Barn Owl
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Common Whitethroat
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JUNE
I like to cycle deliberately early on a weekend morning when the birds are very active and you sit much higher up than in a car. The only sound is the soft, hardly audible, hum of the tyres which often allow for very special close views when you glide up silently and unannounced. Thankfully, my hearing is still good and I have the ear for picking out most of the common species around us in the wider countryside as I ride out on my chosen circuit. Just minutes from home towards Great Barton it has been a cacophony of song .. Skylarks, Blackcaps, Yellow Hammers, Linnets, Blackbirds and Common Whitethroat.. the latter a summer migrant visitor from Africa .. seemingly holding territory every 70 - 80 metres apart along the field hedgelines. Last Sunday another treat and completely unexpected. Most of us as motorists here in East Anglia have to slow down regularly at this time of year to avoid Red-legged Partridges (aka Frenchies) scuttling along ahead on clockwork legs and this pair were certainly scuttling. However, as I got closer , it became evident that the legs were much too long for a Frenchie and when I got along side, to my delight, I was looking at a recently fledged pair of very young Oystercatchers ... with the mother appearing overhead and calling loudly. I stopped and gently ushered them into the tall verge grass. Oystercatchers are not just members of the wader family that you would see close to water.. they are also an annual breeding bird in the dry fields all around Sapiston. Black and White with long blood red bills.. a really beautiful bird on our doorstep
One last sighting was heart warming but also a worry. As I drove out on the A1088 an adult male Barn Owl flew over .. left to right and thankfully high .. at 9:22am on the section between Honington and Ixworth Thorpe. A wonderful sight .. I just love all owls .. but the timing a real worry. The bird should have been long since back in the nest hole or box fast asleep by dawn or shortly after. It obviously needed to stay out hunting because of the well documented dearth of mice and voles due to this cold and wet Spring and early Summer .. which at the time of writing seems to go on and on! Hopefully, readers will NOT see more hunting Barn Owls in daylight .. We need this stunningly beautiful Owl to survive and increase in numbers from their current low tally throughout the county.
Good watching .. more news next month
I like to cycle deliberately early on a weekend morning when the birds are very active and you sit much higher up than in a car. The only sound is the soft, hardly audible, hum of the tyres which often allow for very special close views when you glide up silently and unannounced. Thankfully, my hearing is still good and I have the ear for picking out most of the common species around us in the wider countryside as I ride out on my chosen circuit. Just minutes from home towards Great Barton it has been a cacophony of song .. Skylarks, Blackcaps, Yellow Hammers, Linnets, Blackbirds and Common Whitethroat.. the latter a summer migrant visitor from Africa .. seemingly holding territory every 70 - 80 metres apart along the field hedgelines. Last Sunday another treat and completely unexpected. Most of us as motorists here in East Anglia have to slow down regularly at this time of year to avoid Red-legged Partridges (aka Frenchies) scuttling along ahead on clockwork legs and this pair were certainly scuttling. However, as I got closer , it became evident that the legs were much too long for a Frenchie and when I got along side, to my delight, I was looking at a recently fledged pair of very young Oystercatchers ... with the mother appearing overhead and calling loudly. I stopped and gently ushered them into the tall verge grass. Oystercatchers are not just members of the wader family that you would see close to water.. they are also an annual breeding bird in the dry fields all around Sapiston. Black and White with long blood red bills.. a really beautiful bird on our doorstep
One last sighting was heart warming but also a worry. As I drove out on the A1088 an adult male Barn Owl flew over .. left to right and thankfully high .. at 9:22am on the section between Honington and Ixworth Thorpe. A wonderful sight .. I just love all owls .. but the timing a real worry. The bird should have been long since back in the nest hole or box fast asleep by dawn or shortly after. It obviously needed to stay out hunting because of the well documented dearth of mice and voles due to this cold and wet Spring and early Summer .. which at the time of writing seems to go on and on! Hopefully, readers will NOT see more hunting Barn Owls in daylight .. We need this stunningly beautiful Owl to survive and increase in numbers from their current low tally throughout the county.
Good watching .. more news next month