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Early spring in the Wyre Forest

  On Wednesday I met Jeremy just after dawn in the Wyre forest to look for Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. To cut a long story short, a few hours searching where they have been in previous years only yielded two sounds of them drumming somewhere but no confirmed sightings. There was quite a nice selection of backup birds to keep us entertained, good flocks of Siskin, a few Redpoll and my first singing Chiffchaff of the spring.   Just to prove they do sometimes show themselves, here’s a picture taken in the forest two years ago.      Come mid-morning we relocated to Dowles Brook to look for Dippers where we had much more success. We spotted two very active birds almost immediately collecting nesting material with huge beaks full of moss. Assuming they were the same pair, they had chosen a new nest location compared to previous years, possibly because the water level was much higher. This led us to speculate how big a territory is and whether there could be more than one pair. Somewhat unhel
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Looking for Dartford Warblers and Wood Larks at Thursley Common in Surrey.

       Dartford Warbler This Wednesday just gone I planned  to meet Jeremy at dawn in the Wyre forest to look for Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. On Tuesday the forecast was for fog for the first couple of hours so, as this is exactly when these diminutive little  Woodpeckers are most active,  we decided to postpone the trip. Instead I decided to pay a visit to Thursley Common in Surrey which is normally a top spot for Dartford Warblers and Wood Larks in early spring. The forecast for Thursley was also mist and fog for the first couple of hours so I planned to arrive at 10:00.   Dawn broke on Wednesday in Pirton to reveal a lovely bright early spring day – typical! The weather did deteriorate to heavy fog as I drove down the M5 so perhaps it was also foggy in the forest. The forecast for Thursley was mist clearing to light cloud but in fact it was again a lovely sunny spring day right up to sunset. My wife always laughs when I check the forecast for birding  - she says wait and look out of

Barn and Short Eared Owls in the Cotswolds

          I had a lovely bistro lunch with my gorgeous elder daughter Louisa in Witney yesterday. On the way home I decided to try and see the above Owls at a well-known Cotswold  hilltop spot. I used to go to this spot every year but stopped going 5 years ago when it became very popular and, at times I’m afraid, a bit of a circus. I know its been very busy there again this winter but I hoped that, as it is quite late in the season, it might be a bit quieter. I was pleasantly surprised to find just a couple of friendly and well behaved birders present when I arrived. Encouragingly, there were also four Short Eared Owls flying over the fields, all be it a little distantly.   The Short Eared Owl is a grass land specialist with an almost world-wide range. It is found on all continents except Antarctica and Australia and hence has one of the most widespread distributions of any bird. It is an attractive grey and sandy coloured bird with very noticeable bright yellow eyes. It is strongly de

A Black Redstart at Brean Down

         First winter male Black Redstart February is normally a quiet time for birdwatching. Our winter visitors are preparing to leave and we are still a month away from the arrival of our first early spring migrants, Chiffchaff, Sand Martin, and Wheatear etc. Normally I would be busy preparing the vegetable plot for spring but the seemingly continuous heavy rain we have had this winter has rendered the ground totally unworkable.   So on Friday, with a bit of sun in the forecast, I decided to visit the National Trust reserve at Brean Down just north of Burnham-on-sea. This is normally a very reliable spot for over-wintering Black Redstart and recently a rather dapper first winter male has been reported from there.   Its only about an hour’s drive to Burnham straight down the M5 followed by a few miles northwards along a small coastal road. The drive from Burnham to Brean consists of seemly endless holiday parks chocker block with cold grey wooden holiday lodges. Not my idea of a fun

A Sociable Lapwing in Cornwall

   The Sociable Lapwing curtsey of my friend Ian Bollen, its the one at the front with more white on the under-wing On Thursday last  week a mega rare Sociable Lapwing was found on the river Fal estuary in Cornwall. Social media rumour has it that this first winter bird, i.e. hatched last spring, had actually been present in Cornwall on the Camel estuary since last November but its presence had been supressed by the finder!   Normally,  a bird such as this that I need for my UK list would have me jumping in my car immediately but on this occasion I was in the middle of a major DIY project at home and consequentially the house was in a state of chaos. Even though my ever suffering wife said I should go, I felt it unfair to abandon her in the chaos I created. I hence hatched a plan to drive down to Cornwall on Tuesday night this week, stay in a local  Premier Inn and spend Wednesday birding in Cornwall.   Negative reports on the birds presence on Tuesday had me reassessing this plan. The

Patch Gold – A Whooper Swan

     Since we moved to the darkest depths of Worcestershire three and a half years ago my local patch has been the area surrounding Pirton midway between Worcester and Malvern. Being a landlocked midlands county, expectation of anything rare of even scarce is low although there was a Pine Bunting in an adjacent village some 15 years ago.   I have a relaxed 3 mile walk around the village for which I normally just take my bins. I find it liberating not to be loaded down with scope and camera and my expectation of finding anything interesting is sufficiently low that this is not normally a problem. Ravens are quite common locally and nest nearby, I had one displaying over our paddocks earlier this week. Peregrines and Wheatears are occasional visitors and Tawny Owls roost in the small copse adjacent to our house. My Pirton list highlight is the 3 Garganey found (not by me I should say) on Pirton Pool a couple of years back. Within walking distance we are also most fortunate to have a smal

The Hawfinches of the Forest of Dean revisited

          Most Januarys I make the 40 mile trip from home to the Forest of Dean to see one of my favourite birds, the charismatic Hawfinch. So, with at least sunny intervals forecast after the recent storms, this was my birding destination yesterday. The spot I go to is in Parkend under a group of yew trees. Here the proven technique of using your car as a hide normally works well. It can be quite popular with birders so I normally plan to arrive early to get a good spot. And so it was that I arrived 30 minutes before dawn yesterday and was able to get myself set up in a plumb spot with no one else present.   The story of Hawfinches in the UK is, to my mind at least, a fascinating one. It is what is known as an eruptive species meaning that it occasionally erupts from its traditional breeding grounds to invade on mass countries much further away. This is thought to be driven by a combination of breeding success and local crop failure resulting in not enough food to go around.    Record