First thing this morning there were literally birds falling out the sky. Not huge numbers but in the space of ten minutes outside the centre 14 Fieldfare, three Redwing, three Blackbird and three Brambling came out of nowhere and plunged into the big dogwood by the bird feeders. The Fieldfares were quickly on the move again but the male Brambling showed very well on and off for about an hour.
Brambling (Russ Sherriff)
A female Peregrine put on a fine performance as well and after several failed stoops after Lapwing and Starlings she turned her attention to a lone female Gadwall. Now, this is at the upper end of Peregrine prey species and she turned and plunged down after it. The duck did likewise and only a last minute jink spared its life, albeit with a big puff of feathers. The duck kept flying straight down and splash landed much in the manner of a bouncing bomb. Mrs P then turned her fury at some more Lapwings before getting bored and heading for her pylons.
Three House Martins and two Swallows were hawking the car park as well and there was certainly enough insect life around in the once again mild air...
29-10-12
On Saturday I noticed huge numbers of Blackbirds around the Cordite and Ferry Lane end of the reserve I noticed that some of the males had black bills. I did manage to get a record shot by holding my phone camera upto my scope.