Whilst sea watching was providing some great late autumn excitement with sightings of Leach's Petrel, Little Auk and Grey Phalarope I was at ARC on the RSPB reserve. As usual this side of the reserve was devoid of other visitors and after a wander to the pines I ended up in Hanson hide and suddenly out popped or rather jumped a Bittern in to one of the recently cleared channels cut in to the reed bed.
A visit to Coldharbour Lane on Walland Marsh this morning resulted in three species of raptor making an appearance as I was watching the flock of 48 Bewick's Swan that only includes a single juvenile bird. Initially the Bewick's flock were a little distant but gradually started to fly on to a flooded area within the same field. Those on the flooded area started to call and trumpet which is just one of those incredible natural sounds.
As I was watching the swans I picked up a male hen harrier quartering a ditch beyond them. Despite taking a number of photos, they were all badly out of focus, with this one the best out of a bad lot. The harrier continued to hunt up and down the various ditches but never got remotely near me despite my efforts of chasing after it in the car and trying to anticipate where it might get closer.
Back at the swans, a kestrel had perched up near to the road and seemed very interested in some sound or movement just below it.
The flock of Black-headed gulls that were roosting on the flooded field suddenly all got airborne and moved away. On scanning the skies for a possible raptor, I picked up two Peregrine Falcons coming down one of which then just flew round and round in small circles with a Black-headed Gull like they were both having a game! The two Peregrines then landed in the field and remained there.
