Rachel and I spent the afternoon at Thursley Common. Spent half an hour watching the male Common Cuckoo that photographers are feeding with mealworms at the moment in Parish Field. The bird comes down to a few perches set up just a few metres from admiring birders and photographers. The views were ridiculous! I'm not sure how comfortable I am with a Cuckoo being fed, but then I'm not sure why I should be uncomfortable with it either? The bird seemed very comfortable being so close to people and even started calling from one of the perches at one point!
Other birds noted included 1m Common Redstart at Shrike Hill (and others heard), 3 Woodlark (inc. 2 in Parish Field), 1+ Eurasian Hobby, 2 (1m, 1f) Dartford Warbler, 7 (4m, 3f) Stonechat, 1H Eurasian Curlew, 1H Willow Warbler, 3 (2m, 1f) Tufted Duck (bog), 5 Canada Goose (bog) and 1 Mistle Thrush (Parish Field).
Also tried the Emperor Moth pheromone lure again at SU905418 and had 3-4 males come in after a few minutes, although none of them settled.
Other birds noted included 1m Common Redstart at Shrike Hill (and others heard), 3 Woodlark (inc. 2 in Parish Field), 1+ Eurasian Hobby, 2 (1m, 1f) Dartford Warbler, 7 (4m, 3f) Stonechat, 1H Eurasian Curlew, 1H Willow Warbler, 3 (2m, 1f) Tufted Duck (bog), 5 Canada Goose (bog) and 1 Mistle Thrush (Parish Field).
Also tried the Emperor Moth pheromone lure again at SU905418 and had 3-4 males come in after a few minutes, although none of them settled.
 |
| Found a pair of Dartford Warblers Sylvia undata nesting right beside the path and fluked this pic of the male as we walked past (Dartford Warbler is a Schedule 1 species so we didn't linger) |
Now that is taking the p#ss!
ReplyDelete