On a day when an email told me that Nature England had granted a licence to an individual to be allowed to kill ten buzzards so that young pheasant chicks would not be killed by these predatory killers I downed by early morning tea and went out 'birding' as planned. I thought about it all morning and beyond as how any authority with 'nature' and. 'England' in the title should do such a thing. So now we have killing to allow chicks to grow into adult birds so that they can be shot for fun. It is ridiculous and I will say more later.
Back to this morning where our trip, myself and a visitor, travelled to El Hondo although we knew it was going to be hot on the basis that I always see something worthwhile. My guest enjoyed seeing Purple Heron, Grey Heron, Squacco Herons and Night Herons. Add to these Little and Cattle Egrets together with both flying and perched Little Bitterns. Moustached Warblers flew and so did Reed Warblers. Norwegian birders next to us had also seen a Savi's. Young Southern Grey Shrikes were also seen.
On the water there were three White-headed ducklings, young Great Crested Grebes and Common Pochard. Water levels were down and so some of the waders were far away, but we think there were Little Stint and Ruff.
In the far distance we did see a big raptor fly and can only guess that it was not a common occurrence here. Who knows what it was, but maybe next time it will come into close view. Sadly and interestingly there was dead Barn Owl lying on path. There were no leg rings and I did tell Antonio. Up to this point I did not know if these type of owls were in the area. I shall continue my visits through August and hopefully for most of the year.
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