From Kevin Caley - I thought that you might like to hear of a hobby that graced our property this evening (about 6.00-6.20), bringing our on-property bird list here in Llanteg to 73 species. While standing gazing out from the barn, my attention was grabbed by alarm calls from the resident swallows which I at first thought were mobbing a kestrel. ‘That’s odd’, I thought, so I watched, and realised quite quickly that it was a beautiful adult hobby, attracted to our front meadow by the abundance of fox moths currently occupying that area, and zooming over and through the grass flowers. The hobby did several circuits, frequently swooping down low, grabbing a moth and feeding on it on the wing, ignoring the mobbing swallows. At one point, the bird came so close (within 9 m) that not only could I see the gorgeous orange-chestnut undertail and streaked underparts, but also the clear black crescent under the eye that extends onto the white cheek, and that lovely dark, soft grey back with the dark central areas in each feather. I was mesmerised by its mastery of the air for a good quarter of an hour, and it was me who left first. I don’t know how long the bird kept hunting there, but we have .... or, rather, had .... a large population of fox moths!
