Rain rain go away

With little let up in the weather this weekend we were restricted to a circuitous drive out to Eccup before the sun went down. In a dry half hour we saw Kestrel, Red Kite, Lapwing, and lots of Curlew, pictured here.

Incoming Buzzard at Eccup

Passing through Eccup we watched a Buzzard swoop down to settle on a fence post. We've seldom seen a Buzzard at rest here as they're predominantly soaring high over the fields in search of prey.

Not sure the nearby Wood Pigeons were too happy at the arrival of their new neighbour, but within minutes it was chased off by a tag team of Crows.

Weardley Red Kites and Eccup

A short trip to Weardley saw the Red Kites in fine display. The afternoon light was murky and with the ISO cranked up our pics came out a little grainy but salvageable. Lovely to see the Red Kites energetically swooping and diving against the patchwork of fields, hedgerows and bare Oak trees. This field is a favourite with the Kites, full of sheep and mangelwurzel which presumably attracts plenty of small mammals too.

We watched a number of Kites engage in acrobatic aerial tussles where one or the other would roll upside down, drop and right itself with the greatest of ease time and time again.

The Red Kites regularly settled in a field occupied by sheep and a plentiful amount of mangelwurzel. Also present were a number of Pied Wagtail, over 30 in this field, busily bobbing around and unlike the Kites attracting the occasional interest of the resident sheep. We also spotted a couple of Twite in the field but too far away for a pic.

A little further up the road towards Eccup a fallow field held Lapwing 15, Curlew 5, Starling 40, Wood Pigeon 25, and three hares. Here's a pair of hares spotted at a distance. The Lapwing were keen to see off any crows that flew over the area so maybe they're marking this as potential breeding ground, it'll be interesting to keep an eye on it.