Monday 16 March 2009

The sky's the limit

Today was a gorgeous gorgeous day!

I awoke at 5.30am and got myself down to The Scrubs at 6am to be greeted by around 1,000 Rose-ringed Parakeets that were leaving their roadside roost in flocks of 100 plus birds at a time. It's a wonder that the noise doesn't disturb the locals. Around 10 minutes later fellow Scrubber, Roy Nuttall showed up. We proceeded to walk the realm.

You may remember me getting very excited about a pair of Skylark that were sniffing around the grassland, showing more than just a passing interest in the area. Since then, a couple of observers have reported hearing and seeing the male in song flight - an occurrence that has never been reported here before. Imagine my delight when I heard its trickling, rippling notes at my urban patch. At first it was nowhere to be seen and we suspected that it was singing from the ground. We left the area, returning a while later and this time we located the male fluttering at a great height in the blue sky. What a sight!

I still don't think that they will stay though. There's just too much disturbance. I'll keep you up do date on my Skylark saga.

I'm off to Gateshead, South Shields for the next three days to shoot that The One Show piece I've been going on about for the last million years. Tonight, I've been trying on loads of gear to see what kind of look to achieve.

Any ideas?

4 comments:

holdingmoments said...

The Parakeets haven't reached my neck of the woods yet,(not that I've noticed anyway), apart from the odd one I saw fly over one morning last year. As for Skylarks, I seem to be seeing more each time I venture out somewhere. Great birds to watch.

Alan Tilmouth said...

I would go for the post-apocalyptic urban tramp trenchcoat you occasionally sport. Should fit in like a dream in South Shields :)

Alan Tilmouth said...

By the way are you free at any time?

Wild Freckle said...

I would leave the high heels behind - just go for the "cool" look! have fun!