Thursday 7 April 2011

Chat Overheard / Overhead

A stiff Westerly and sunny spells on my watch today. Pictured below? A wheatear over at 100 feet.


Movement 1030-1530:


meadow pipit- 45 NW  in first hour, 11 thereafter

sand martin- 46 NW


swallow-       11 NW 

redpoll sp.-    2 NW

siskin -             2 N

merlin-             1W

skylark-            1N

wheatear-*       2N

(*1235h. surprised to hear a harsh contact call and find two of these night-orientated migrants heading over North at about 20 metres off the hilltop. Continued high (c50m up) over the town. Can't say whether they had been in flight for a few hours or a few minutes only, (same with all these 'vis.' birds!) but behaviour interested me nonetheless. Half an hour later I picked up a flock of five similar-looking passerine dots quite high NE which were probably also this species).

No target species of the OP kind. Good views of local sparrowhawks and buzzards down to 5 metres. A little egret went over West and pitched down on Aldcliffe marsh.

960 pink-footed geese were seen feeding on Colloway Marsh.

(Pictured below- a local raptor at 30 feet.)

DH



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