Thursday 22 July 2010

More Quail Please

Today I was back at another site in Lincolnshire, where I'd previously found a male Montagu's Harrier in the spring. This time I was checking on breeding Barn Owls. Wading through chest/head high nettles and scrub to get to various breeding locations was not much fun however the plentiful moths, butterflies and dragon/damselflies were making the numerous stings and scratches 'OK'.

As we were walking through a grassy headland adjacent to a wheat field we flushed a tiny bird only feet from us - Quail! I don't know who was the most surprised us or it! The Quail flew up, flew round, over a hedge and dropped into another grassy area on the other side of a ditch. Not a very common sight - a bit more alive than the Quail I had 2 weeks ago in East Yorkshire that had come off second best after hitting a car.

Oystercatchers

Yesterday I had a new patch tick in the form of 4 Oystercatchers that were very vocal as they flew over, other than that not a lot else!

Friday 16 July 2010

Recent Activities

Recent birding activities have been few and far between really, though I've been busy at work having great looks at several pairs of nesting Barn Owls, a couple of pairs of breeding Long-eared Owl and the odd Quail and Spotted Flycatcher in addition to 'nice' bits like Tree Sparrow, Corn Bunting etc.

Autumn passage has clearly started with post-breeding Golden Plover, Curlew and Lapwing all flocking up and arriving on several of my sites. A Dunlin this morning flying south through one of my sites on the Wolds was a bit of a surprise. Noticeable today was a passage of several hundred Swift all heading south.

I was pleased to get some looks of a grass snake today as well as some interesting dragonflies and am now looking forward to what the autumn will bring.