Juvenile Hobby at Walmsley sanctuary, Wadebridge. Sept 10th -19th 2022

 

My only views of a Hobby in the UK have been at about 100 feet in the air or a fleeting fly-past as it seeks dragonflies....but always distant and rarely worth reproducing as a photo.

This young bird wrote a new chapter in my bird photography log and I guess in that of many Cornish birders who came to watch it.

Taking advantage of our newly installed  "predator perch" it spent at lease 10 days on its migration stopover to feed up on our dragonflies. Migrant Hawker was its preferred quarry and at times it was catching them every few minutes.

After it had left (presumably) I searched under its main perches and collected a few dragonfly wings just out of interest.

Who knows where this bird fledged from but it could have been just a few miles up the road as there are a few pairs breeding in this part of the county.

Lets hope that it's marked our reserve in its brain and returns each summer to feed up before it makes its way to Africa. We've been well entertained and always want more!

Here are a selection of my photos......