First stop this morning was Cresswell, where the early highlight was a nice gingery male Ruff. Later as we were leaving eleven Little Gulls appeared, no idea were they came from!
From here we had a bit of a tour around looking for Little Owl; fail! While at one spot a very brief flyover falcon that was called as Hobby, but was not seen again. A wagtail flyover at the same site was a Yellow, not seen one of them for a week or two.
Eventually we arrive at Chevington, where a Ban Owl is seen perched in a tree on the far side of the pool, a single Marsh Harrier and another four Little Gull. While here we have a bit of a chat with Colin and the Hobby we had was mentioned.
Colin leaves and we head to the beach in the hope of some terns. This draws a blank, but as we walk back, we find this beauty on the fence…
Naturally I don’t have the camera with me, so I high tail it back to the car. While doing this making some calls to one or two folks along the way. Back at the bird I take some shots and then we just have a chat with some of the folks that turn up. We leave here to avoid a large shower that is heading our way and as we leave I get a call from Colin who has had a Hobby take a Starling at Cresswell!
On the way back to the car…
We head for Druridge and have another Barn Owl hunting over the Budge fields. A short drive later and we are back at Cresswell. There is no sign of the Ruff or any Little Gull, but panic from a Lapwing brooding two youngsters reveals a Hobby heading north. We are still celebrating this when we have another Barn Owl fly in and land just in front of us!
Canny day!
