Wheatear interlude

I have not seen very many Wheatears this "season" and photographed only a handful. Some swine put up a fence and it is now impossible to get anywhere near them. Pffffff. Just kidding! The fence does preclude birding quite a large area, but I would take that any day in order to retain (and hopefully grow) our nearly extinct Skylark population. I've been hearing birds signing nearly every day, but my sense is that there are now two pairs, possibly three, and I have seen birds collecting nesting material in the long grass, so fingers crossed! Our new worry is the seemingly complete disappearance of our breeding Meadow Pipits, which in theory also benefit from the protection offered by the fence. I have not seen a single song-flighting bird, and only hear calls very occasionally, and nobody knows why.

You can see the Skylark fence in the background