A Day Late And A Few Raptors Short

I'm not going to moan about the whole 'job of work' thing and how it gets between you and seeing Red Kites and frickin' Monties going at it [I mean, come on....].

Well, not any more than I just did anyway.



On Sunday I wandered over to Exminster in search of pretty Yellow Wags and in the reasonable [or so I thought] hope of Hobbies and maybe even Ospreys and Red Kites.


It was cloudier than forecast and the wind was cold enough to make one wonder if it might not be February in disguise, two things not conducive to sunny weather birds. [And it is notable how many birds are much more evident in sunshine]. However, the sun did shine now and again, the birdies were singing, and I thought, ah why not. Worth a try, right?

To cut a long story short, I eventually got a Yellow Wag - after hearing flight calls twice - but it took 'til gone 6. It also took that long to see a single raptor - though this was a lovely female Sprawk [who looked like she was after Yellow Wags, too...] - and that was it.


There were warblers, singing and otherwise, so it was by no means a write-off. Most notably in terms of performance was a lovely Sedge Warbler along the canal path [which I was wandering up to get closer to the coobeasties, as the darn wags were going to be near them and they were almost all right by the M5...]. I spent a fair amount of time watching the hirundine flock gradually building over the Lagoon - from about 60 at 1600 to more than 100 at 1800 - but while containing all the usual three, there was nothing else I could pick out with them.




Back here, the colder mornings have seen an increase in tit numbers, including actually catching LTTs on the peanuts. [You cannot know how happy it makes me to have seen that]. I've also been amused watching a Nuthatch hopping about the ground under the feeders like it's a Chaffinch or something...