ft), tracking studies show they typically stay around 18,000–21,000 ft, utilizing lower mountain passes when possible.

Environment: They prefer freshwater habitats such as mountain lakes and marshes during the summer and move to lowland wetlands and cultivated fields in winter. 

Escapees from waterfowl collections are occasionally seen free-flying elsewhere in the world.

It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. All because we decided to look at a somnolent barn cat.

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Greenwich seems to attract rare geese. Last year people were all excited about a Taiga bean goose. By the time we found out about it, it had moved on, so we didn’t see it.

“Our” goose seemed almost tame as it was unbothered when we rolled up alongside. So, is it indeed an escapee and if so where from?

Hopefully it has enough natural instinct to fend for itself. At least the weather is coming good, but it is sort of sad to think it is alone out there. No doubt it could join another wildfowl flock.

We just never know what we’ll see on the way to Greenwich

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