A fine morning found me walking another piece of the Old Roman Road, today from just behind Guston down to Dover at the Cemetery at Old Charlton Road. Once again it was very quiet and I couldn't help thinking of how much more birdy many countries are than the UK. Even the overcrowded, large building site that is South Korea seemed to have flocks of small birds, Buntings, Finches and the like and loads of various Thrushes in any open area. I seemed to several hundred yards along the Roman Road, with hedges and fields on both sides with only two or three Blue Tits, an couple of Magpies and a Carrion Crow.
When I got to the bottom of the footpath and onto Old Charlton Road I came across an oasis a more productive area, the cemetery! I suppose that the inhabitants don't disturb the birds much, not in the day time anyway, and the good mixture of threes and shrubs proves an ideal habitat for quite a few species. I was greeted by this raucous Jay as I entered this haven.
It flew off into a dense tree, to join it's partner, but there was more activity there. As well as a couple of calling Coal Tits I could hear some quieter "see see" calls.
This proved to be our smallest bird, a Goldcrest. Church yards and cemeteries seem to be favourites places for Goldcrests, probably because Yew Trees seem to be their preferred homes.
Of course at this time of year no survey would be complete with out a Robin, all it needed was a sprinkling of snow to make the seasonal picture. Only 27 species seen in TR34 B today, but again I think there are quite a few to add at a later visit.
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