We got away with it in October; travel was unrestricted and with a bit of common sense it was both possible and acceptable to twitch rarities. But Covid-19 was never far away, and it came as no surprise that a national lockdown came back in to force on 2nd November. Thank heavens for local birds.
8/11/20
Amy and I went to see the starling roost at Marbury, and very impressive it was too with arounf 15K birds (apparently) putting on a show. A sparrowhawk successfully hunted, carrying away a screaming bird, and a bittern flew across the reeds too (there are already two present this winter).
15/11/20
After a week of glorious weather whilst I was stuck in the office I finally got out on Sunday afternoon with the hope of improved views of bittern, one of which showed very well as it hoped for a starling-sixed snack. The starling roost was limited to just a few hundred birds this evening and they dropped in quickly. sure enough the bittern stalked off in that direction - I wonder how many they grab at night? Four redhead goosander were on the Mere, but that aside little else.
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| One of two bitterns. A bird I never tire of seeing locally. |
