Magical morning..
Magical morning..
Quick walk round horse paddocks before work. Some of the paddocks are looking quite overgrown, and attractive to Warblers.. Mainly Whitethroats, and Chiff-Chaffs, with a Female Blackcap the last couple of days. Was hoping that overnight rain would have brought a migrant or two down but no joy. (These fields can be pretty good for common migrants after overnight rain. I recall a fall of double figure Wheatear and a Whinchat a few Springs ago). Today started very quiet, and a heavy downpour didn't exactly help! until... a quite amazing run of sightings unfolded above my head:
First a Hobby passed thru twice, the second time very nearly grabbing a Goldfinch. This was followed by a Sparrowhawk, and also another Bird of Prey which looked like a Peregrine, but was always going away.
Two more Sparrowhawks appeared over the treeline, and another Falcon, this one definitely a Peregrine. A good day for Raptors as Kestrel and Buzzard was also in the area.
I'd no sooner found a Juvenile Stonechat and a Blackcap, when the best birds of the day caught my attention overhead.. A tight flock of waders, had me thinking Golden Plover with the naked eye, but the Binoculars confirmed them to be Whimbrel.. 5 of them.
North Baddesley and it's surrounds don't do Waders and Waterfowl! Snipe, Lapwing, Golden Plover and Woodcock being the only waders seen by myself in 7 years around the village.. The next most likely species would be Stone Curlew! So Whimbrel, albeit overhead, is a superb record. Were they attracted by the Toothill telecoms mast and it's red light? Certainly in the preceding 20 minutes or so, there wouldn't have been much else visible in the mirky rainy conditions.
Whatever the reason, it has left me eagerly scanning the forecast for the next downpour!
#vismig, #rain, #migrants
Quick walk round horse paddocks before work. Some of the paddocks are looking quite overgrown, and attractive to Warblers.. Mainly Whitethroats, and Chiff-Chaffs, with a Female Blackcap the last couple of days. Was hoping that overnight rain would have brought a migrant or two down but no joy. (These fields can be pretty good for common migrants after overnight rain. I recall a fall of double figure Wheatear and a Whinchat a few Springs ago). Today started very quiet, and a heavy downpour didn't exactly help! until... a quite amazing run of sightings unfolded above my head:
First a Hobby passed thru twice, the second time very nearly grabbing a Goldfinch. This was followed by a Sparrowhawk, and also another Bird of Prey which looked like a Peregrine, but was always going away.
Two more Sparrowhawks appeared over the treeline, and another Falcon, this one definitely a Peregrine. A good day for Raptors as Kestrel and Buzzard was also in the area.
I'd no sooner found a Juvenile Stonechat and a Blackcap, when the best birds of the day caught my attention overhead.. A tight flock of waders, had me thinking Golden Plover with the naked eye, but the Binoculars confirmed them to be Whimbrel.. 5 of them.
North Baddesley and it's surrounds don't do Waders and Waterfowl! Snipe, Lapwing, Golden Plover and Woodcock being the only waders seen by myself in 7 years around the village.. The next most likely species would be Stone Curlew! So Whimbrel, albeit overhead, is a superb record. Were they attracted by the Toothill telecoms mast and it's red light? Certainly in the preceding 20 minutes or so, there wouldn't have been much else visible in the mirky rainy conditions.
Whatever the reason, it has left me eagerly scanning the forecast for the next downpour!
#vismig, #rain, #migrants
5 Whimbrel were seen a few minutes later over Fishlake Meadows, nice.
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