Garden Life

I was up early this morning, and before breakfast had analysed the night's nocmig recording. Then it was out into the garden to spot birds and mull over the nocturnal revelations. Barely had I filled my gob with a big swig of coffee when two silent Greylags flew right over the garden and away NE. A mad scramble for the camera, and one brief chance to capture a record shot...

Two Greylags. Trust me. A couple of seconds later they were out of view.

On the old Axe patch I guess Greylag was just about annual, but they are certainly not a regular sight locally. Well, not for me. Two over the garden is unlikely to happen again any time soon. So, a very good start to the day...

Last night I sat out for a while, accompanying my nocmig kit with a super-sharp pair of ears. There was also the red wine, the blue stilton and a few crackers, but the main reason I was there was to listen. After the wine and cheese it seemed appropriate to recline my chair a bit, and rela-a-a-ax. At some point I was conscious of nodding slightly. Not falling asleep you understand, just teetering on the edge. Well, that's what I thought. At 22.58 a Coot flew over, bellowing like a donkey. I know this because it's right there on the recording. Also right there on the recording are the sounds of my regular deep breathing at roughly four-second intervals. On this video you can just about see and hear them at 2, 6, 10, 14 and 19 seconds...

I'm not sure where my nearest local Coots might be. Certainly a few miles away I would imagine. Knowing that Coots occasionally migrate over the garden is just mad. In fact, knowing they can stay airborne for more than about ten seconds is pretty amazing.

Despite the weather changing today, with a switch to a brisk NE breeze and less heat, I was hopeful of some more Red Kite action, and was out in the garden again around midday. With my notebook and biro...

Far more writing than your average seawatch. Far more!

As well as 27 Red Kites (ignore that '28' pencilled in the notebook above) the major highlight was some actual Hobby passage. Four birds (two together and two singles) was a real treat. Also a Peregrine, which is my third or fourth #BWKM0 bird, despite no previous garden records. Notice the Lesser Black-backed Gull? Another garden scarcity. And Beautiful Demoiselle, a female which flew straight through.

Some pics...

Best Hobby photo by a very long way. It was motoring!

I have a million tenth-rate Red Kite images, but will spare you. Instead, here are a couple of invertebrate photos which came out okay...

Large Red Damselflies ovipositing

Momentarily I thought this was a bee, but it is in fact a hoverfly. I had a couple of ID suggestions from Twitter folk, and it would appear to be a Narcissus Bulb Fly (Merodon equestris). I do not keep a hoverfly list and never will, but it's still nice to know what things are isn't it?

With the addition of Greylag I think my #BWKM0 list is now on 58. Obviously I somehow need to get to 60. What will the next two species be? I look forward to spending more time in the garden and finding out.

I'll be out there again shortly. Wide awake and alert, bolt upright in an unreclined chair...