Sunday 5 August 2012

Gulling

I turn the corner to enter South Field, which was harvested last week and lo...


... it has been ploughed. And contains several hundred birds. Or more precisely 150 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 50 Herring Gulls, 50 Black-headed Gulls, 150 Jackdaws and 300 Rooks. Which is all well and good, but the flocks lacked the rarity hidden amongst them which I had hoped for. Still it was nice to be able to scan through flocks of birds actually looking for something. Until the oilseed rape was harvested, this field held precious little wildlife at all.


Above, the gull flock. Below, the mixed Rook and Jackdaw flock. These flocks don't mix.


The first juvenile Red Kite of the year drifted overhead, each feather fresh and pristine, with no sign of moult (unlike these moulting adults from a couple of years ago):


Juvenile Red Kites have a tail shape of their own too, a shorter more triangular shape then the long forked tail of a mature adult. Also note the faint sub-terminal dark bar on the tail tip, connecting the dark tail corners, plus the pale vent and lower belly. Nice:

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