Monday, March 18, 2013

Winter's end, here is Spring. Well, not quite!

A brief report on the last two days when birding activities have been  deliberately limited to local areas!!  It has to be said that the last two days have not been terribly kind as far as birding conditions are concerned. Fine, yes, but cold, and with a very cutting easterly/north easterly wind, which undoubtedly has managed to limit bird movement northwards.

Whilst some half- hearted calling from Lapwing and Curlew has come off the hill, the numbers appear very low, if not transient, and their appearance has certainly not been accompanied by any improvement in numbers of other typically upland species like Meadow Pipit.  Skylarks now appear to have moved back off the hill and a couple of small flocks fed on lower in bye fields.   A regular Fieldfare flock remains, but a walk around the area has not turned up anything on either day that indicates that change is under way   A Sparrowhawk yesterday rested atop a small knoll, and looked decidedly tired as it eventually moved off, somewhat reluctantly , to a similar perch a short distance away. In some senses it had provided some of the best views of an utterly pristine male bird I've ever had. And that's it, in a local context, despite reports of various summer migrants  now emerging from farther south on the UK mainland. All in good time and at their own pace!!

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