a male Red Backed Shrike was up the coast at Hendon & i hoped the drizzle & Easterly breeze may have dropped a passage migrant or two . . .
Not long after getting through there, i bumped into The Finch - he mentioned a dead Fulmar & that the chances that it had been shot . . .
on the way back i scoped the slope - the evidence speaks for itself:-
dead Fulmar
a collection of lager cans can be seen close to where the bird laid dead
On a more positive note, i noticed a dozen or so Kittiwakes on the south side of the point itself -
half a dozen were on nests - ive never noticed them here before
After catching up with DC, we went our seperate ways - we'd just been mentioning Stonechat
& how they seem to have been pegged back somewhat by the winter snows
. . . the very next bird i saw was a cock Stonechat perched prominantly on tall weeds.
his mate quickly appeared & they made repeat visits to drop into a particular spot.
incredibly smart cock Stonechat
There was an excellent density of species nesting in the big rough field here
Its largely been left well alone & has began to regenerate naturally
i found the Stonechats, Reed Buntings, Linnet, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Whitethroat, Grasshopper Warbler etc
Reed Bunt
Mipit
Sedgey
all very busy in the rank grass, tall herbs & saplings.
Wild Strawbs
Further along a male Yellow Wag was at one of the pools, before it moved off into the cereal crop.
A Orchard
a decent selection @ 70 species noted:-
pr Stonechat, male Yellow Wagtail, 8+Tree Sparrow, Swift, male Lesser Redpoll, male & 1 juvvy Green Woodpecker, males of Grasshopper Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat & Sedge Warbler, sev Little Owls, Swallow, 1Manx Shearwater, Marsh Tit, Treecreeper & Nuthatch familys, 20+Common Scoter, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Fox with cubs, walked into a Roe Buck, nesting Kittiwakes, 80+Guillemot ots, 1Puffin ots, 10Razorbill ots, steady movement of Gannets mostly N, 10+Fulmar (1dead), 1Red Throated Diver, 1calling Red legged Partridge, 8+m Reed Bunting, male Sparrowhawk, nil Grey Partridge, 2pr Stock Dove, 1 probable Serin was one that got away - although checking call on net, it sounds right, sev Kestrel, very high nos of breeding Meadow Pipits & Skylarks.
Watched the Vixen hunting for a while, she carried the rabbit back with it three quarters swallowed
Thinking about this, i presume it makes it easier to carry rather than holding it by the scruff of its neck & it dangling around all over in front of her.
She upset a Little Owl on the cliffs & he scolded her untill the Fox was out of his territory. Sadly too far & too wet for a pic.
Playtime
short fox clip
