My brother David and I took a trip up to Nottinghamshire to chance our arm at the raptor watchpoint near Wellbeck. Our principal target were the Honey Buzzards which have been making this area their home for many years now. With three birds having been seen recently we set out with with some optimism and were not to be disappointed.
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| Orange-tip and vole |
Plenty of other would be observers were gathered on site and we joined them in their search. Common Buzzards caused a few false alarms, at least two pairs were in the area and a Red Kite drifted past. After a while a Honey Buzzard did do a flypast though it was distant and the views were far from ideal. Deciding to hang on in the hope of seeing the Honeys a little closer we added Sparrowhawk to our raptor list while there were a few Yellow Wagtails flitting around the cereal field in front of us. Realising that the HB's were not going to cooperate we left after a couple of hours but not before a female Orange-tip passed by.
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| Tree Pipits |
Our next stop was in Sherwood Forest area visiting Nottinhamshire's largest heath at Budby. An increasingly grey sky was now delivering a few showers though they were light and didn't spoil our walk. The heath was host to at least six singing Tree Pipits and it was good to catch up with this sadly decreasing visitor. A Woodlark showed briefly as it flew up from some nearby grass while several Stonechats were also seen. Not a lot else to report other than a male Cuckoo while Small Heaths and Speckled Woods were also found.
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| Stonechats |
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