MILL FARM, BRADFORD ABBAS
WEATHER: freezing fog all day!! Perfectly still, no wind. Temp -3 to -1C
What a day, thick fog prevailed, it lifted very slightly in the middle of the day but boy was it cold out there it never rose above freezing. I couldn’t even see my feeders at the bottom of the garden which was no more than 15 meters from my window!!
I decided to go out about 11am, I still needed to see Yellowhammer and the fields behind Mill Farm on the edge of Bradford Abbas was the nearest place I knew where they could be found. It was only 2 miles from the flat, but I drove there, it was too cold to walk. I parked in the middle of Bradford Abbas next to a public footpath that would take me across a field to the entrance to Mill Farm, the footpath continues through the centre of the farm and takes you out to two very large arable fields, that is where I hoped to see Yellowhammers.
The pool at Mill Farm
In the first part of the walk I had views of some nicely landscaped gardens and I saw a variety of common birds in them, I also found a few Redwings, Goldfinches, Chaffinches and Wood Pigeons. Once on the track through the farm I stopped to look at their large pool, I half expected to see a Kingfisher sitting there just like it did during my last visit with Dawn, but alas it wasn’t there. I did see Bullfinches, lots of Blue and Great Tits, Moorhen and a lot more Redwings.
not a sight you would normally expect to see in the Dorset Countryside - Alpacas
In the paddocks around the farm there are small groups of Alpacas, as well as some tiny, rare-breed sheep, they looked pretty miserable standing in the thick fog on frozen grass.
no its neither a selfie nor a picture of Nigel Bleaken, it is an Alpaca
I walked into the meadows where I hoped to see the Yellowhammers, I could hardly see my hand in front of my face let alone a flock of small birdies. My hands quickly got very cold, despite wearing my gloves. I checked out a large oak tree that was standing alone in the middle of a field, a few Jackdaws, a couple of Crows and a Fieldfare flew out of it. I then saw a Treecreeper on the side of the trunk, I crept nearer and found a second bird, the light was too bad for photographs, I got a couple of record shots.
you can see that this is a Treecreeper - that is all I can say about it!!
After another 30 minutes I gave up a lost cause, it was too cold to mess around looking for little yellow jobs so I headed back to the car. I got home just after 1pm, I was freezing and vowed not to go out again. The fog persisted all day, in the mean time I received photos from other people who were a few miles down the road walking out in perfect sunshine with clear blue skies, boy did that pee me off!! I have often seen the Yeovil area shrouded in fog or mist and just 3 miles away up the hill towards Dorchester there is a clear sky and bright sunshine. So this was a fog-down lockdown day and best forgotten. No new sightings for the year list today, let's hope tomorrow is a better day.