Well, things certainly warmed up this afternoon after the dank start that I had and the sky was full of more Migrant Hawkers than I care to imagine. At one stage from the end of the ramp there must have been over 50 in view at all heights as the zoomed around looking for other insect prey. With them were a couple of huge Brown Hawkers, several Southerns, countless Darters and amazingly both male and female Banded Demoiselle (a rare species here).
Brown Hawkers never seem to land so this was a stroke of luck for Pete Jackson
Migrant Hawker pausing for breath (Mark Vale)
And with all these insects came the birds with at least five Hobbies and eight Kestrels all up catching insects and eating them on the wing. Kestrels are surprisingly adept at this too! Back in the woodland four Spotted Flycatchers appeared as if by magic and likewise chomped into the invert population during the afternoon. At least three Buzzards and three juvenile Marsh Harriers along with our fairly static variety of waders made for a pretty good day on site.
Spot Fly (Mark Vale) and hopefully some more shots later!
3-9-12
Howard Vaughan, Information Officer