A Stunner!

What a pleasant Surprise!

Having just got back from shopping and a very enjoyable lunch with Dee in Leamington Spa I decided to have a quick look around the marina grounds and surrounding fields for anything unusual, tis the season. What followed next was quite surreal!

With some thunder rumbling away in the distance I decided not to wonder too far but to be honest I didn't have to travel too far at all. As I walked up the pontoon I noticed quite a large looking bird perched in one of the trees in the adjacent field, my first thought was Common Buzzard, quite prolific in the area, but immediately I knew I was mistaken!

I stood for a second in complete amazement before turning on my heels and back aboard in search of the camera. Nowithstanding I did manage a few distant images, the best I've posted, before the bird took flight over towards Napton Hill. A truly brilliant experience but all too damn fast, goodness knows what the Magpie perched above the bird thought!

Skylark

I spent the next half hour in shock, I'd just never expected to see an Osprey literally on my doorstep. Anyway the marina itself still has the two large flocks that I mentioned a few days ago. Around 50 Goldfinch and C150 Linnet in the surrounding Hawthorn, plus I managed a half dozen of our Tree Sparrow population and 2 Chiffchaff.

Three Common Buzzard dodging the heavy showers, a grounded Skylark, plus a few lingering House Martins and Swallows were also recorded. Finally, a lone Meadow Pipit overhead and ♂ Bullfinch ended a most enjoyable and stunning hour.