A quiet morning though good numbers of Hirundines feeding over the fields and a few making their way out to sea. Two Spotted Flycatchers were new and the Reed Warbler was still singing from blackthorn near the Youth Hostel. A pair of Sparrowhawks are nesting in a small willow clump out there, the parent sits tight when I'm nearby - as is often the case with Sparrowhawks, you hardly know they are there until the young start making a noise. The nest is literally miles from any real woodland. They must be hunting over the maritime heath and rough grazing which is about all there is apart from a few bits of blackthorn and stunted sycamore. It strikes me that maybe they've filled in the ecological niche where there might once have been Merlins. I guess the mipits aren't too happy about it.
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| and thereby hangs a tail |