A short entry today, to correspond with an equally short excursion! I had a busy work day, but as the afternoon involved working on my new solo album at my friend Mark’s studio near Melton Constable, I decided to take a little time off when we had finished to visit the raptor watchpoint near Swanton Novers, which is only a couple of miles away from him. My first visit there this year (https://con-brio.com/the-old-and-the-new/) produced a new bird for me – goshawk.
I was the only person there, and this time the gate to the field was open, allowing me to park off the road, though I didn’t drive very far in as it was pretty wet and muddy! The weather had become very ominous with a large storm cloud quite close and so I only stayed for about ten minutes. However to my delight I was able to watch two goshawks flying over the woodland – still fairly distant as in February, but a little closer than then and a little easier to identify.
Tomorrow I’m heading up to Leeds where we’re coaching on an annual string quartet course. I’m going to try to leave reasonably early in the morning in order to have time for a stop somewhere en route….
No new species for April 13th:
TOTALS TO DATE:
Birds = 157
Moths = 17
Wildflowers = 47