The Daily Bugle... full story!

Posted just after midnight... so yesterday is Sunday and this report is for Monday 4th...
Blodger was playing up like crazy.

It's been a good couple of days for the sighting of Common Crane [Grus grus] Grue cendrée...

Four of the sunset flight today!

Yesterday at around 2:30pm a flight of 58 birds...

followed today by a flight at around the same time of 61 birds, well split up...

then... another flight at 3:28 of 70 individuals in two groups...

we then heard but didn't see birds at 4:30'ish and towards 5pm.

A tremendous noise at 6:10pm heralded a flight of 100 cranes, split into two groups flying almost together...

Wither goest thou?

and then to cap it all... at 6:25 a flight of 31 came flying out of the sunset... straight over us.

Out of the sunset they came!

Wing tips shining in the setting sun...

But it wasn't over... after dark I was busy building bee nestboxes for the solitary bees and heard three more groups before 8pm!


262 birds seen today...
plus who knows how many were in the groups we heard?
A major movement through our area...
never observed such a continuous succession of flights in one day before.

The wind was from almost due South all day and, in the constant sunshine, the temperature peaked at 18.5 °Centigrade at around 5pm.
They must have thought it was the perfect day to move on!

The big Carpenter bees were out... scouting for holes...
Pauline heard a Skylark practising...
I put up a pair of Sandpipers from the middle of the meadow...
not sure which of Green or Wood they were...
both have white rumps and both are here at this time of the year...
they jinked away too fast...

And we got some nestboxes up...

T'was a grand day, Grommit!!