Common Tern.
A pre Berks bird race visit to Aston and Remenham today to check on a couple of local species, the county boundary which separates Berks/Bucks runs mostly down the centre of the River Thames and before i had even got out of the car i could hear the squawking of Ring-necked Parakeet from the trees above and shortly after 2 flew from the car park at Ferry Lane across the river and into Buckinghamshire.
Along the Thames towpath towards Hambleden Lock 6 more Parakeets flew over heading towards their usual haunt just inside Buckinghamshire. No sign of any Warblers or Spotted Flycatchers at Aston yet so i continued towards Temple Island at Remenham, a single Reed Warbler was singing from the Bucks side of the River Thames near Henley Management College and soon after a male Reed Bunting perched in a tree along the towpath and began to sing, 2 Whitethroats could be heard singing from the scrub next to Hambleden Lock.
Nearing Temple Island i could hear the squabbling calls of Common Tern and was surprised to count at least 10 feeding between Remenham Church and Temple Island, a large number of insects were hatching from the waters surface and the Common Terns plucked them out of the air as they rose, there's often a pair near the Hambleden Lock but I've never seen this many here before. A Hobby flew low across the fields at Remenham before crossing the river and joining another feeding in Bucks airspace, after watching them hawking for insects over the river they disappeared into Bucks.
Back at Hambleden Lock i managed to catch up with another pair of Common Terns which sat quietly together on post next to the Lock, minutes later the male had "jumped aboard" and the sights of spring were there for all to see, it lasted much longer than i had expected and their long migration from Africa had obviously added to their stamina, after a couple of minutes the male finally dismounted and sat next to his mate, a quick preen of the feathers and off they went towards Temple Island.
Near Ferry Lane car park i suddenly picked up on a flash of blue as a Kingfisher darted across the fields and headed off towards Hambleden Marina, i could hear it calling as it crossed the river and disappeared behind one of the islands.
Added To My Year List.
156. Hobby
