Ashbourne in Winter

The drop in tempreture combined with the bright winter sun always puts me in a mind to stay local and see what Ashbourne has to offer.  This is precisley what happened last weekend when for the first time in an age (possibly since the end of the bird atlas work) the furthest I ventured from the house was a couple of kilometers and on foot too!  Birding as it used to be back in the day, i.e. not too far from home and not a coastline or estuary in sight.  Just row upon row of hedges and trees and acre upon acre of countryside.

starling

yellowhammer

lesser redpoll
 

kestrel

chaffinch
 

pied wagtail
 

tree sparrow