Corn Bunting

A patch-twitch with baby in tow was required this morning, after a text from Phil alerted me to the presence of a singing Corn Bunting on Beer Head. A fine reward for Phil who - despite the dire returns he, and everyone else along the south coast, are getting from looking for grounded migrants this spring - is still giving Beer Head a daily wander.

With-baby twitching!

I only had a short amount of time and managed what can only really be described as 'untickable views'...

A brown streaky blob!

 

But this experience for me was all about the sound, it was a real treat for my ears. Although he was tricky to see when I was there, he was a he, and he was very vocal indeed! Hearing that distinctive 'jangly keys' song at a place I've been birding at for so many years was really quite special. Such a thrill, thanks Phil. This was my second Corn Bunting on the patch, with the first also at Beer Head back in September 2010 found by Gav.

I had another look for the bunting later in the morning after it had showed well for others, but couldn't see or hear it during a 45 minute look. There were very few migrants about too with just a westward trickle of Swallows and a lone female Wheatear...

Since my last post, I may have gained a bit of a tan, but I haven't seen all that many birds. Reed Warbler and hirundine numbers have increased, a male Lesser Whitethroat has been singing by the entrance of Black Hole Marsh since last Thursday, and the 20th saw the best Willow Warbler passage of the spring with good numbers flitting through Beer Head during a late morning visit.

I really hope there's a lot more of spring 2018 to come, and it's not the case that this is just how spring birding is going to be from now on...

 

Maiden Castle

Dorchester was today's venue for a day out with my girls, and before we went into town we took Honey for a walk around Maiden Castle. 

It was fairly windy, but what a great place for a wander and so many birds!  I was really surprised at just how many Corn Buntings were around, 15+ being a conservative estimate. Also saw several Yellowhammer, really good numbers of Skylark, six Wheatear (which looked Greenlandy) and most surprisingly for me two Grey Partridge.  These were the first Grey Part's I've seen for flipping ages so was dead chuffed.  I really hope you enjoy this video - the only footage I managed of the Partridge is at the end...

Red-flanked Bluetail

Now this is a bird I would like to see on Beer Head!

I'm not that deluded though, it will probably never happen. So with a twitchable bird over-wintering in the Shire Valley, South Gloucester, I just had to pay it a visit (especially now the crowds have hopefully died down!). And my twitching companion for the day? I'm pleased to say, my Dad.  For years and years when I was a teen, every weekend he'd take me out birding, so it's about time I began repaying him...

We left Seaton at 6am, and at 7:45 parked up at the suggested spot, with no one else around. After a quick coffee and foot wear change, we headed off...

Across the field towards that muddy track, which winds away between the trees...

Through the gateway...

 

To where the stream meets the path. We're here!

It was still a bit gloomy, and began raining, but after about 15 minutes I spied exactly this...

...BINGO!

This is pretty much where it stayed for the next hour and a half. And it was view for the whole entire time, clearly favouring the first group of small trees to the left of the path after walking through the above gateway...

As you can see they are right next to the path, so it showed at point blank range! What a superb little bird, and it's easy to see why it is proving so popular with photographers.  Of course I can't match their standards, but this post wouldn't be complete without a few pics from my Lumix...

It spent quite a bit of time singing to itself - what a treat!

Wish my bloody camera had actually focused on the bird!

At least it did this time!

Just to show the white throat, which it showed off here as it fed on its favoured lump of grass.

Although I'm not that proud of my photographs, I am pleased with the videos...

I really like the chat family as it is. There's nothing like seeing a migrant Redstart flicking about in spring or autumn, or a Black Red feeding on a barren beach. Even Robin's are cool! So this bird rates really VERY high on my list of all time best birds.  An absolute cracker that I recommend to any and everyone!

We finally tore ourselves away from this little stunner at 11, and after returning to the car drove for about four minutes before stopping again.

Living and birding in Devon means we don't see Corn Buntings. I appreciate that for many blog readers this may appear a total over reaction, but bloody hell!!!! We saw over 100 Corn Buntings whilst stood in one spot! There were at least 110, but probably way more than that with birds visible in the distance in all directions. Flocks of 40, 30, 15, several singing males - it was Corn Bunting porn! Throw in several ten's of Yellowhammers and Skylarks in full song, it felt like we were in 1940 Britain!  Proper farm land birding.

Our third stop of the day was less successful, the Tree Sparrows just wouldn't play ball.  We heard them almost constantly, and had a few brief glimpses, but that was it. Two hours later we gave up and headed home. 

I won't lie, I'm bloody knackered, but it was well worth it! Thank you South Gloucester, and in particular the finder of the eastern blue-tailed beauty.

I'm Home!

