Always nice to visit somewhere new especially when it turns out to be a very good decision as was today's first visit to Whitacre Hall and Farm in Nether Whitacre, Warwickshire.
There are two great areas of established woodland which hold an impressive amount of trees and two large swathes of bluebells as well as two separate areas of honey bee hives, at the moment there is also a building in the farm with plenty of holes where there are hundreds of Red Mason Bee as well as another larger and darker bee, sadly I'm not a bee expert so I couldn't tell you what they were.
Highlight of the day was seeing a majestic Muntjac Deer crossing from one piece of the woodland to another, unfortunately I was too slow to get a photograph.
There were no shortage of Buzzards above the fields hunting as was the case on my journey there and back from the farm, it was obviously great to see Skylark, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and my first Willow Warbler of the year.
Sadly I didn't see or hear a single House Sparrow which could have been because there were no intensively bred cows or pigs, even though there is a 'wild bird cover' corridor, there are no wildflower meadows or fields which grow seed for the birds in the autumn and winter which may have been why there was not a sighting of any Yellowhammer.
Birds seen today were, Buzzard, Skylark, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Domestic Goose, Moorhen, Coot and Mallard, also on the farm there were Muscovy Duck, Domestic Duck, Chicken, and Peacock.
Whitacre Hall and Farm has a few open days in April and May, including tomorrow - Sunday 22nd April, as well as Open Farm Sunday on Sunday 10th June, there are two very well sign posted walks you can undertake, one of about 45 minutes and other of approximately ninety minutes, clearly I went on the longer walk especially as that consisted of the two woodland walks, when you've finished you can have a nice cup of tea or coffee and a slice of cake, all details can be found on their Facebook page. Whitcare Hall Facebook page.
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