Saturday daytime had been wet and so I'd decided to catch up on sleep - no birding for me. Despite the evening turning brighter I had an appointment to go and see friends and hence a plan started to hatch about going to Upton Warren on Sunday morning to catch up with the avocets breeding on The Flashes. I am occasionally in touch with one of the locals on Twitter and he'd suggested that the gates to that area on the reserve would open at 8.00am and so that is when I arrived.
The car park was quiet, and I made my way straight for The Flashes - passing by the boat slip a single oystercatcher ran ahead of me and down to the water's edge and almost as soon as I'd passed through the gate, I could hear a Cetti's warbler calling. I stopped and managed to catch a single flight as it worked its way left. I passed the first two hides but made for the best hide over the flashes, finding someone already in residence (David Jackson). I scanned the water and found a juvenile ringed plover, 18 avocets, 10 green sandpiper and 36 lapwing - then David pointed me at three dunlin that I'd missed, and a juvenile little ringed plover.
Skeins of geese, some Canada and others greylag, passed the hide on a frequent basis and the collection of birds spotted fed and rotated position. It wasn't until a flock of 11 curlew dropped in that the picture changed. While landing in view they quickly moved further from view and many into the grass cover.
By now there were four of us in the hide and as a kingfisher gave us a flypast I briefly chatted with the chap to my left. The kingfisher landed on a distance fence and moved between the various perching points. We followed its progress until eventually lost from view. Later it became apparent that this had been Carl Jones who I talk to and follow on Twitter - it was good to meet in person but if only we'd realised while sitting beside each other.
I'd arranged to be home before lunch as my wife was heading out for a tennis match in the afternoon so made my way back to the car and back down the motorway.
After lunch my wife left and I decided that I'd have another try at catching up with the hobby visiting Balscote Quarry, hunting for dragonflies. The site was very quiet, and it was until Mike Prentice arrived that much happened at all - a bit more spotting of butterflies and a likely brown argus was called. We had a long catchup which made for a nice afternoon but no view of anything other than a couple of distant jay passes. Eventually Mike couldn't take any more of the excitement and went off to see what he could see elsewhere (wheatear at the local airfield?) but I hung on in there. After my three-hour vigil I was presented with a hobby on the far hedge line, and it swooped through the back pool I presumed chasing the large dragonflies I'd seen over the water. However, it rose up and I could see a bulkier prey in its talons. It circled briefly and I got a view of a small bird in its grip - perhaps house martin. While successful this was not going to result in a hunting display, and it left almost as soon as it had arrived. Nice, but damn.
I prepared to head home when a barn owl poked its head out of the owl box, stared down a stock dove which took to the wing, then returned to the safety within. A fine end to a long and generally very quiet visit.
Nice read of a nice day.
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