Mon 15th March 2010 - Afternoon

15:00 > 16:00
11c Strong NW breeze. Cloud, sunny spells.

Pair of Shelduck, both appear to be female, still on site, tucked in behind the small island by the pumps. Patience (or a long walk) will be rewarded.
Pair of Goosander, inc one drake, still about on the main body.
Just a single Fieldfare along with two Mistle Thrush out on the slopes.

Along with the nine Cormorants out on the spit around a dozen Lesser Black Backed gulls was a change while the Common Gulls seem to be thiniing out day by day leaving more and more sumplum (summer plumaged) Black Headers as the dominant number.

And a single Common Buzzard down by the canal, given earlier reports, see below, I thought the escapee Harris or Red Tailed Hawk seen at Wolverton Station (which is at far eastern end of site) an hour or so earlier had drifted in but on closer look it was the same very approachable bird photographed a week or so back, Pics Here

Message earlier re Si Nicholls via NBBR
Dick B has just called me , he is watching an escaped HARRIS HAWK ( complete with Jessies ! ) on Pylons near Wolverton Train Station (!)

And from Dick later:

"Not too well up on bird's of prey it might be a red tailed hawk. Whatever it was it kept perching on the overhead 25 KW catenary at the station, jesses swinging!!!
I was expecting it to disappear in a massive explosive flash any moment as it was flying very close to the live wires at times in trying to avoid three crows which were knocking forty shades out of it.

Then it flew down passing within about 10 centimetres of my head! This was unnerving, but I realised it was expecting me to swing a lure at it. It did it to other people waiting on the platform too.

It perched in a tree on the Bradwell Road, then tried to get in a window on a block of flats by the station to escape its attackers, last seen heading towards Tescos!"