Quietly Content

Two Spotted Flaycatcher were reported on the Friends Forum, near to the Hatton Close entrance to the park. Almost certainly passing through, but there was a chance they were still around, after all, the Pied Flaycatcher was around for a few days. Anyway, I headed out at first light, and there wasn't much to see or hear along the path behind Warren Hill, so I headed out onto the Pit Tip, where it was also quiet. I did meet Carl (the guy who'd seen the Spotted Flycatchers) though, and he gave me all the details - they'd moved on. The only notable sightings on the Pit Tip were a pair of Lesser Black-backed Gull flying over, and a singing male Chiffchaff at Dawson's Corner and a further bird heard calling at the Sidings.

I didn't have too long before heading off to work, so I put in a quick visit to Bestwood Quarry. At the entrance a Great Spotted Woodpecker flushed into a nearby tree and remained out of view as a Sparrowhawk flew over. Heading down to my usual scoping spot, in front of the hillside, a scruffy looking Common Buzzard was being mobbed by two crows as it flew over from behind the hill towards Warrenhill Plantation. From the brief views, it looked to be a pale-phase juvenile.

I was about to head back when I heard alarm calls coming from further along the valley, and looked up to see a raptor in an odd flight manoeuvre. It was a small- to medium-sized bird, and seemed to be making a short vertical lifting flight whilst calling, up from one of the trees, or possibly from behind it. All I could make out was the underside - pale and streaked or barred, with an orange or rusty colour around the legs. I made my way up the path, nearer to the bird's location, hoping it might have been a Hobby. A Red Fox darted across the path from the approximate location of the tree that the bird had been near to. This, I assumed, was the cause of alarm. Reaching the level of the tree's top, there was no sign of the bird around the tree, but a Sparrowhawk was gliding lower down through the valley, and so I assumed that it was the same bird.

From the higher vantage point, I scanned the opposite hillside as the sun began to warm everything up. I located a single Common Whitethroat, and heard some more Chiffchaff calling. A small party of larger gulls flew over to the east, containing five Lesser Black-backed Gull and two Herring Gull, and a Common Buzzard was calling in the distance, but remained out of sight. A relatively quiet morning, but enjoyable nonetheless.