Lodge Field Buzzards

During the night there had been a dusting of snow in Ironbridge which was rapidly thawing as I emerged from my house and did my usual trek up the hill to Lodge Field. Lodge Field is a historic open area of meadow, woodland, scrub and bog which is maintained and managed by the Lodge Field Group. The Group have developed the field to encourage more varied flora and fauna, a notable success being an increase in the numbers of Common Spotted Orchid plants. There is a decent range of birds to be observed including all the usual Tits, Finches and Thrushes together with Great Spotted and Green Woodpecker, and two raptors - Kestrel and Buzzard. This morning the sky was cloudless, the sun shone brightly, the birds were singing and it really did feel like the first day of Spring. Buzzards were displaying high above the field in the clear skies and I managed a photo of one - albeit heavily cropped.