halftwo
Wird Batcher
Same here this morning, U. JB has taken over while I'm breakfasting.
A little rain overnight here - but still warm.
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Hobby Thread 2010 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter halftwo
- Start date
Same here this morning, U. JB has taken over while I'm breakfasting.
A little rain overnight here - but still warm.
halftwo
Wird Batcher
Phew!
After prolonged searches today, following yesterday's strife, the male sat alone, it seemed, for the entire morning.
Feeling anxious as to the fate of the female I set off on a brief third search just before midday. Again the male, now having moved a lot closer, was visible on a tree. It was just as I was leaving when I spotted her too nearby in the same tree. Where she had been all day is anyone's guess, but there the both were, just like they had before the fracas.
As a reward for my efforts a Stoat a little later ran along the lane and stopped to regard me briefly, before heading off through the hedge.
After prolonged searches today, following yesterday's strife, the male sat alone, it seemed, for the entire morning.
Feeling anxious as to the fate of the female I set off on a brief third search just before midday. Again the male, now having moved a lot closer, was visible on a tree. It was just as I was leaving when I spotted her too nearby in the same tree. Where she had been all day is anyone's guess, but there the both were, just like they had before the fracas.
As a reward for my efforts a Stoat a little later ran along the lane and stopped to regard me briefly, before heading off through the hedge.
sid ashton
Well-known member
joannec
Well-known member
Global warming?
halftwo
Wird Batcher
Well, that coud be part of it. But why did they used to be confined to lowland heaths and now are in farmland etc.?
It certainly isn't an increase in avian prey - as there used to be more Swifts & hirundines back then.
If i had not seen a hobby today i would have been getting slightly concerned as to their whereabouts....however....!
Half an hour into searching late this afternoon...a familiar form flies into a very familiar tree..!
Elated, i sat down to observe...not one...but the pair of birds! The male had been 'hiding' and perched within several feet of the softly 'kee-ing' female.
Her soft mewing call eventually became agitated as, after twenty minutes, she took offense at the presence of a pair of nearby carrion crows. She pursued and harassed them away whilst the male looked on...he seemingly uninterested in wasting any energy!
I rang my mate who came on down, unable to resist the lure of hobby watching...and as he brought his scope we enjoyed excellent views of both birds!
I'd almost forgotten how rich, intense and neat the males plumage is...and by contrast the female looked a tad drab..[tho i think this depended on the angle of light]. At one point we almost considered that this female might be a first year bird as, in particular, her cere color didn't appear particularly yellow?
Again tho...this might have just been the light.
My friend took some shots of the female and hopefully...as the bird showed it's nape patches well...we might be able to ascertain if it is indeed last years female. We shall see....!
Anyway...i'm a happy man....:t:
Half an hour into searching late this afternoon...a familiar form flies into a very familiar tree..!
Elated, i sat down to observe...not one...but the pair of birds! The male had been 'hiding' and perched within several feet of the softly 'kee-ing' female.
Her soft mewing call eventually became agitated as, after twenty minutes, she took offense at the presence of a pair of nearby carrion crows. She pursued and harassed them away whilst the male looked on...he seemingly uninterested in wasting any energy!
I rang my mate who came on down, unable to resist the lure of hobby watching...and as he brought his scope we enjoyed excellent views of both birds!
I'd almost forgotten how rich, intense and neat the males plumage is...and by contrast the female looked a tad drab..[tho i think this depended on the angle of light]. At one point we almost considered that this female might be a first year bird as, in particular, her cere color didn't appear particularly yellow?
Again tho...this might have just been the light.
My friend took some shots of the female and hopefully...as the bird showed it's nape patches well...we might be able to ascertain if it is indeed last years female. We shall see....!
Anyway...i'm a happy man....:t:
Cheshire Birder
Well-known member
I've not seen anything on whether its male or female. If I was guessing i'd say male tho.
I'm sure no one objects Sid. Ospreys start breeding at 3-4 years old but some do start later. Where did you find out it had come from Scotland? Is it tagged?
CB
Cheshire Birder
Well-known member
I think that was at Shapwick Heath in Somerset but Lakenheath had a count of c50 birds. Both very impressive!
