Monday 4 December 2017

Unseasonal HOBBY at Barham Pits - 4/12/2017

 
An unseasonal HOBBY, put in the briefest of cameos today at Barham Pit B, for maybe two seconds. I had at the time put my bins aside and was preparing my camera for another shot when it appeared.  A small falcon with dark grey upper parts and a creamy under with red around the legs. It really couldn't be anything else. I guess this is a bird who just left it too late to migrate to Africa, maybe fooled by the warm weather. Anyway it is my only winter record in the UK.
 
 
Meadlands Pit
 
Wildfowl were few and far between with Meadlands Pit holding eleven GADWALL, nine COOT and four MUTE SWANS. There were one each of GREAT CRESTED GREBES on the three pits.

Family party of SWANS on the river
 
KINGFISHERS were present as usual, but all were seen in flight, no chance of photos.
A SPARROWHAWK was disturbed from a branch along the river, and was later seen in flight over the pits.
So the pleasures of local patch birding, most of the time I see nothing, but just on the odd occasion something interesting turns up, and it makes bird watching that much more rewarding.

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