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Message: <blockquote data-quote="halftwo" data-source="post: 1246584" data-attributes="member: 45720">Hi again, Bill.It is possible that they were overlooked - a little. But I know I'm not the only one to have been looking out for them for years - and in north Cheshire they weren't here in the early 90s.To give you my no. of sightings here for the last dozen-or-so years bears this out:'94 : 0'95 : 1'96 : 1'97 : 6'98 : 5'99 : 9'00 : 0  (nearby breeding pair didn't show up?)'01 : 2 '02 : 4'03 : 2 '04 : 8'05 : 25'06 : 41'07 : 50During this period the number of hirundines has declined - not increased - and Swifts are not more common - so that's not a factor.We now have a few species of dragonfly breeding in Cheshire that were absent 20 years ago - but genearally they are common only in relatively tiny patches of habitats. But maybe that & the corresponding increase of other insect numbers - moths, ants etc. "up north" has been enough to bring in Hobbies.Conversely Derbyshire - which has a proportion of land at a few hundred feet above sea level - and corresponding lower mean temperatures - seems to have been the vanguard of Hobby increase in this part of the world - east Cheshire - on the Derbyshire border saw the first Cheshire Hobbies, I think.It would seem that, historically (from all the books I read in the 70s onwards), Hobbies were mainly confined to heathland in England.On the continent, however, Hobbies were nesting in farmland areas. (But in eg., France, Marsh harriers nest in farmland, whereas in the UK they seem to be confined to marshes & surrounds. Maybe that's a chemical vs. insect thing when it comes to Hobbies?)Now, it appears that Hobbies have not only spread north, but also occupy many habitats that they hadn't in the past. (A good job really with the paucity of heaths around here.) There's certainly nothing remarkable about the habitat near my house.Another possibility is the lack of persecution prevalent now compared to a few decades ago - certainly the return of Common buzzards to most of the UK is thought to be for this reason.So many variables, but, whatever the significant factor(s) is/are, I hope they remain.H</blockquote>

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