CB
halftwo
Wird Batcher
Lazy Days
Warmth and time has turned yellow dandelion heads to transucent balls of white - a cloud floating above the meadow. Above, early light pinks the parting clouds to reveal pale ceramic blue skies. Hares gallop along the lanes and in the corn shoots four pairs of Lapwings combine forces to keep a Crow from one of their young - already well grown and becoming adullt-looking.
A Moorhen tends its chick in the pond as a Reed bunting sings. Skylarks fill the heavens with sound, Greenfinches, lately arrived, begin to nest beside the Blackbirds in the hedge.
The Hobbies, disturbed from their usual perch by a passing farmer, take flight to another copse, taking a long parabola low by the field and back up to the tree tops, where, for the next three hours they sat, unmoving, as the sun brought their colours to life.
Other birds were busy feeding all around: Kestrels hovering, Buzzards circling, finches and sparrows always busy. But the little falcons seemed content to sit and watch.
Warmth and time has turned yellow dandelion heads to transucent balls of white - a cloud floating above the meadow. Above, early light pinks the parting clouds to reveal pale ceramic blue skies. Hares gallop along the lanes and in the corn shoots four pairs of Lapwings combine forces to keep a Crow from one of their young - already well grown and becoming adullt-looking.
A Moorhen tends its chick in the pond as a Reed bunting sings. Skylarks fill the heavens with sound, Greenfinches, lately arrived, begin to nest beside the Blackbirds in the hedge.
The Hobbies, disturbed from their usual perch by a passing farmer, take flight to another copse, taking a long parabola low by the field and back up to the tree tops, where, for the next three hours they sat, unmoving, as the sun brought their colours to life.
Other birds were busy feeding all around: Kestrels hovering, Buzzards circling, finches and sparrows always busy. But the little falcons seemed content to sit and watch.
sid ashton
Well-known member
CB, indeed the bird is tagged and the tag notation was clear enough for those with more knowledge of the subject than I to be able to identify its origins.
Sid
Well...i've had a great morning..!
The pair were still in their 'usual' tree where i left them yesterday..the mewing calls of the female immediately indicating their presence.
Her persistent cries after twenty minutes induced the nearby male to 'perform'...[literally]..
He swept around to his ever-alluring mate..and well....mated..!
The act complete within several seconds she seemed then to calm and began to preen her rump and undertail...and basically, within a few minutes, was dozing in the morning sunshine...her eyelids closing as her body filled with warmth. I watched the birds shapes distort in sun-shimmer as the heat intensified...but before the distortion was too great i tried to get a few pics for you to peruse...[not very good i'm afraid..and i'm sure that later my photographer mate will get far far better]...they are just for my own record of the event.
After two hours, after all had gone quiet and they had slipped away like the ghosts they are...i picked up a hawking bird overhead which soon traveled far into the distance. My hands shook and my eyes strained to keep on this bird and i was forced to get 'more comfortable' by sitting down. Now as we all know..taking your eyes off a distant hobby is fraught with danger as you may never pick it up again. However...by memorizing a cloud shape i sat down and raised my bins to find not one bird...but three hawking together!
The third interloper was soon given short shrift tho as one of my pair...probably the female...scorched it's tail in hot pursuit and into the hot and ever increasing distance.....
ps...female left pic...male right...
The pair were still in their 'usual' tree where i left them yesterday..the mewing calls of the female immediately indicating their presence.
Her persistent cries after twenty minutes induced the nearby male to 'perform'...[literally]..
He swept around to his ever-alluring mate..and well....mated..!
The act complete within several seconds she seemed then to calm and began to preen her rump and undertail...and basically, within a few minutes, was dozing in the morning sunshine...her eyelids closing as her body filled with warmth. I watched the birds shapes distort in sun-shimmer as the heat intensified...but before the distortion was too great i tried to get a few pics for you to peruse...[not very good i'm afraid..and i'm sure that later my photographer mate will get far far better]...they are just for my own record of the event.
After two hours, after all had gone quiet and they had slipped away like the ghosts they are...i picked up a hawking bird overhead which soon traveled far into the distance. My hands shook and my eyes strained to keep on this bird and i was forced to get 'more comfortable' by sitting down. Now as we all know..taking your eyes off a distant hobby is fraught with danger as you may never pick it up again. However...by memorizing a cloud shape i sat down and raised my bins to find not one bird...but three hawking together!
