Raptor morning

Today I met two birders (Karl and Brian) in the reserve.  They were after shots of the sparrowhawks.  I'm always rather embarrassed talking to such very knowledgeable people.  They told me what happened to the sparrowhawks' attempt to nest here last year.  Eggs were being sat upon (as I knew) but apparently people were not only going right up to the low tree, but one silly woman was caught climbing it.  The adults deserted the nest and no chicks hatched as a consequence.

This year, I'm happy to say, the birds have chosen a tree at least four times higher and on inaccessible land.  How sensible!  It probably means I won't get such close shots, but I guess there's a chance we may see the fledglings later in the spring.

After which, Brian showed me a last-year's long-tailed tit nest I must have walked passed a hundred times and not noticed and Carl told me the peregrines are back nesting on top of the cathedral.  Last year the male and one chick died of some nasty infection apparently, but Mrs P has picked up a very young male born last year somewhere near Andover.  How do they know these things???  I tried to find the link to the 2022 webcam, but I don't think it's going yet.

The only other thing of note is that I saw a muntjac (deer) in the reserve for the first time, though the roes have sadly disappeared.

Okay, that's me.  Hope you're all having a good weekend  xx