Woolmer Pond 18/05/25

 It had been a while since I had gone to Woolmer, so I decided to go down for a few hours this afternoon to see what was about. 

After arriving, I decided to immediately head around the pond, seeing as the flags were down instead of going to the cottage first. On the side of the path, a Woodlark was singing before flying off. 

A few Chiffchaffs and Goldfinches were calling from a tree, and the usual Sand Martins and Swallows were about. A Willow Warbler was around, and the Egyptian Geese were on the pond. 

The two Hobbies were about giving great views, and the Grey Heron was flying around the other side of the pond.

A Tufted Duck was pretty near the path, unusual here, they usually stay right out in the middle. 

A Sparrowhawk flew over, and one of the Hobbies flew past very close.

As I was biking along the path towards the gate by the cottage, I heard a Greenfinch calling- not a common species around the cottage itself. I have seen quite a few over on the western side of Woolmer by Whitehill, but not many by the cottage. 

In the cottage grounds itself, everything was pretty quiet, but a single Garden Warbler was singing along with a Song Thrush. The two Teal were again at the back of the cottage in the water, and a few Black-headed Gulls were around. 

I decided to check what could be seen on the pond from this side, with a few Little Grebes, a single Canada Goose, and three Lesser Black-backed Gulls all that were seen. 

As I was contemplating my next move, a bird flew into the trees by the pond- a Spotted Flycatcher. 

I managed to get a bit closer to it before it flew off.

I decided to sit down for a while to watch the Hobbies hawking, as I hadn't really watched them properly for a while. The agility and split-second reactions were so obvious when watching them hunt, and they were coming pretty close. 

I watched the incredible display for about 15 breathtaking minutes before they flew off somewhere else. 

After a while, more looking around, and not much being seen, other then the Heron a bit closer, and a Cuckoo heard calling, I had to head home. 

It had been nice to be back at Woolmer, and seeing the Hobbies so close was really cool.