The second Towerwatch of the spring saw me join Matt P, Robin S, Paul S, Phil W, David S and Stuart C for another frustratingly fog-laiden morning. We all stuck it out and gassed away till the skies
eventually opened up around midday, by which time we had only managed to log a single
Crossbill, two
redpolls and a handful of
Meadow Pipits trickling through of any note. The raptors did start to get up, with around 20
Common Buzzards tallied but the ship had already sailed for anything of 'higher calibre'. Mind you, we did get a
Red Kite as descended back to the cars. The first returning
Firecrest of the spring was singing lower down, in the distance a
Woodlark danced in the sky and a
Marsh Tit was calling by the tower and a count of four
Tufted Ducks on Broomhall Lake (in the foothills) was notable. I finished on 15
Meadow Pipits by the time we clocked off. I was rather pleased to have seen a
Barn Owl near Dorking en-route, at dawn.
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| The loftiest birders in south-east England |
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| Red Kite |
