Today I drove, mostly in the pouring rain, from Scotland to my Mum’s house in Church Stretton, Shropshire. The weather was entirely unsuitable for stopping for a walk anywhere, so when I did stop it was at a motorway services near the Scottish border.
I wasn’t expecting to see anything there in the way of wildlife, but as I was parking I spotted several opportunistic rooks and house sparrows foraging for scraps. I do tend to almost ignore rooks, and I don’t think I’ve ever actually taken a photograph of one: So this was an opportunity to rectify that!
I knew that they have feathered legs and a patch of plain skin at the base of the bill, but I had forgotten that the plumage is somewhat iridescent, like a starling. And that’s a serious bill they have!
No new species for November 1st:
TOTALS TO DATE:
Birds = 226
Moths = 255
Wildflowers = 290