The camera set up to see if foxes are going to eat the frogspawn captured this Kestrel having a bath this morning:

 

That wasn’t the only raptor action today because we also got this Sparrowhawk on the perch cam at dawn:

The Brambling that arrived a few days ago is still here and it turns out he is super tame. He was just feet away from me when I took this photo:

He is either a naive country boy who is not aware of how dangerous humans can be, or he is not well – his left eye is perhaps partly closed and his crop looks a bit oddly prominent.

But the main bird action of the day came from 130 starlings who gathered on the meadows all day, rising and falling from the grass, probing for leatherjackets to fuel them for their journey back to continental Europe.

We have these strong easterly winds forecast, starting at 2am tonight and going on until 11am Sunday. If these birds set off tonight, they will fly straight into the teeth of this approaching gale mid channel. There is so much to worry about once you start noticing whats going on with wildlife.

Finally, a quick mention of mammals, I was pleased to see this image of the female badger with a noticeable teat – a sign, I hope, that she is feeding young down there underground, somewhere snug and warm. I don’t need to worry about them at the moment.