Really amazing feat of endurance for something so small and having to “fly” the whole way, rather than having the facility to “glide” that the the larger birds have for at least some of the way, albeit for longer distances.
Maybe it was scared of flying?
Camouflage isn’t just for the hunted, it can benefit the hunter too. Spot the Merlin.
Slightly better views on one of its regular lookout perches a minute or so earlier
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Wheatear numbers (of both sexes) are slowly building and they’ll soon be nest building
Lingering winter birds that really should have moved North by now include this Fieldfare
and at least 4 Barnacle Geese
Passage migrants are still thin on the ground but a few Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests are feeding up before moving on.
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Maybe it saw a plate of chips through the glass roof?
Not so much dreaming spires as nightmarish bunker. Seagulls are all freeloading anarchists. Wonderful metaphor.
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Trickle down economics explained.
An obliging Chiffchaff from today. Maybe a dozen or so dotted around the island.
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Making an absolute (joyous) racket in my garden these past few weeks.
Chiffchaffs all over the gaff here at the moment. Love their song
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We’ve had unusual numbers of them around here, normally few and far between.
At this time of year (down there, not up here) a lot of the Chiffys will be moving through, rather than staying to breed.
I would expect those numbers to reduce somewhat until the usual breeding pairs have settled and the passage birds have dispersed.
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Makes sense, they’re just particualrly noticeable comared with last few years. I gather a lot of S. Europe has been unseasonably cool and wet, so wonder if that’s driven some passage birds further NW than usual?
That’s quite possible. The SW has had over a hundred Hoopoes in the last couple of weeks and Bryher (Scilly) had at least 85 Black Redstarts in just one day!
It’s quite mad but climate change and the associated weather conditions must be the principal driver. Range extension possibly less so.
That’s just my opinion, of course. I have no hard evidence.
Experience + informed opinion counts for a lot, doubt the science will contradict it.
After the sighting a female Merlin the other day I’ve managed to find a male in the same general area, hawking around a valley, it was an absolute bugger to photograph. Lightning fast and constantly changing direction.
They’ve only bred twice in 14 years here but seeing a pair at this time of year is very encouraging.
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