Sunday 9th August

I was sitting watching the football at home and was bored stupid so we brought our planned 6pm walk forward by an hour or so. We decided to walk, and from the garden I saw a Hobby high over Shustoke Reservoir.

We got there and all the Lapwing went up as a juvenile Peregrine spent a good 15 minutes playing with them, she didn’t seem serious about taking one! We decided to sit down on one of the benches to take in the spectacle and after a few minutes I picked up two Black-tailed Godwit low over the water. They flew around for about 15 minutes attempting to land on a couple of occasions but aborted just when it seemed they were about to land. Eventually, however they departed high to the east.

I hadn’t seen Hobby at Shustoke this year and was keen to see one. We checked out the small pool and Warbler Corner but there wasn’t much around. A phone call from Steve Cawthray had me regretting not putting the news out that the Godwits had departed. We were just about to make our way back home as the local blackfly seemed to be taking a liking to my legs and being eaten alive wasn’t something I was looking forward too. Suddenly a Hobby appeared high above us and made its way slowly west.

A couple of the paths need clearing around the Reservoir as my legs will testify – Note to self be careful where you wear shorts.