A Tour of the Local Countryside around Hertford

19th and 27th December 2020

With the Tier 4 restrictions now in place my photographic exploits have been restricted to the local area and it always amazes how much wildlife we have right on our doorstep. So over the Christmas break I made a couple of trips around the local patch and all these photographs were taken within five miles of our house.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find "a partridge in a pear tree" so had to make do with "three in a field".

Find any hedgerow with Hawthorn berries at this time of year and you will find Redwings and Fieldfares. Redwings are about the size of a Song Thrush and have red on their wing and a prominent eye-stripe. Fieldfares are the size of a Mistle Thrush and have grey heads.

If you wanted to see Buzzards 40 years ago you would have had to go to the west country as there were none in Hertfordshire. They arrived here under natural expansion and are now very common.

And if you wanted to see a Red Kite as recent as 30 years ago you would have had to go all the way to Wales. They were re-introduced in the Chilterns in 1990 and have now spread across the whole of eastern England and are a common site drifting across our gardens.

I have photographed many Red Kites over the years but this is the first one that I have photographed perched

And to finish off the tour I went in search of the local Little Owl which has taken up residence in a wood pile. As you can see it was keeping an eye on me from the moment I arrived and eventually came out of hiding.

It then flew to a nearby tree and continued to watch my every movement.

It eventually lost its shyness and came closer to see what I was up to. What a fabulous end to my tour.