Sunday 12 August 2018

Traditional birds of August...

Hello

A/the pair of Raven paid us another morning visit to the village here at Hanging Houghton - it is likely that they have very large territories locally and pairs regularly tour around, re-establishing the boundaries, checking foraging areas and assessing potential nest sites all in readiness for breeding attempts early in 2019.

Eleanor's trek around Blueberry Farm paid off this morning with a juvenile Marsh Harrier quartering The Hill field (harvested oat crop) and two Redstarts in the hedging surrounding the short turf field just south of the farm (a traditional stop-over site in the autumn and sometimes spring too).

Birds north of the causeway at Pitsford Reservoir today included a pair of Hobby, two juvenile Ravens and an adult Yellow-legged Gull. The Tree Sparrow flock around the Old Scaldwell Road Feeding Station totalled in excess of forty birds.

The evening gull roost of the Sailing Club contained ten Yellow-legged Gulls (a variety of ages) and the only wader seen was a smart summer plumage Turnstone.

Regards

Neil M


Tree Sparrows.
Courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Turnstone.

Juvenile Mistle Thrush.

Most Mistle Thrushes will have
finished breeding now and it is at
this time of the year that they form up
into post-breeding flocks. These groups
include birds raised this year and moulting
adults and is likely to be the only time of
the year when it is possible to see a sizable
flock of Mistle Thrushes.

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