Sunny spells, 18º, light to fresh W.
A brief visit to Lollingdon Hill this afternoon saw very little. 3-4 Yellowhammers as usual, plus a Kestrel being mobbed by a Carrion Crow, also a Great-spotted Woodpecker seen.
A few Red Kite in the area and a scattering of Rook and Jackdaw around.
The fields to the south were being worked by a couple of tractors and subsequently had a number of gulls following, 300+ in all. Predominately Lesser Blackback Gulls but also 4 Herring Gulls.
I was listening to a conversation last week about Lesser Blackback Gulls being the most numerous gull behind the plough in Oxfordshire and Herring Gulls being the most numerous behind the plough in Berkshire. As to why, I have no idea!
The local Swallows have now left as well, none seen today but a flock of 40+ House Martins over South Moreton yesterday and 3 Swallows over Cholsey Hill.
A Chiffchaff heard calling in the garden also 2 Coal Tits, several Long-tailed Tits and 1-2 Goldcrests.
Also a Migrant Hawker in the garden briefly.
Lesser Blackback Gull
Time for a rantL, over the past months I have been reading about the illegal hunting going on in Malta. What I can’t understand is the mindset of these D***heads that shoot birds like Swallows, Bee-eaters, Marsh Harriers, in a nutshell anything!
I can just about tolerate legal hunting but these characters are something else. They say it’s traditional but so was capital punishment and a whole host of other things that we now find unacceptable. Grow up! With the state of bird life these days, they need all the protection we can give them. A Swallow against a Shotgun, fair fight? If they need to do this go and help our guys in various war zones and see how you cope!
What really hacks me off is that I have Maltese blood in my family a few generations back and they shame me!
On a more positive front the Maltese law enforcement appear to be doing their job and several illegal hunters have been prosecuted but more needs to be done!
Also well done to the “Raptor camp” volunteers and Birdlife Malta who attempt to monitor the hunting.
No comments:
Post a Comment