Peter Jones, "Hampshire Diary"
• Sunday, July 5, 2009 - An afternoon of Wiltshire Specialities.
Headed North and out of the county Saturday afternoon to try and find some Wiltshire Speciailities. Couldn't have got off to a better start as I parked and opened the car door to see a Male Montagu's Harrier drifting through the adjacent fields! Had a superb view of him quartering the fields, until he disappeared behind a ridge. Didn't see any other sightings in the remainder of the day though so I was extremely fortunate there.
Next couple of hours were fairly dull with just Corn Buntings, Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, and the odd Yellowhammer. The afternoon was brightened up with plenty of Small Tortoiseshells along the tracks.
Towards dusk, the area became alive as the temperature dropped like a stone.. Two Hobbies flew over, a Grasshopper Warbler was reeling, and I heard a very distant Grey Partridge. Even later a Distant Barn Owl was seen briefly and a Fox trotted towards me.. I crouched down and tried a "rasping" sound that often attracts them closer.. Not this one, he just sloped off into the long grass. I didn't realise but the "rasping" sound had worked on a second Fox, and as I stood up, he bolted from about 20 feet away!! Later still, in near total darkness, a Tawny Owl emerged from the woodland I was staking out, which ended any hopes of a Long Eared I guess! Also a good number of Noctule Bats whizzed overhead. Finally, a few Stone Curlews were giving out their eery calls. One territory must have been close to where i had been scanning in the daytime.
No Quail today, despite being within earshot of decent habitiat for much of the afternoon and evening. Maybe this year isn't a particularly good one for this species?
On the journey home, I saw about 3 more roadside Barn Owls, and best of all a Badger near Mottisfont. |
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