Woodlark - a photo on Flickriver

Woodlark

            Woodlark / lullula arborea. Westleton Heath, Suffolk. 24/04/23.

A different Woodlark from the one shown in my previous posts. This one literally flew over my head in pursuit of another. Both landed a short distance away, on a bank of heather. I made a low, brisk approach to see them on the ground ... I succeeded, but how I wish I'd made a better job of this grab shot! 

Its saving graces are that it shows the bird's key features quite nicely and will have to suffice as a record :-
 1. The pale, broad supercilium meets on the nape to form an obvious 'V' pattern.
2. The black and white marks along the wing edge can be made out.
3. The flesh pink legs are very conspicuous, helped by the bird's upright stance.

The sighting was all too brief because the other bird flew and this one followed instantly. I think they were having a courtship chase, although it could have been a territorial dispute.

* The image is best viewed as posted, rather than enlarged!!!
   

Taken on: April 24, 2023

Tags:

woodlark

lullula arborea

suffolk

adult

bird

localised

S.England

E.England

Midlands

declining populations

rural

open, dry habitats

short grasses

heathland

cleared woodland

pine saplings

disturbed ground

stubble in winter

resident population

overwinters

sexes similar

stripy brown upperparts

dark streaks

pale buff underparts

streaked breast

short, broad wings

b+w wing edge mark

short tail

white tipped tail

lacks white tail edges

pinkish legs + feet

heavily streaked crown small

spiky crest'

buff-white supercilium

forms 'v' on nape

bouncy flight

m. makes song flights

m+f sing on the ground

mainly vegetarian

ground feeder

forages

small seeds

beetles

flies

moths

insects during breeding

ground nester

2-3 broods annually

easily overlooked

early spring

1 of 2 birds

just landed

alert

upright stance

pursuing another woodlark

courtship behaviour?

territorial behaviour?

grab shot

record shot « less

Sets appears in: • Upload to flickr • Birds

Groups appears in: • Birds of Britain and Ireland • British wild birds more » • Birds and Wildlife UK • * Birds of Britain * • Countryfile • Wildlife UK • Suffolk Wildlife • Suffolk Birds • BBC Springwatch (Official) • British Bird Photography WILD BIRDS ONLY • Wildlife In East Anglia • WILD BRITAIN. • East of England Wildlife • Wild life photography bokeh • Birds and nature of the uk • All Birds UK • Wildlife Lockdown Images « less

Stats: 645 views / 5 comments

close tools panel

Badge creator

Use Flickriver Badge Creator to create a badge linking to your photos, your group or any other Flickriver view.

You can place your badge on your Flickr profile, Blog or Website.

Add to your iGoogle or Netvibes page

Flickriver widget for iGoogle or Netvibes can display almost any Flickriver view - most interesting today, by user, by group, by tag etc. Once added to your personalized homepage, just edit widget settings to select your desired view.

Clickr on one of the buttons below to install:

Embed on your Web site

To embed this view, Copy and Paste the following HTML code:

Black background (preview):

White background (preview):

Firefox and Chrome addons

Adds a 'Flickriver' button to your browser. While viewing any Flickr photos page, click on this button to open the same view on Flickriver.

Install in Firefox
Install in Chrome

Search plugin

Add 'Search on Flickriver' to your browser's search box. Works with Firefox and Internet Explorer. Install search plugin

"View on Flickriver" Greasemonkey script

A Greasemonkey script that adds Flickriver links to various Flickr photo pages - user photos, favorites, pools etc, allowing to quickly open the corresponding Flickriver view.

Also, allows quickly viewing any Flickr photo on black background in large size.

Install "View on Flickriver" script

Bookmarklet

While viewing any Flickr photos page, click on the bookmarklet to open the same view on Flickriver.

To install: drag and drop the following link to your Bookmarks toolbar.
IE users - add the link to your Favorites under the Links folder