It was cloudy with a couple of showers for my walk this morning, it felt reasonably quiet again though 3 CHIFFCHAFF chased around the car park and a GARDEN WARBLER was enjoying the only ripe elderberries in the hedge. A young LITTLE OWL was in the new orchard but too far away for a pic. and the light wasn't great for photos either, a GREY HERON called as it flew north over the far end of the field.
On a couple of occasions recently the Swallows had alerted me to the presence of a raptor which has turned out to be a Hobby, today they made me aware of a male SPARROWHAWK that hugged the hedge line and then disappeared towards the moat. The next bird of note was yet another SEDGE WARBLER, they have been almost daily for around a week now, it's still difficult to tell if it's the same young bird hanging around or new birds arriving but still good to have around nonetheless. I spotted Stephen on the far side of the field and gave him a quick call to let him know he was close to the Sedge Warbler, while we chatted he picked up a HOBBY chasing a HOUSE MARTIN with great vigour, I managed to see the bird when it had given up the chase and headed my way. On the way back to the car I came across a nice little flock, that consisted of several SPOT. FLYS., a couple of CHIFFCHAFF, a TREECREEPER, NUTHATCH and a handful each of GREAT TIT, BLUE TIT and CHAFFINCH again the light wasn't great and I didn't pick out anything else, I was hoping for a bit of luck with maybe a Wood Warbler or Redstart as they both have been picked up on the move already elsewhere, despite it still only being July.
2 comments:
If you listen to the Swallows alarm call crefully Alan, you can actually tell if it's a Sparrowhawk, Hobby, or Kestrel they are angry at. They seem to go extra ballistic at Hobbies :-)
Hi Warren, I seemed to remember someone saying something like that before, who knows if I'll be able to tune into the differences!! :-)
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