Still feeling like winter but everything generally carrying on as though it were a normal spring day, a stroll around Banstead Woods in the morning was rewarded with a couple of brief glimpses of my and the patch's first
Hobby of the year, as well as an overflying
Red Kite (2cy) and a singing
Willow Warbler (scarce this year!). Moving on to the farm, there was little on offer today but a
Little Owl called, four
Mallards flew over and three
Swallows flew through.
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| 2cy Red Kite at Banstead Woods |
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| Hobby at Banstead Woods |
After lunch, I headed to Beddington, where it was cool and showery. There was nothing new, but the
Sedge Warbler was still singing away on one of the main islands and a
Common Sandpiper was seen, along with a pair of
Little Ringed Plovers. As I left the gate, the number of
Swallows hawking over the lakes had built to around 30 and an
Egyptian Goose flew over. The highlight of the visit, though, was watching a
Jackdaw try really hard to chase down a
Swallow for the best part of 10 seconds!
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| Little Ringed Plover at Beddington |
