Headed north for a morning's birdwatching/walking. First stop was Testcoombe where I had stumbled on a good spot for Wheatear late in the spring. Made a repeat visit to see if any early individuals were passing through, but the area were I saw them was out of view from the footpath due to another field of Poppies, now known to be Pharmaceutical Poppies. This location is probably best left until next spring now. The early morning wasn't a total waste though with a Hobby passing overhead and a couple of juvenile Stonechats.
Headed across the border into Wiltshire and went on a superb walk across the Downs near Chute. Scenery was fantastic.. like a mini- Yorkshire Dales. Best of the birds were a Male Redstart, at least 4 Ravens, a similar number of Buzzards, and 8 Kestrels.. the Kestrels were everywhere!
Did have TWO unfortunate incidents with dogs which was unusual, especially at 7am. The first was a large slobbish man who couldn't control 1 dog, let alone the three Labs he was out with. After the dogs ran into the back of my legs three times in the space of 5 minutes I was getting a bit fed up with it all, so decided to stand still and stare at him.. This seemed to work - I didn't see him again! Funny, the owners who let their dogs run out of control are always the same ones that don't carry any poop bags! Barely 200 yards further on, another Labrador type dog was loose in a field disturbing cattle, with no sign of any owner anywhere. A few minutes later I could hear the distinct calls of a farmer going absolutely ballistic in the distance. Didn't see that dog again either! |
