Wings at the Airport

 I often go to the airfield for a drive round on a Sunday morning.  For birds this can be feast or famine.  Today initially looked like a famine, with nothing on the fence and a horny son of toil mowing beside the runway.

There was not a bird to be seen on the Gun Club heath nor the fence until I got to point 2.  (Note for anyone else checking this track: there are some unpleasant potholes and the drain crossing needs careful positioning.  I'd suggest high clearance 4x4.)  When I turned the corner at point 1 things improved with several Jacky Winters and Australasian Pipits flying along the fence and out into the recently slashed heath.

My objective was point 2, where a Tawny Grassbird was briefly seen a month ago.  I had no hopes of that, but Southern Emuwren and Beautiful Firetail a possibility.   Just before I got there I saw a dark phase Brown Falcon.  I wondered (briefly) about Black Falcon but the tarsi were bare and the undertail was way too pale.

A Willy Wagtail let me practice zooming my camera.

Always nice to see a Scarlet Robin,

They seem to have appeared early this year.  A similar view has been expressed generally, being attributed mainly to the dampness of 2022.  (Not only providing good food resources, but made it difficult to set fire to the bush in breeding season.)

The chart is one of the better illustrations of the need to adjust raw counts for observer effort! The prominent peak in March is almost certainly a reflection of boots on the ground.

A Pipit also posed well: I tried taking photos of Jacky Winters in the heath but that didn't work out.

A rather distant Nankeen Kestrel sat briefly.  It's difficult to get clean photos through a dirty windscreen.

There are a couple of Survey aircraft at the airport.  What can be found out indicates they are going basic geological surveys off the coast.  I suspect many locals are suspicious of intentions regarding oil exploration.  Here is the plane taking off  (note the large avgas tanker in the background) ....

... and climbing.

Putting the registration (C-GSGP) into Google generates an interesting page!