It’s been a busy old week for birds of prey here at Fairburn. Buzzards have been spotted nearly every day with sightings at Newfield, Pick-up and from Lin Dike hide. Two red kites were also seen over Newfield at the weekend and another two flew over the visitor centre on Thursday.
On Monday there was a peregrine over Lin Dike, and another over Cedric’s pool on Tuesday. Down at Cedric’s there was also a water rail and a Cetti’s warbler calling. However, the main excitement there this week were the bearded tits! Two males and a female were reported as well as several other sightings of individuals and plenty of people who heard them calling.
Red kite, Ben Hall (rspb-images.com)
Zooming to the other end of the reserve and out onto the Main Bay gull roost. On Monday evening there was one Caspian gull, but the bumper sighting came on Tuesday night when there were four spotted amongst the crowd.
There have been regular sightings of Caspian gulls in the roost over the past few weeks. Very similar to the more common herring gulls and yellow-legged gulls, in the past they have been quite a rarity in the UK but the sightings are becoming more common. The identifying features are quite subtle; in the shape of the head, the slightly drooping tip of the bill and distinctive primary feathers.
Bearded tit, Mike Richards (rspb-images.com)
Tuesday’s excitement continued with a bellowing of 12 bullfinches seen between Lin Dike and Hickson’s. There were nine males and three females with a trixy siskin hiding amongst them.
And finally, in the main car park a weasel put on a little show as it gave chase to a rabbit, an awesome wildlife moment for everyone that was down there.