
Friday, 21 August 2009
Birdlife was very noticeable by its absence. There were one or two good sightings, most notable being four redstarts. It doesn't matter how often a redstart is seen, each time the observer feels almost a sense of awe at the beauty of this superb bird.
There was a good overhead movement of swallows and house martins that are setting off on their journey south and a dipper was spotted on the stream. The few other bird species logged were skylark, meadow pipit, various tits and finches in the sparse group of trees, a kestrel and a very distant buzzard. The only other bird seen was such a long way off that nobody was willing to identify it as either a stonechat or a whinchat.