On the way to work this morning I added GREY WAGTAIL to the months list, it was seen in one of the usual places, flying up the stream through the College.
After work I set out on a 3 hour trek round my patch, I went over to the lakeside scrub, and still didn't record a Lesser Whitethroat, where are they ? A bit of bird song was to be had, TURTLE DOVE, BLACKCAP, WHITETHROAT, WREN , DUNNOCK , ROBIN, SONGTHRUSH and BLACKBIRD all made it a pleasant visit. As I walked through the dense scrubby area, I glanced at the sky whenever a gap opened up in the foilage, the first gap produced a pair of SPARROWHAWKS, they circled low over, giving good views of the size difference between the Male and female. The second gap produced much more of a surprise - A RED KITE, yes another! ( probably the same one Ive been seeing previously though) I watched it glide over very high up, and suddenly, from nowhere, a PEREGRINE came in and started to mob it, fantastic! What a pair of raptors to see together!
After the excitement, I went for a skywatch over at migrant alley, hoping to add some more raptor species, I added KESTREL and was really hoping for a Hobby and Buzzard, six Raptor species in a day has never been achieved on my patch before, but I didn't get to see them, although the Oxonhoath birder rang me to say there was a Buzzard over his patch, which lies just a kilometer to the north of me!
The walk was made more interesting today by the sighting of my first Meadow Brown butterfly, one of several species seen today. Also I came across this plant in the lakeside scrub area.
Above is the flower spike - could this be an Orchid, maybe a pyramidal or a Fragrant Orchid even!
Above are the leaves, they were long and thin without any spots. What do you reckon fellow bloggers ?Below are some Red Kite Photo's. Not very good, but it was high up.
below is the moment the peregrine came in and mobbed it
Also took this photo of the PIED WAGTAIL at Migrant Alley, all fluffed up.
Lastly this looked to be a young Carrion Crow, perched on the Greenhouse roof, confirming successful breeding. Probably from the nest in the wet woods.
below is the moment the peregrine came in and mobbed it
Also took this photo of the PIED WAGTAIL at Migrant Alley, all fluffed up.
Lastly this looked to be a young Carrion Crow, perched on the Greenhouse roof, confirming successful breeding. Probably from the nest in the wet woods.
6 comments:
Warren ,
From this distance , a probable Pyramidal Orchid .
When the flowers open , if Pyramidal there will not be a spur on the back of the flower . A Fragrant would have one .
Like the Wagtail shot .
Fantastic Red Kite/Peregrine shot....you lucky bugger!
Adam
as said the two bird of prey together is marvellous.What a lot of raptors you manage to see on your travels Warren
Sheila
Love the wagtail! I'm well-versed in the flowers of the Black Hills of S Dakota, USA, but that's about it I'm afraid...can tell your mystery flower will be very pretty! Thanks for visiting my blog, by the way!
...sounds like an exciting time moment or two with the raptors! I love the photo of the wagtail. There is something so striking about the black and white of that bird. The flower has such an interesting shape. When in full bloom I bet it's outstanding.
Lovely picture of the Wagtail and also the Kite and Peregrine, that must have been exciting to see! I thought the flower was an Orchid and knew Greenie would know definitely.
Sad about the Vole on the previous post but the poor thing was probably put to good use.
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