Friday, April 22, 2011

April 22 2011

An unexpected day off today, so I made the most of it!

I was at my chosen location by 07:30, in the hope of a bit of song, and possibly some pictures.

At the first stop, a Cuckoo was belting it out, but that was playing second fiddle to what I could see beyond; four Raven were having a bit of a territorial scrap. A quick change of view point had me much closer (although still too far for pictures or recordings). The Ravens were really going at it, dog fights over a wood and toward a crag, and as they approached the crag, a bullet of a bird came hurtling at them; Peregrine. It escorted them off with some big stoops. The Ravens went, but were still fighting among themselves.

Leaving them in peace, I moved on, only to be stopped in my tracks by a Black Grouse. First time I’ve had Black Grouse here.

There were plenty of Wheatear on show, some of them even posed…
Northern WheatearNorthern Wheatear  Northern WheatearNorthern Wheatear

…and Skylarks were out in force…
Skylark

…and a Pied Wagtail sat still for me.
Pied Wagtail

It was good to be able to take pictures today; I recently dropped my camera and lens to the deck. I feared the worst, but everything seemed ok, until Wednesday, when the camera and the 1.4 detached themselves from the lens and went bouncing along the road at Chevington! Again I feared the worst, but all seemed fine, until I tried to take a picture; nothing. Shit!!!

It turned out to be very simple; two very, very lose screws, easily fixed, and it all seems ok, for now.

I have many new recordings, but you’ll just have to take my word for it. For some reason, I can’t upload them to xeno-canto, no idea why. Common Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Grasshopper Warbler, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Common Sandpiper are just a few of them.

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