We were not free until mid afternoon but as it was a glorious afternoon we went to our local reserve that have evaded us so far this year. Chris soon spotted Little Owl which was one species we wanted but we then got waylaid when about 300 Pink Footed Geese flew over half did their "whiffling" act to loose height fast ond dropped down onto the reserve the rest of the flock carried on Northwards. We spent a lot of time listening to the chatter of the recently it would be fascinating to know what was all. Chris set her scope up and a quick scan produced the other species we wanted to see, Black Tailed Godwits preening themselves after just arriving, also heading North to their breeding grounds. Some good sightings but the reason for us not setting off until late outshone these for me being a aircraft nerd was a flypast by the Red Arrows. Not for us personally but to mark the disbandment of the RAF squadron at our local airfield. Quite a sad day locally but tne skies will be a little quieter.
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can
Sounds like a good afternoon.
There are quite a few RAF/RN airbases with dwindling activities. I see Culdrose and Valley are retiring all their Hawk T1 aircraft. There has been a flypast down in Cornwall, and I think something similar for Valley, but I've no details to verify Valley.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
Yes Valley is keeping the Hawk T2 and Texans, but their T1's are being retired.
Desktop exercises have been gaining momentum for while, and the vastly improved computer wizardry today helps to make scenarios more realistic, a big saving on fuel costs.
Digressing, I don't know if you've heard, the Chinook that was used in the Falklands 'BN', now has a new home, the museum at RAF Cosford (a fascinating place), which isn't too far from me.
I think for much of the Cold War years aircraft were the main stay of defence, with submarines a close second until probably the last 10-15 years when they became more capable of stealth operations than aircraft.