DAILY EXERCISE!

 With restrictions on leaving the house I have been taking a daily walk around different areas of  my local golf course, which lies close to where I live. I'm not actually sure of the total area which is covered by this nine hole course, but it covers several fields which are separated by areas of mature hedgerow and small groups of trees. 

I've been walking in different areas of the course, interested to find out what wildlife lives there. Last week the weather was fine and warm for much of the time. Unsurprising, then, that I found my first few butterflies of the year, brimstone, peacock and small tortoiseshell. 

peacock

small tortoiseshell

This week, though, has brought us a cold NE wind, which makes it less inviting to go out as the golf course is obviously rather exposed to windy conditions. Today it was sunny and I made for a sheltered area of trees and bushes. I could hear a couple of robins and the twittering of goldfinches but then amongst it I picked out the sound of a chiffchaff, not the first this year but still welcome.   It took me a while to locate it  but eventually I did, having had to cross over a ditch bridged by a few planks of wood to get to the otherside of the hedgerow. Other birds regularly seen on the golf course include rooks, magpies and crows and I've often heard the call of a green woodpecker, though only once have I managed to see it, a flash of olive green flying out though the undergrowth to the other side of the wood.