The third interloper was soon given short shrift tho as one of my pair...probably the female...scorched it's tail in hot pursuit and into the hot and ever increasing distance.....
ps...female left pic...male right...
Attachments
John Barber
Well-known member
Troublesome threesome's seem to be the theme so far this year.
Great stuff, keep it coming UN.
Great stuff, keep it coming UN.
John Barber
Well-known member
When I was watching the Abram Osprey - which was ringed - a lady present,who was apparently the county recorder, said that Scottish Osprey's are ringed on their left leg and English birds ringed on their right leg. That's how it was known to be a Scottish bird.
Cheshire Birder
Well-known member
I tried to find the leicestershire hobbies on two occasions today...and on two occasions i failed....:smoke:
However...my mate at least saw...[and photographed]..the female bird earlier on in the morning...and here she is....
ps...flip knows where they keep disappearing to...[actually...it's a 'flip' of a coin whether one connects with the blighters on any given visit]...!
However...my mate at least saw...[and photographed]..the female bird earlier on in the morning...and here she is....
ps...flip knows where they keep disappearing to...[actually...it's a 'flip' of a coin whether one connects with the blighters on any given visit]...!
Attachments
Adey Baker
Member
Might be worth looking straight up! I was casually watching a Buzzard this afternoon gradually gaining height when I suddenly noticed this bird way above it! It dropped somewhat lower for a short while (enough to get a ...erm...'record' shot) before disappearing higher than ever into the blue yonder. Without the Buzzard catching my eye to start with I never would have suspected it was there - I do scan the sky from time to time, but this was not visible to the naked eye when I first spotted it.
Attachments
The height that these birds hunt does make location difficult at times...!
Sometimes tho it seems that they just don't want to be seen....
They are either so 'high up' that they are barely visible...or...they are just perched and keeping quiet...one never knows for sure with hobby hunting...makes it fun but frustrating at times...!
John Barber
Well-known member
Planet Hobby
As H is away enjoying himself somewhere in the midlands ( I think ) thought I had better get out and keep tabs on what's happening.
09.15 - 10.30 ( a nice sensible time of day! ) Hot and sunny 22c
No early signs of the birds to be found, although a tractor cutting grass in a field near to where they seem to be spending time lately, didn't help.
Eventually, I found the male back in one of his old roosting tree's towards the middle of the site, my first solo view of the year.
I then decided to walk round the back of the territory and look for the female and it wasn't long before I spotted her trying to see off a buzzard a couple of hundred feet above the copse, some intrigued passers by also stopped to watch the spectacle. While fixed on the two birds a second hobby ( smaller and presumably the male ) raced in from the west and made a swift lunge for the female which she just managed to avoid. The male then raced off to the south as fast as he could and as though his life depended upon it.
Strange ! Maybe this female wasn't his mate, perhaps it's the same bird which caused trouble last week ? Do we have an overlaping territory issue ?
The heat by now was 'unbearable' - we're just not used to it ! I decided to retreat to the cool of the house and a large cold shandy - more from planet hobby later.
As H is away enjoying himself somewhere in the midlands ( I think ) thought I had better get out and keep tabs on what's happening.
09.15 - 10.30 ( a nice sensible time of day! ) Hot and sunny 22c
No early signs of the birds to be found, although a tractor cutting grass in a field near to where they seem to be spending time lately, didn't help.
Eventually, I found the male back in one of his old roosting tree's towards the middle of the site, my first solo view of the year.
I then decided to walk round the back of the territory and look for the female and it wasn't long before I spotted her trying to see off a buzzard a couple of hundred feet above the copse, some intrigued passers by also stopped to watch the spectacle. While fixed on the two birds a second hobby ( smaller and presumably the male ) raced in from the west and made a swift lunge for the female which she just managed to avoid. The male then raced off to the south as fast as he could and as though his life depended upon it.
Strange ! Maybe this female wasn't his mate, perhaps it's the same bird which caused trouble last week ? Do we have an overlaping territory issue ?
The heat by now was 'unbearable' - we're just not used to it ! I decided to retreat to the cool of the house and a large cold shandy - more from planet hobby later.
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