Collared Pratincole. Cley, Norfolk.
After deciding to move from Blakeney to Cley in the hope of seeing the Collared pratincole at some time of the day, I was greeted by a line of birders watching something in the eye field not far from the car park.
And sure enough it was the Collared'. And remarkably similar in actions as the Black winged pratincole at Stodmarsh, it was hiding up in the wind behind a patch of grass, and when it did venture out it returned to the shelter of the same spot.
Now being able to compare the two, the Collared seemed a tad paler and at times the Black winged showed a darkish cap, the obvious difference was the wings and I was able to compare both. The rich red underwing on the Collared stood out as it banked and turned in flight and facing away the white edge to the secondries was obvious. Another new species and two pratincoles this month, couldnt be sweeter.
