Thursday 9 July 2009

Thursday 9th July

The swarming hirundines I saw yesterday (strawberry fields, E of East Malling Research buildings) were joined by a migration of Sand Martins, my first ever on site. They formed quite a feeding frenzy above the mustard plants, with Swallows, Swifts, House and Sand Martins blending together, picking off any aphid that dared fly! A Skylark attempted an ascend into the middle of this melay but his song was no more than background music against the screams and cat -calls of the hirundines and Swifts.

On the way back to the office I glimpsed a Blackcap flycatch from an apple tree. I stopped and noticed two newly-fledged birds sitting tightly on an exposed branch, waiting for the next offering.

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