Thanks to volunteer Phil for his latest sightings update....
Sometime in the morning of this day a visitor asked if she might see a hobby. I thought about this, having not seen one for a few weeks and replied that these birds were most likely to have set off for winter quarters in Africa. This is perhaps strictly correct but does not really tell the whole story, and later that day I learned something about hobbies that I had not known.
At the Hanger in the afternoon a group of regular Friday visitors who are all highly experienced birdwatchers, so much so that I have nicknamed them ‘The Professionals’, called out a peregrine flying above the viewpoint. This was quickly revised a size downwards to a hobby. Both species do have a similar shape and plumage, but peregrines are noticeably larger. So I wondered if, despite my prediction, our visitor did have the pleasure of seeing one.
At this point I learned from The Professionals something I’d not known about hobbies but had known about ospreys, another summer bird of prey that migrates back to Africa for the winter. After chicks fledge the females fly back to winter quarters leaving the males to teach the fledglings their hunting skills. Then the males leave and the juveniles stay behind to practice their skills for a few more weeks before heading South with no parent to guide them. Young birds manage this feat year after year, a truly astonishing fact about bird migration and something completely unthinkable in human terms. So, the bird we saw was most likely a juvenile, and a little research suggests these sometimes stay until the end of October.
At the end of the day I decided to take a short walk down to Hails View passing the Black Pond – now a pond again after recent heavy rain. Straight out from here is a prominent dead tree where I had been advised by The Professionals that a hobby was often to seen perched up in the morning. When I arrived there at 4.15 pm I discovered 2 birds of prey perched in the same tree and thought there must be 2 hobbies but a closer look revealed one to be a kestrel. The other however was most certainly a hobby...
There is always something new to learn in the world of wildlife.