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Hobby Thread 2011 (1 Viewer)

halftwo

halftwo

Wird Batcher
It is with a happy heart that I announce the re-arrival of the Cheshire Hobbies to their usual place.

Both were perching low twenty yards apart, facing away, in the cold damp morning, before being put up by the farmer to disappear into the trees not far away. One could be heard calling briefly just after.

Their arrival equals the earliest date on patch.

We are back in business. :t:
 
Oh wonderful news H2.

I wonder if we're in for another roller-coaster ride? No, just hope all goes well for them.

D
 
Funny old world H2…..!

At 11.15am today I once again walked a familiar trail amongst crops and hedgerows strewn with oaks…

I walk this way almost every day and had witnessed little in the way of new arrivals....only a handful of swallows twittering in the un-seasonally strong sun as the Whitethroats song scratched the air…

Crows seemed inclined to chase Buzzards at every opportunity as woods shimmered in the heat. A cooling Easterly breeze mixed pollen and dust into a thin veil of grey and gave me goosebumps…

At 11.15 I raised my eyes to view another buzzard cruising the blue as a silhouetted falcon appeared gliding in on sharp wings….

Not wishing to jump to conclusions as to its identity I followed its path as it descended towards what I call the ‘shooters oak’. The birds plumage and identity soon became clear as it low looped over field and promptly disappeared behind the gnarled limbs and leaf of the oak….it was a Hobby!

I smiled….then waited…and waited…for over an hour without sight nor sound…the Hobby had gone to ground…

Perhaps he or she was just relaxing after its long migration and re-orientating itself with the terrain of its birth.

Perhaps I had just witnessed the first touchdown of one of my local Hobbies….but whatever the truth may be...i am happy that at least one bird is back…

The season lays ahead….! :t:


http://username-beast.blogspot.com/
 
halftwo said:
It is with a happy heart that I announce the re-arrival of the Cheshire Hobbies to their usual place.

Both were perching low twenty yards apart, facing away, in the cold damp morning, before being put up by the farmer to disappear into the trees not far away. One could be heard calling briefly just after.

Their arrival equals the earliest date on patch.

We are back in business. :t:
Click to expand...

Great news Halftwo!! B :)B :)

CB
 
That is good! When do they usually arrive? There is a pair nesting within 1km of where I live. They have nested for 4 years. What advice would you give me on how to watch the pair sensibly without disturbing them? How far should I stand away from the nest site and if they nest again when is the best stage to watch for the pair?
 
halftwo said:
It is with a happy heart that I announce the re-arrival of the Cheshire Hobbies to their usual place.
Click to expand...

Hobbies returning - excellent news!! First Hobbies I heard of in Cambridgeshire were 20th April, a couple of days earlier than 'usual', increasing in numbers over Easter weekend.
 
Himalaya said:
That is good! When do they usually arrive? There is a pair nesting within 1km of where I live. They have nested for 4 years. What advice would you give me on how to watch the pair sensibly without disturbing them? How far should I stand away from the nest site and if they nest again when is the best stage to watch for the pair?
Click to expand...

Hi Himalaya,

Mean date for arrival is April 30th./May 1st.
In answer to how far away: as far as possible really! But at least 200 mtrs - depending on cover.(hedges, ditches, etc., a hide even).
When the young are demanding most food the parents are most active - this is July & August.

Good luck.


Today just one visible briefly: perched low and then away to several hundred yards. Presumably the other hidden away.
 
Two Up and Away

Two Hobbies perching low, upright and potent, post-propped, sendentary under cirro-stratus flat and high: wet sand under the receding tide of a warming morning, melting away to blue.

Whitethroats warble, Linnets ripple, Lapwings on fat-ended wings to and fro above dandelions lush in the meadow.

Summoned by a thermal the falcons are off, skimming fields at first, gaining speed, assuming prowess and mastery of the element that is their own.

Bursts of speed from bladed wings bring them up amongst the moving air; arcs and esses, loops and dives, they catch the lift and rise.

Now the spectacle begins.

He spots a Sparrowhawk, broad-winged and floating - a bubble rising, wobbling in the updraft of the noon-day heat. A flick and inward tuck of his primaries: he stoops at the hawk, which folds and dives, swerves in part-panic past the pair of curving Buzzards, caught in the same sky-bound balloon of air.

The falcon turns and meets his mate, rising steadily, as he displays his speed and skill. He zig-zags away to the north, electron-fast, she under him, following. They recede and dwindle, undiminished, into vast distances as dispersed cirrus slowly swallows them into their haze.

Dandelions shine on and the day's still contentment billows in restful doze.
 
7am. A Peregrine on a pylon tucking into breakfast - a large bird. Having wolfed down quite a lot it flew off to a further pylon, clutching the ramains. A Crow came to the first pylon to pick at sticky remains.

Of Hobbies there was, not really surprisingly, no sign.


PM. A brief view of a single Hobby fying low and landing to disappear into a tree.
 
3 hobbies back on my survey site in Cambridgeshire on the 26th April but no sign when I was there on the 24th, juv seen last year so they might have bred.

Mike.
 
I've been down three evenings this week - no confirmed sightings for me but did hear one bird calling yesterday. Also of note during my trips were Wheatear, up to 7 Yellow Wagtails, first Lapwing chick, pair Grey Partridges and pair of Red-legged Partridges. The usual suspects included Yellowhammers, Linnets, Whitethroat, several Buzzards and Cormorants over.

CB
 
Cheshire Birder said:
I've been down three evenings this week - no confirmed sightings for me but did hear one bird calling yesterday. Also of note during my trips were Wheatear, up to 7 Yellow Wagtails, first Lapwing chick, pair Grey Partridges and pair of Red-legged Partridges. The usual suspects included Yellowhammers, Linnets, Whitethroat, several Buzzards and Cormorants over.
CB
Click to expand...

Strangely, CB, my first Red-legs of the year there this morning as I came away.

One Hobby perching on low perches, scoped already by Sid, catching insects from the field's surface (the Hobby, not Sid). Then into a tree nearby. Freezing cold wind.
 
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