A Walk Around The Farm.

First real sight of anything was a very obliging Robin that hopped out of the hedge about 2 meters in front of me on the edge of a field.

Next up was a pair of Green Woodpecker flying from tree to tree around a pond making their unique laughing like call giving them away.

On my way back home on the other side of the field I caught a glimpse of a jackdaw flying into a hole in a tree and disappearing inside. After a lot of noise it re-appeared and flew off. At first I thought maybe it was attacking another birds nest but then after sitting and watching for a while another jackdaw poked its head out of the hold before going back inside. After getting home and sitting down with Katie we discovered that it was actually its nest and it had been bringing food to the female whilst she incubated the eggs. Not something you come across every day :)

A curiously small owl pellet

After feeling quite stressed lately, I decided I needed a little bit of time alone in nature; so I headed off to the woods with the dog. 

I didn't see much in the way of wildlife but I did find a very small owl pellet on one of the main trails I walk. 

At the time I wasn't entirely sure on the species which left it. I couldn't find any feathers; other pellets; droppings or general clues in the same area. 

Now, I can never resist pulling apart a pellet...I've done this since I was kid and well I'm a total nature nerd.

After pulling apart the teeny weeny pellet (I do have spade hands but it's still tiny); it had very little bone material and no evidence of feathers. It was mainly made up of fur and insect exoskeletons and a few tiny traces of moth wings.

The main diet of a Little Owl (Athene. noctua) consists of small mammals, moths and insects. So after confirming my hunch using our ever growing library; I have decided it belonged to a Little Owl.

We're now quite excited because potentially this could be a regular haunt for this amazing species. Perhaps a good location for our camera trap?!

I did find something else on my walk but at the moment I'm not sure if I can reveal what it was. It's unusual in these woods and could potentially need to stay a secret.

Watch this space.

In the woods.

Not a bad view for some wildlife watching.