LECONFIELD DIPPED ON 7 APR 10

[Wandering Tattler]

I returned to work from 11 days leave and as I strolled across camp to a meeting at 1000 hrs on 7 Apr 10 I saw a Merlin heading across camp, I felt pretty pleased to see such a good bird on my first day back. Little did I know that 15 minutes later a juvenile White-tailed Eagle would be chased from Top Hill Low, a few miles to our North. Or that a couple hours later the bird would be located at Blacktoft Sands to our South. There is no guarantee that the eagle flew over the camp but a straight line between these two locations does pass directly through camp. We will never know if that bird passed over our heads at about 1030 hrs on 7 Apr 10 but birding morale is low in Leconfield!

P.S. Top Hill Low had 3 Common Cranes going North on 10 Apr. This species has been recorded at Leconfield in the past but that is little consolation either.