September 15, 2008
Skywatch
News of easterlies and a smattering of Honey Buzzard sightings along the east coast, plus the first sunshine I've seen in weeks, was ample motivation for the 40-mile bike ride from Cambridge to Upware and Wicken Fen (via the Dyke's End in Reach for a fabulous Sunday roast). My first pass through Upware yielded only distant sightings of probable buzzardy things in the distance - anyone want to hazard a guess at this one, digiscoped at full camera zoom into the sun?
At Wicken I enjoyed excellent views of a hunting Hobby, the first of at least five seen during the day...
... followed soon after by a Sparrowhawk.
I bumped into another birder hopefully scanning the skies for honey monsters, and it seems he succeeded - 15 minutes after I left him to head to Upware! About 3:30pm I had a couple more distant buzzardy things, plus definite Marsh Harrier and Common Buzzard. I spent about 15 minutes watch this distant dot transform into an Osprey, cruising slowly south along the Cam while making a couple of unsuccessful passes at fish. Not exactly crippling views!
A skywatch from the ladybird lab this morning yielded a Siskin (apparently movements of these have also been occurring across the country) and a low-flying Common Buzzard - a local bird (I hardly ever see them here) or migrant?
The ever-present Kestrel was my 6th raptor species of the weekend - this one appeared to be hunting for insects caught in cobwebs around the front quad of Peterhouse.
