Don't disturb the Harriers

Might as well be stood there with a gun

I stumbled across a bunch of birders at Walland Marsh today. They were standing and talking with little concern for the Harriers (or was it a Crane?) they'd come to see. I asked them to stand down from the brow of a bank overlooking a close-by Harrier roost. The same view could be had from simply taking 10 steps down the bank and out of the flight-line of incoming roosting birds. As I walked away, I saw that no one had moved. So a big thumbs down to all those birders who were there - and you were noisy, too. When you hear that the roost isn't used by Harriers like it used to be in the past, you might know the reason why.

Anyone visiting Walland Marsh reserve should not park their cars beyond the field gate (I suggest the pub car park), and never walk on top of the perimeter bank for the same reasons the RSPB put up signs for children saying 'please do not stand on top of the bank'.

November Swallow

This morning at daybreak a Swallow made a purposeful dash across the garden to quickly disappear to the south.  This made Swallows present for the last eight months in a year when we think that despite the weather, Swallows locally had a good and extended breeding season.

Back in October a flock of 200+ Fieldfares took a low pass across the garden with the aid of a strong Northern wind on the 27th. Unusually, on the 10th, a flock of Greylag Geese flew North over the house instead of roosting on Romney Marsh. Single Yellowhammers have started to return to the garden for seed and Wood pigeons are feeding young, with no regard for any formal breeding season.

Greylag geese