Blue skies and hobbies

A nice afternoon that felt more like a proper June day, and with a bit more time to kill, I ventured back to Brading Nr. Two hobbies hawking over Laundry lane and the marsh was fantastic viewing.

 falco subbuteo

 This sequence shows a real close encounter, taken with my smartphone cam. I could hear its wings it was that close. As you can you just about make out it was an unsuccessful attempt at catching its prey on this occasion, but maybe my close proximity put it off! Its closeness and incoming speed made me recoil a bit too.

Digiscoped

 

Last couple of days had high-ish hopes of maybe finding something in the realms of an overshoot as the winds did a switcharoo from west to east (NE to be more precise), but visits to both St Caths and Brading NR didn't produce anything extraordinary. Judging by the lack of txts from the local birding network, albeit a small network compared to the mainland, I'm not alone in not finding something.

Birdwise, off the top of my head, at Brading, 1 marsh harrier (yesterday) and 1 hobby (today) were highlights, cuckoo heard round there too.

Quite a few painted ladys about. Today I walked from Laundry lane to Bembridge airfield and back again.

 



 

St cath's 2nd June

 

With stormy conditions from the west a sea watch was the only option really. Didn't get there as early as I intended, but still got to see a reasonable movement of manxies. 1 arctic east.

 

You might have to use some imagination looking at these

Puffinus puffinus 

 

Just to add some colour, taken yesterday in the same area

Afternoon Brading NR

Much the same. House martins > swallows, and swifts

Long-tailed tit aegithalos caudatus

St cath's

This morning I had a wander round the point, including watershoot bay, Rocken end, the beach, and atop Gore cliff. It didn't really feel like June at all with very cool breezy conditions. Though dry and better when the sun came out

This pool always looks good for attracting something, like a rare heron

Messing about with a panoramic setting

 

 

Flushed pheasant