Birds Of A Feather

All images by Jo Sinclair

I've been hearing odd squawks, shrieks, peeps and tweets on my walks, and glimpsing birds I don't 'get'. For example there was a little falcon in a kestrel territory not behaving 'kestrelly'; it was perched on a fence post, and it hopped between posts and hay bales showing no inclination to hover. Then I saw another, and another. I got it then. These were fledgeling kestrels still demanding food from their parents. I've watched them for a couple of weeks now. They've become much more wary of me as they embark on short hunting sorties. I have seen them chase but I've yet to see then hover. Bird calls come from every direction across the fields. Youngsters beg, parents make frequent contact calls, songbirds panic and mob.

All around me are young birds that have survived against all odds and flutter noisily en famille. A raft of young mallards snakes along the river tucked close to the overhang. They leap comically as they forage on grass seeds or insects. A baby corn bunting cheeps for food. A party of green woodpeckers  ventures into the hay meadows - kestrel territory! They don't do much ant foraging, just hide, terrorised then wobble back towards the woods crying. A handful of spotted flycatchers move among skeleton branches. They are faltering silhouettes, clumsy in comparison to the elegant, agile parent birds.

All images by Jo Sinclair

 The juvenile birds are smaller than the parents, and undefined in their plumage. But it's not just young birds that are tricky to identify. Some of the adult birds are moulting, and become pale imitations of themselves, non-descript. It's a good time to look out for moulted feathers. I have a small collection now.