Local Cuckoo

Heard a cuckoo this morning in the Trosley Country Park. Called almost continuously fr about twenty minutes then went silent. I may have seen as I glimpsed a hawk like birds slipping between some trees. I presume this to be a male bird moving around in search of a mate. The current cool weather will not be suiting it, though there are plenty of nesting small birds as potential hosts.

Deceptive Raptors

Seeing a bird drop from a tree like a collapsed shroud, I suspected a little owl hunting the long grass. However a kestrel emerged carrying a vole in its talons. Later the same day, looked out of the front window to see a bird hovering. It did not display the slim poise of a kestrel and indeed turned out to be a little owl!

Encounter with a Badger

Out walking Dylan (my dog) this evening and I was distracted by a bat flying very close to my face and so did not notice that Dylan had disappeared. Then saw him running through the wheat field apparently chasing something. He then stopped and growled. Soon afterwards a large badger ran across my path and up to its sett. Dylan did not follow close behind which suggests that the badger made him have second thoughts.

Local Nightingale

Having made the relatively short journey to Leybourne Lakes to hear nightingales (five singing), I returned home only to discover a male singing just a few hundred yards from my home. Resident amongst scrub on a piece of land adjoining the Pilgrims Way.

Black Mountains' Cuckoos

Had a great few hours on the Black Mountains the other day. I am sure that I heard two separate cuckoos and besides that saw and heard a plethora of other birds including redstarts, tree pipits, willow warblers, chiff chaff and meadow pipits.

Was surprised to see only one skylark and nothing in the way of whichat or stonechat. This is an area where merlins are known to breed and so this may be a reason, though the many pipits carrying food to young suggested otherwise.

Nightingale Bliss

Sitting on a bench at Leybourne Lakes watching geese shepherding their goslings whilst listening to a nightingale hidden in a nearby thicket. On a warm May evening,can there be any preferable activity?
Whilst sitting there, a doe rabbit ran across the footpath, spent several minutes gathering fresh grass and other herbage in its mouth before returning to its burrow. Clearly this was an animal intent on making a nest that would hold its babies.
Whitethroats, sedge and reed warblers, can also be heard around the lakes, but the nightingale outshines them all.

Missing Birds

The first thing I noticed was the absence of the yellowhammers from their usual haunts. There has also been a significant reduction in the number of greenfinches around and other finches, such as linnet.
Then I saw a male sparrowhawk hedge hopping through the gardens. The next day a female hawk briefly hovered overhead as I sat in my garden. These hawks must have young for them both to be hunting at the same time. This seems somewhat early as they usually try to time their hatching with the emergence from the nest of young prey.
The birds of prey appear to be doing well, but the hedgerow birds are sadly diminished as a consequence.