May 4th. Good, solid title.

So, Spring's properly here. Well, sort of, only it's a bit shit so far.  I went local.  Local places where I've never been before, looking for suitable farmland and fields for Dotterel near Brough.  Didn't find any Dotterel (none) but I didn't really expect to.  What I did see though, was a Grey Partridge, several Yellow and literally millions of Pied Wags.  Well, not perhaps literally.

Onto the secret site that I visited t'other day but today was sunnier, which promoted thermal properties and therefore promoted raptor potential.  It was good.  At one point there were 3 Buzzard, 1 Red Kite, and 2 Hobbies in the air together!  Notice the exclamation mark after that sentence, which some of you may ridicule.
"3 stupid Buzzards, 1 Red Kite and 2 Hobbies?  I have to kill better numbers than that just to get to my car in a morning.  They're fucking everywhere here in Somerset" said Ian ov Somerset.  I agree.  In comparison to lots of places it is quite a rubbish haul but you only have to go back 10 years and all three species were scarce, in fact very scarce around here.  It's good.  It's very good.  Raptor numbers = Good.  rn=g.
Okay, the Kites are from introduced stock but after quite a few years of successful breeding you can argue that this is a self-sustaining population which in itself is a requisite of being added to the British List, if it wasn't already.  Lady A's?  Stick 'em right up your jacksy.

A drake Bullfinch bulldozed it's way into a tree, then a Coal Tit hunted insects on a different tree, then as I was leaving, I looked up and saw another Buzzard which appeared to have a short tail.  In the end it was just that.
A Buzzard.
With a short tail.



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