On a day of showers with sunny spells I took a short walk across the fields to the local church at Sutton-at-Hone which has a nice variety of trees and overgrown patches that make it a mini wildlife haven. I arrived in the mid-morning, during a sunny spell and a high level of bird activity with flocks of small birds roving through the low trees in search of food and noisy thrushes feeding on hawthorn and yew berries. With so much activity I spent around an hour and a half in the churchyard photographing birds and enjoying the autumnal colours but I had quite a surprise when a group of noisy, scolding birds drew my attention to something unexpected sitting in a yew tree.

Walking around a churchyard in England there are certain birds that are expected, such as colourful Blue Tits and Great Tits, species which are familiar to most people. It was no surprise then to see both of these birds in a flock together alongside the less common Coal Tit.

Joining these flocks were cute little Long-tailed Tits and several Chaffinches but my attention was drawn to a high-pitched piping call coming from the densest vegetation which proved to be a group of tiny Goldcrests, Britain’s smallest bird. The high level of activity and the declining light, due to a rain showr, made photographing them tricky but I got one nice shot among the dozens of out of focus ones.

All of these birds were obviously hungry because they were busy feeding for a prolonged period, apparently unconcerned by my presence. However, a different noise from the other side of the churchyard attracted my attention, the scolding sound of various small birds and thrushes. I went over to take a look and this is where my surprise was served up; a Little Owl sitting quietly in a yew tree being mobbed by a variety of small birds.

I left the owl to deal with its attentive fan club on its own and took a walk close to some of the old walls that demarcate the boundary of the churchyard and while I watched a couple of Pied Wagtails fly overhead I noticed a Kestrel sitting quietly on an exposed perch as it surveyed the surrounding fields.

A Sparrowhawk also passed through and overhead a Buzzad was circling. This abundance of predators is usually a sign that there is plenty of prey around and that the environment is fairly healthy, but it was also notable that they were concentrated in this patch away from lots of people, development and garden/farm chemicals.

In the fields surrounding the church I spotted the customary groups of Crows, Rooks and Jackdaws as well as Magpies; these corvids do well in agricultural areas.

Another noisy bird in the churchyard was Ring-necked Parakeet. Many people find the noise annoying and seem to want to find a reason to dislike them but they add a splash of colour to many places in UK these days and are amusing to watch. Two males were chasing a female around and looking for a nest site, this species pairing up and selecting a nesting location in autumn but wiating until spring to breed.

One of the birds I went to the church to look for was Redwing. This migratory Thrush has been arriving in Britain in good numbers over the last few weeks and their thin “zeeeee” call can often be heard in the night as they pass over; this species frequently migrating at night. I found a group of around a dozen birds feeding on berries alongside Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush and Blackbird but they were all quite shy and difficult to photograph. I did eventually get a shot of a Redwing sitting on top of a conifer.

The sunshine and showers had developed into showers with patches of sun so I decided to head home but as I was leaving a Robin decided to sing at me, peering out from behind the undergrowth.

Usually I head out to locations that are known for their birdlife but this short trip to a local church proved that interesting things can be found closer to home.