Well I have been home for several days now, but just haven't had time for this update. Here it is though...

Firstly I will just mention the only worthwhile sighting since my return home. On Monday I was very surprised to hear Crossbills calling whilst in the front garden, and looked up to see three flying over. I wouldn't have been so surprised if it was Sept/Oct. Even July/Aug would be ok for migrants, but early June? Must be local birds surely?

Also I would like to say thank you to anyone and everyone who signed the Buzzard petition. It worked! See here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/may/30/buzzard-trapping-plan-abandoned-uturn

Ok, so where have I been? NORFOLK! It wasn't a birding trip at all, just a relaxing few days away with Jess, and it was superb - we had so much fun in this beautiful part of the world. The drive back was a bit of a nightmare though, not only was the traffic horrendous, but this happened whilst driving on the M25...

Oh dear! AA did a temporary fix, but am still waiting for a full repair

It didn't dampen our spirits though as we had such a great few days. I have got hundreds of scenery photos, but I won't bore you with all of them. Just four to give a taster...

Makes me feel relaxed just looking at them

Just being in Norfolk meant we saw plenty of birds - but we did visit Titchwell, Holkham Gap and Cley once or twice whilst here.

I actually managed a UK lifer on this trip! On Wednesday a Great Reed Warbler was found at Cley, and late afternoon I managed some brief views of it - just a pity it wasn't singing when I was there. In the Cley/Salthouse area I also saw a Wood Sand, some excellent views of Bearded Tits (the photo doesn't do the views justice), very brief views of a raptor that flew in off which I hope was just a Hobby (it was either this species or a Red-foot), and stacks of Avocets...

A family of Bearded Tits in the reeds

We even saw some chicks wandering about too. They were too far to photograph though, unlike the above adults!

Titchwell produced a nice bunch of 1st-summer Little Gulls and two Little Ringed Plovers. And Holkham Gap gave a Cuckoo.

On Wednesday we went on a seal trip in Blakeney Harbour. Great views of masses of seals (I took about 100 photos of the Seals, but don't worry I'll post just three here), but bird wise it was also enjoyable with a fly over Spoonbill being a surprise, loads of terns (4 species, incl. loads of Little), a couple of adult Med Gulls and 3+ Marsh Harriers. A lone Brent Goose I presume was an injured or sick straggler.

They really are funny looking things!

Just driving about and stopping now and then also showed plenty of birds. We saw numerous Marsh Harriers (the males really are so stunning, never seen an adult male on the Axe), several Barn Owls, Grey Partridge all over the place and a lone Corn Bunting near Choseley Drying Barns...

These were everywhere!

But these weren't, just one Corn Bunting - this photo was taken some time after 9pm, hence why it is so dark. He was still singing away though!

We stayed in Wells, and ate out every night. The best meal I think we had was in the Victoria, at Holkham. The service and dinner was brilliant, but it was the desert that really did it for me...

Called 'Tasting of Strawberry'

Unfortunately the two days I had set aside for possible Swallowtail searching were much cloudier, with Thursday being quite wet. So in the end we didn't make the drive down to the south of the county to see this butterfly. That's ok - just means we will need to come back again some time soon!

Back to work again now though, and back to 'the norm'. Now spring is over, it's time for me to knuckle down and get stuck into DBR 2011...

A Big Fat Patch Tick

...and I mean that literally!

About half an hour after I received a text from Ian Mc this morning, I was stood in the corner of a certain field up Beer Head alongside Dave Helliar with our scopes lined up... another half hour later and BINGO...

Up popped the Corn Bunting, and spent the next five minutes on view amongst a dozen or so of its yellower cousins. It didn't stay settled on any one branch for long though - hence why I have no photos! And when it disappeared after this five minute view, it didn't show again up until when we both left (40 minutes later).

I have to say, I don't think it is as 'grotty' as Gav made out! It's a smart juvenile sporting a rather stripey face with a great big honker and a pair of lovely pink legs! What's the saying...'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'. One thing it certainly is though is FAT! I swear I saw the entire hedge compress when it landed on top!

To prevent this being a photo-less post, from something big brown and (ok, a little) bland, to something small orange and (very) beautiful...

Small Copper

This was a welcome distraction at Lower Bruckland Ponds from my continued failure in finding my own Wryneck! I could list all the places I have looked for one today....but shan't!

Actually whilst butterflies are in my head, I've seen three Clouded Yellows on patch within the last five days. I've been meaning to mention these over the last few days but keep forgetting!

Last night, I had a moth trap out in the front garden. Total waste of time; 8 Setaceous Hebrew Character, 2 Lesser Yellow Underwing and singles of Large Yellow Underwing and Flounced Rustic. All I want is one of these....