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Between 1100 and 1500 yesterday, at least three kestrels in the vicinity of the Ashey Down sea mark. We may have seen one of them more than once.

Then around 0900 this morning, two probable buzzards in the vicinity of Brading Station, circling east, perhaps heading for Culver Down in search of breakfast. Against the bright blue sky their chests appeared white and their wings black.

Unseasonal illustration of the sea mark courtesy of google.

For previous notice see http://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=ashey.

PS: later in the day we saw a lot of kestrels over Culver Down, kestrels because they went in for hovering, to the point of seeing one from above, from which angle they looked a reddish brown. We have seen a hawk from above in this way before, a couple of years ago or so, on the other side of the Down, that is to say the north side, on which occasion it seemed to be quite a small bird, say smaller than a crow. So checking, that seems about right for a kestrel. But the black and white of earlier of the day is a puzzle; doesn't seem to fit with buzzard, goshawk, sparrow hawk or kestrel. And tail not forked so not a kite. Was the colouring a trick of the light?