Martin Down & Salisbury Plain - Sun 7 Jul

A day out with friends today and we started off with a visit to Martin Down nature reserve where we were lucky enough to see a total of six Turtle Doves, including a flock of five flying around together. The supporting case consisted of Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer and Skylark. A great start to the day so off we headed to a couple of sites on Salisbury Plain.
Our first stop on Salisbury Plain produced a couple of singing Quail and also two Stone Curlew. I also picked up a rather Great Bustard...OK, so it's from the reintroduction scheme, but what a bird. A single Curlew was also seen at this site.

We then moved off to try another area and saw hundreds of butterflies plus a bonus Tree Pipit and a Stonechat.
Our final stop of the day was pretty amazing as we were fortunate to see a female Montague's Harrier.

A couple of Red Kite were also noted and then the male Montague's Harrier appeared to harass a Red Kite and so we were treated to great views of both harriers. This rounded off an absolutely brilliant day of birding.