(More) Accidental Birding

Absolutely no birding to speak of in recent weeks, but that doesn't mean I haven't seen or heard any birds.

It's one of the great joys of birdwatching that they are there wherever you go. Lunchtime walks in Henley-in-Arden regularly turn up Green Woodpeckers, Buzzards and the competing songs of Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers, not to mention a particularly energetic Song Thrush near my office window.

In the garden we get low flying Buzzards, Greenfinch and Goldfinch, 'our' House Sparrows and Starlings, plus Rooks and Jackdaws passing overhead.

And on a city break in Liverpool last weekend, I heard Goldfinches singing all around Albert Docks (not sure why, but the place was awash with them), a single Cormorant swimming in the Dock itself, and this best-ever photo opportunity of a Jay in a cemetary next to the Anglican Cathedral.

No birding then, but plenty of birds.

Bird of the week: Jay (Garrulus glandarius), big, colourful and common, but suprisingly hard to get good views of, let alone photograph.