For the last few days I've seen a couple of birds (probably a pair)
flying into the old Cedar tree at the bottom of our lawn. They also
walk on the ground below the tree, probably feeding and/or collecting
nesting material. They seem fairly 'bold' and not scared off when I
opened the window or other birds fly around them.

This morning, I saw them mobbing a rook & driving it off, so perhaps
they were objecting to it investigating their nest. That tree is also a
rookery. I'm the only one that's seen them and that's from our bedroom
window which is quite a distance from the tree. At best guess, I'd say
that they're roughly the size of a blackbird, perhaps a bit bigger and
may have a light or speckled breast.

This morning some of the nursery team heard a bird call they'd never
heard before and I heard it this afternoon. It's an extremely fast
sound and made me think of someone sawing wildly at a violin! Greg
thought it was like a car alarm going off! I've tried id-ing the sound
on the various sites and the closest seems to be a nightjar but the
behaviour surely makes that impossible? It's around during the day!
Anyone got any suggestions as to what it could possibly be? I'm
assuming it's something that isn't usually in these parts and that -
perhaps - extreme weather in other parts of the country have driven it
further SW. The general behaviour looks as if it's building a nest in
the Cedar or at least, thinking about it. Naturally, when I went
outside and stood there like a frozen thing this afternoon, it didn't
show as much as a wingtip!
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk