Skycatcher/Flylark

[annewadd]

Hello, my first post so plse forgive my ignorance - can anyone help with a mystery bird seen last week? It was perched on a telephone wire in Kentish farmland, and was singing a very pleasant song. It had a slight but definite crest so I assumed it was a skylark (was the right size) but it didn't behave like one. It kept flying off its perch, doing a short loop and landing on another wire nearby, then returning to the original perch; in fact behaving very much like a spotted flycatcher. It continued with this activity for quite a while. There were two of them but the second kept its distance more. It was brown with a pale breast but sorry, I couldn't get much detail as it was silhouetted. I listened to flycatcher song on CD but it wasn't like that. Do larks catch flies? Thanks for any suggestions.

[Adam Cheeseman]

Your description sounds very much like a Skylark. The only possible alternative I can think of is a Meadow Pipit, but their song is not that pleasant. A Spotted Flycatcher has quite a harsh 'song' and is more a woodland bird.

Cheers,

Adam

[djackso]

Isn't there a tree lark? I seem to remember that flight pattern in books.

[djackso]

Wood lark?

[djackso]

Or is it tree pipit?

[djackso]

Found this:

Song flight

The song flight of Woodlark usually takes place around dawn but can also occur well before first light and in the evening.This circling flight is loose and ‘floppy’ with some undulations. Woodlarks also frequently sing from a tree, wire or exposed perch.The song itself is beautiful, liquid and melancholic and consists of various lulu phrases (hence the scientific name of Lullula) accelerating and at the same time falling in pitch. In my notes I have it transcribed as tlee, tlee, tlee, lu-lu-lu-lulu.

[annewadd]

Thanks for the good suggestions! However, I'm ruling out pipits because of the crest, and the description of the woodlark includes 'shy and elusive' which this one certainly wasn't, and it didn't have the short tail; also scarcity of woodlarks makes me think that skylark is still the most likely contender. I note that they eat 'seeds and insects'. Maybe it had a nest nearby which was why it was behaving slightly oddly. Interesting, and thanks again.