Hobbies, Bats and a short break
I’ve been spending quite a lot of time recently watching a local pair of Hobbies which are nesting within a couple of miles of my home. The Hobby (Falco Subbuteo) is a species of small falcon (similar in size to the more abundant Kestrel but with proportionally longer wings and a shorter tail) and, uniquely amongst British Falcons, Hobbies spend their winter in Africa before migrating north to breed.
A (poorly) digi-scoped Hobby – not exactly reflecting the elegance of the bird
They are beautiful birds; Gun metal grey above, streaked below with russet coloured under-tail coverts and thighs and a distinctive black moustache and white cheek. Their dashing, cavalier appearance is totally in keeping with an almost ‘devil may care attitude’ as they throw themselves about a sky that seems almost too small to contain them. And its a good job they are built for speed and manoeuvrability as their favoured prey of Hirundines (Swallows and Martins) and Dragonflies are among the toughest creatures to catch and provide a real test for for these little raptors. Whilst everything else seems to have been slowed to crawling pace by the relentless warmth and humidity of the current heatwave my pair of Hobbies have been positively revelling in it, showing brilliantly as they’ve dived down to snatch Dragonflies and other insects or remorselessly mobbed any Buzzard fool enough to get to close to the nest area.
Typical mixed farmland – plenty of isolated Oaks and large hedgerow trees, small areas of woodland and a mix of small passerine prey. This is Hobby country in Southern Derbyshire!
I’ve been watching them from a safe distance (well over 200m) so as not to disturb the birds or draw attention to the nest but I was very excited to hear via a close friend that a licenced ringer had rung two healthy youngsters at the nest. Hopefully I will see them on the wing very soon!
Last Saturday I conducted the first part of a two part Bat survey. The Waterways survey is part of the National Bat Monitoring Programme (NBMP) and is aimed at surveying water bodies for the presence (or absence) of Daubenton’s Bat. Daubenton’s Bat is a water specialist and they spend their time flying close to the water surface and picking off the any insects they come across.
Daubenton’s Bat (Myotis daubentoni by Gilles San Martin from Namur, Belgium
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en
I have surveyed the same section of the River Derwent in my home city of Derby for the last 5 years and this nocturnal survey has provided some fantastic wildlife encounters (I try to forget about all the biting insects though) such as the time my son and I got fantastically close views of a large boar Badger who seemed totally unaware of our presence until within three or four metres (it still remains my only Badger encounter within the city boundary to date). I’m ever hopeful that one day the survey might provide me with my first urban Otter sighting! On this outing I managed to log four different Bat species – Daubentons, Noctule, Common Pipistrelle and Soprano Pipistrelle – not bad for an evening stroll in the city. Can’t wait to see what turns up next week when I repeat the survey!
Finally Natural Derbyshire Tours will be taking a short break for the last two weeks of August to enjoy some family time and a trip North of the border (we’ll be blogging about our Scottish sightings on our return but you can still stay up to date by following us on social media). When we return Autumn will be on us in earnest and its that time of the birding year where just about anything can turn up anywhere! Its a fabulous season to get out into nature and enjoy both the changing scenery and a new cast of characters as our Summer visitors start to depart and the stars of Winter begin to arrive. We’ll be running walks to see some of the County’s best Autumn wildlife so why not take a look at our walks and get in touch
