birdman
Sunday 13th July 2003, 14:18
What with our Northumberland trip, some iffy weather, New Forest and the dreaded lurgy, it’s been the best part of three weeks since we got a trip round the Outback.
But after a stonkingly glorious day yesterday, partnyorsha and I took a stroll in the evening.
Leaving a 8.50pm (the sun still shining brightly, Charles!), we took what seems to have become the customary route.
Most of yesterdays sightings were flyovers.. Weather? Time of year? Time of Day? Probably all contributing factors.
Just a couple of Skylarks in the sky, but still plenty of hirundines. Swift and House Martin very evident, and later we would pick up on a couple of Swallows.
Before reaching the pond, we were overflown by 2 Lapwings and a Pied Wagtail – whilst Magpies were making a noisy nuisance of themselves in the trees.
Coot and Mallard on the pond as usual… and a solitary but very vocal Yellowhammer, that we eventually saw land in a shrub at the northern edge of the Kestrel Field.
After this it was very quiet… apart from a lustily singing Blackbird that we never saw, and a few unidentified flutterings in the trees and bushes.
Walking past the Root Crop Field, we saw a 4 Carrion Crows feeding.
We were also overflown by two Vs of large gulls, (I don’t do gulls if they’re more than about 20 feet away!), one of 19 birds, the second of 18 – heading off in a direction slightly north of east.
As we walked the path on the eastern edge, we heard some twitterings, which were very difficult to track down, until we realised there was a young fledgeling (are they fledgelings before they can fly?) in the middle of the path. The path is used as a driveway for the private house, and is in the middle of the “owl area” – and we were overcome with human emotional sensitivity for the poor helpless creature.
Not really knowing what to do for the best, we decided that being out in the open wasn’t the safest place, and tried to encourage it to the grassy verge. A gentle touch on the belly got little response (the poor thing was probably petrified!), so reluctantly I decided to lift it to the side. As I tried to raise it into my hand, it decided to run, directly over my foot, its little wings flapping, and made its own way to the verge, and began calling again. Whether it was any safer there… who knows?
As we continued along the path, a wonderful full moon appeared through the trees, the kind that I’m sure must have a name… you know Harvest Moon, Hunter’s Moon, that kind of thing – so we had the light sky in the west and the full moon in slightly darker sky in the east.
Dusk was really beginning to fall now, and the remaining sighting were a single Grey Heron, and then another V of 51 (+/- 2) large gulls, heading in the same direction as the previous flocks.
Also, we heard (as we had on previous occasions) a call that we are convinced is a partridge. In the past it has always come form the long grass, but this seemed to be emanating from a ploughed field, and so thinking I had the opportunity to actually get a look at the vocalist. But to no avail.
And, apparently, whilst searching for the “partridge”, I missed a fourth and even larger V of gulls (perhaps 3 times as large) and a large owl hunting over the cereal fields.
The sky was quickly turning dark blue, and some of the brighter stars were beginning to show, and as we continued on homeward, the owls (we think long eared nestlings) began to call. There were at least 4 individual calls, perhaps as many as 6, including one that sounded like it was coming from one of the trees we were standing beneath.
But no more sightings of owls.
As we passed the pond, with the faintest of mists forming over the water, we saw the final bird of the evening – another Mallard, and made our way back home.
So, not many species, and nothing new to add, but a very pleasant 2 hours nonetheless.
List follows (* = heard only)
Blackbird *
Carrion Crow
Coot
Feral Pigeon
Grey Heron
House Martin
Lapwing
Magpie
Mallard
Pied Wagtail
Skylark
Swallow
Swift
Unided Gulls
Unided Owls
Yellowhammer
But after a stonkingly glorious day yesterday, partnyorsha and I took a stroll in the evening.
Leaving a 8.50pm (the sun still shining brightly, Charles!), we took what seems to have become the customary route.
Most of yesterdays sightings were flyovers.. Weather? Time of year? Time of Day? Probably all contributing factors.
Just a couple of Skylarks in the sky, but still plenty of hirundines. Swift and House Martin very evident, and later we would pick up on a couple of Swallows.
Before reaching the pond, we were overflown by 2 Lapwings and a Pied Wagtail – whilst Magpies were making a noisy nuisance of themselves in the trees.
Coot and Mallard on the pond as usual… and a solitary but very vocal Yellowhammer, that we eventually saw land in a shrub at the northern edge of the Kestrel Field.
After this it was very quiet… apart from a lustily singing Blackbird that we never saw, and a few unidentified flutterings in the trees and bushes.
Walking past the Root Crop Field, we saw a 4 Carrion Crows feeding.
We were also overflown by two Vs of large gulls, (I don’t do gulls if they’re more than about 20 feet away!), one of 19 birds, the second of 18 – heading off in a direction slightly north of east.
As we walked the path on the eastern edge, we heard some twitterings, which were very difficult to track down, until we realised there was a young fledgeling (are they fledgelings before they can fly?) in the middle of the path. The path is used as a driveway for the private house, and is in the middle of the “owl area” – and we were overcome with human emotional sensitivity for the poor helpless creature.
Not really knowing what to do for the best, we decided that being out in the open wasn’t the safest place, and tried to encourage it to the grassy verge. A gentle touch on the belly got little response (the poor thing was probably petrified!), so reluctantly I decided to lift it to the side. As I tried to raise it into my hand, it decided to run, directly over my foot, its little wings flapping, and made its own way to the verge, and began calling again. Whether it was any safer there… who knows?
As we continued along the path, a wonderful full moon appeared through the trees, the kind that I’m sure must have a name… you know Harvest Moon, Hunter’s Moon, that kind of thing – so we had the light sky in the west and the full moon in slightly darker sky in the east.
Dusk was really beginning to fall now, and the remaining sighting were a single Grey Heron, and then another V of 51 (+/- 2) large gulls, heading in the same direction as the previous flocks.
Also, we heard (as we had on previous occasions) a call that we are convinced is a partridge. In the past it has always come form the long grass, but this seemed to be emanating from a ploughed field, and so thinking I had the opportunity to actually get a look at the vocalist. But to no avail.
And, apparently, whilst searching for the “partridge”, I missed a fourth and even larger V of gulls (perhaps 3 times as large) and a large owl hunting over the cereal fields.
The sky was quickly turning dark blue, and some of the brighter stars were beginning to show, and as we continued on homeward, the owls (we think long eared nestlings) began to call. There were at least 4 individual calls, perhaps as many as 6, including one that sounded like it was coming from one of the trees we were standing beneath.
But no more sightings of owls.
As we passed the pond, with the faintest of mists forming over the water, we saw the final bird of the evening – another Mallard, and made our way back home.
So, not many species, and nothing new to add, but a very pleasant 2 hours nonetheless.
List follows (* = heard only)
Blackbird *
Carrion Crow
Coot
Feral Pigeon
Grey Heron
House Martin
Lapwing
Magpie
Mallard
Pied Wagtail
Skylark
Swallow
Swift
Unided Gulls
Unided Owls
Yellowhammer