Song Thrush attempting to feed and brood Spotted Flycatcher nestlings

Song Thrush attempting to feed and brood Spotted Flycatcher nestlings

On 21st July 2021, I visited Dene Park, Tonbridge, Kent, to see if I could find a Purple Emperor Apatura iris. As I waited in hot sunshine, I was pleased to see a Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata fly out from the trees and perch. Over the short period that I watched, a second bird appeared and both were observed actively catching flies and repeatedly returning to the top of a dead tree a short distance away. Their behaviour suggested that they were feeding young in a nest. Through my binoculars, I could indeed make out a nest at about 3.5 m high in a tangle of honeysuckle Lonicera on top of a rotted and broken-off pine tree. I could also just make out the heads of two or three well-feathered young birds. The adults made repeated feeding sorties and returned to feed their young.

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