Hobby season update

(c) Rob Husbands
Hobby chicks (c) Rob Husbands

We are now ringing the young Hobbies from nests found earlier in the year. Two broods have been ringed so far, with another three to do, plus the possibility of further nests still to be found. Now is a good time again to look for signs of breeding Hobbies, such as food carrying, hunting near concentrations of food such as martin colonies, swallow roosts, etc. In open farmland look for the female on a prominent dead stick in an otherwise healthy tree, on guard near the nest. Wait and watch, and all will be revealed in time.