The return of Hobbies, surely one of our most eye catching and entertaining falcons, is always eagerly anticipated by birdwatchers in the UK. Wintering in Africa they arrive up here in Yorkshire late April / early May and often congregate at favoured locations before dispersing to breed. Agile and fast they have no problem catching their food of choice - dragonflies, so Thorne Moor with its huge populations of such winged insects is Hobby central as far as Yorkshire is concerned.
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| Thorne Moor |
I missed them there last year but in 2020 I had 15ish along with a rare Red Footed Falcon. They must be wintering well because we had at least 25 and a few days later (May 9th) someone recorded an incredible 68! That's just mad but very welcome and bodes well for a good breeding season.
Watching these red trousered aerial masters catching dragonflies in mid air above our heads with such ease was nothing short of awe inspiring. There was certainly no shortage of dragonflies - mainly 4 Spot Chasers, newly hatched we reckoned, and they were taking such a pasting that some of the Hobbies looked a a bit fat! Photography was tricky - light wasn't great and well these birds are fast, but I managed enough decent shots; here's 6 of the best ...
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| Hobbies, Thorne Moor, 06/05/2022 |
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| Hobbies, Thorne Moor, 06/05/2022 |
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| Hobby with dragonfly, Thorne Moor, 06/05/2022 |
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| Hobby, Thorne Moor, 06/05/2022 |
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| Hobby, Thorne Moor, 06/05/2022 |
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| Hobby, Thorne Moor, 06/05/2022 |
These are the poor little chappies they were plucking out of the air ..
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| 4 Spot Chaser, Thorne Moor, 06/05/2022 |
Elsewhere on Thorne we heard
Common Cranes calling but didn't manage to spot them, a
Little Owl on the way in (new bird for the year for me), several
Yellow Wagtails, Cuckoo, at least 6
Cettis Warblers, a
Peregrine and a single
Swift on the way out.
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| Little Owl, Thorne Moor, 06/05/2022 |
The day before we were on nearby Hatfield Moor, not nearly as wild a place as Thorne but certainly more accessible! We had some good waders on the wet peatlands including both Ringed and Little Ringed Plover, Dunlin, plus Curlew, Oystercatcher, Redshank and Lapwing, at least 3 Cuckoos, lots of singing warblers and several Stonechats.
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| Hatfield Moor |
Much better light for photography, I even managed a passable shot of one of the Little Ringed Plovers in display flight and you can't beat a golden hour shot of a Redshank!
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| Redshank, Hatfield Moor, 05/05/2022 |
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| Curlew, Hatfield Moor, 05/05/2022 |
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| Ringed Plover, Hatfield Moor, 05/05/2022 |
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| Displaying Little Ringed Plover, Hatfield Moor, 05/05/2022 |
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| Displaying Little Ringed Plover, Hatfield Moor, 05/05/2022 |
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| Singing Stonechat, Hatfield Moor, 05/05/2022 |
