Sculcoates and the Speckled Bush Crickets

A sunny morning walk around Sculcoates. It was a glorious blue sky and very calm weather, in all contrast with yesterday's gale. As I get to the playing fields I realise there are many Pied Wagtails, I count 7. One of them walks in front of a Magpie, and both make like a comical mirror image of black and white birds with long tails

Magpie and Pied Wagtail.

Pied Wagtail.

It's a perfect day for soaring and two Sparrowhawks take to the wing, first they are pursued by Starlings and Goldfinches, then a Carrion Crow, at least the gulls now don't care much about Sparrowhawks. The Pied Wagtails take to the air too, they look like they are in passage.

As they are several skeins of Pink-footed Geese.

Pink-footed Geese.

I move onto the river. The tide is ebbing and there are only a few gulls, including this Common Gull. A single Redshank is on view. In the last few weeks there hasn't been a roost by Wilmington Bridge.

Redshank.

It is time now for the cemetery. I take the bat detector out and locate some Speckled Bush-crickets after the 'roundabout', There are at least 3 responding. The sun shines and it is quite mild, there seem to be more bush-cricket activity than last week, with a Long-winged Conehead calling too.

The speckled are calling from here.

Volucella zonaria.

I try to spot a speckled, but no luck. I move to the drain, to the spot where I heard one faintly last week. This time there is more than one calling, the sound is loud, and I spend some time scanning the brambles with the binoculars.

A speckled cricket is calling from this patch of brambles.

This time I find a male!

All stretched out, catching the sun, finally! I would have never found this species at the patch without the bat detector!

At the cycle track by the drain, a few Migrant Hawkers and Common Darters are active, chasing each other. One stopped to bask in the sunshine.