Everyone has spent this week, twitching, bumping into or
finding Alpine Swifts or at least wishing that they were. They are one my favourite birds from any Med
visit and I know that I will be seeing them at the end of April in Lesvos but
when one is just eight miles from my house even I am tempted to go for a
look. The traffic yesterday was grim
around here and it suggested a 40 minute journey to get there so I waited till
this morning and pottered down there before breakfast to watch this master of
the air hanging on a wall of a some flats under a gutter across the road from
the famous Larkfield Tesco of Golden Winged Warbler fame.
It sat there and occasionally looked around at the seven
blokes looking suspicious in a house estate before doing the decent thing just
before 7am and taking to the wing and dropping down to just a few feet off the
ground before hurtling off over the lakes.
Even those initial few seconds were magical.
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| Rich Bonser managed to get it when it's head turned round... |
It was soon re-found hawking in the distance before
disappearing. Barry, Rich and I headed up the Brooklands end for a scout round
and Barry’s hunch proved correct and he picked it up within just a few
minutes. Much closer views were had initially
against a blue sky as it looped in vast circuits overhead.
And one from Barry Wright as it was much better than mine
Satiated by a pre-Lesvos Alp encounter I
headed for home adding Kingfishers, Chiffchaffs and Blackcap on the way. Barry W went on to find another on the
Darenth Lakes complex to the west… good patch working skills.
Back home in the garden a few more spring flowers were blooming but there were no insects whatsoever.
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| pale Lesser Celandine |
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| Lesser Celandine |
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| My solitary Early Purple Orchid is looking good! |
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| Sweet Violet |
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| Primrose |
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| Marsh Marigold |
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