I have commented before that recognising birds is a problem when there are several species to choose, and these look all rather similar, and they are 100 metres or more below. These two mornings were very bright and cold, with a blue sky, so seeing was good.
Monday there were two birds, moving together as if a pair, this morning a solitary wader. The puzzle was Redshank or Greenshank (or Knot, or ... )? This time the flight feathers did no look like those of a Redshank, and I could not get a good view of the legs, which also looked a bit short for a 'Shank. The bill did no look right for a Greenshank. The mud is thick and soft below Sea Walls, so even a small wader can get its legs messy. Add to this, the change from winter to summer plumage, and juvenile and sex differences ... They could have been Knot!
On both mornings I thought that I saw a Sparrowhawk, first off Circular Road, then this morning at the side of Ladies Mile. But, was it a Kestral? Simply it had a single, prominent bar on its tail, the tail looked rather square and long when perched, a buff red brown, lightly speckled chest, and a greyer head. No, I come back to a Sparrowhawk, but with rather indistinct tail bands. The bird was perched on an Ash stump up the tree, peering around (I got a long hard stare from it), something that Kestrals sometimes do when hunting, but it was also flitting around, like a Sparrowhawk when hunting. (At the end of the month, the uninitiated could well mistake a Cuckoo for a hawk!)
A beautiful red vixen with a neat white tip to her tail was exploring the shrubs below the Peregrine Watch, last year we saw her with her cubs in a similar position.
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