Notable today was the extraordinary number of linnets, the new cropping regime at Gupton Farm being well received by farmland birds. Around 400 were on the wires as I parked at Gupton with another 200 feeding in the fodder crop and on dock seeds. These were scattered by two 1CY peregrines, ♂ and ♀, presumably siblings, who caused chaos but didn't catch anything. A ♀ sparrowhawk was hunting along the bridleway - with linnet flocks here and along the Corse there could not have been far short of 1000 linnets altogether.
A single wheatear on the dunes, 2 of the 1CY kestrels that have been around recently were scrapping around Starman's Hall. A buzzard called near the pines, and 300m upstream of the hide a distant 1CY ♀ marsh harrier was quartering the reedbed (poor record shot below) - making 5 raptor species today.
There were lots of corvids feeding in the Starman's Hall area. I heard chough, and finally located them - flying high over the Corse, separate from the other corvids, a flock of 28. My autofocus refused to recognise them, but I counted them three times.
Water rail, moorhen, snipe, grey heron and 2 Cetti's were seen or heard in the reedbed.
And finally, 9 clouded yellows in the lucerne crop by Starman's Hall was a personal best.
.JPG)
