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| Award Winning (😂😂😂😂) Pic Of Rustic Bunting |
I have made three birding trips out in the last week or so. They could all be characterised as being very birdy and enjoyable but a combination of winter gloom, user incompetence and distance made them somewhat non-photogenic, but, as I say, I enjoyed them very much and that’s the main thing!
I’ve made two post lockdown trips down to Thursley Common in Surrey in search of two rare Buntings.
Firstly, a Little Bunting which the Collin’s bible rates as a one star rarity equating to an annual vagrant in some numbers. It is a bird that I have only seen once before in the UK. The Little Bunting, as the name suggests, is appreciably smaller than our comparatively common resident Reed Bunting from which it is further differentiated by having a prominent pale eye ring, two buff white wing bars and more chestnutty coloured cheeks. It breeds across the taiga of the far north-east of Europe to the Russian Far East. It is migratory, wintering in the subtropics in northern India and southern China.
Secondly, a Rustic Bunting which the Collin’s bible rates as a two star rarity equating to one or a few annual records. This had the added incentive of being a bird that I have never seen before in the UK. It is the same size as a Reed Bunting but differs in having a white belly, red brown stripes on its flanks, a pink lower mandible and two buff white wing bars. It breeds in the far north of Europe and is again migratory wintering in south-east Asia, Japan, and eastern China.
So it sounds easy peasey to separate these two rare Buntings from our common Reed Bunting then? Well, as it turns out, no, not when they are in a restless flock of several hundred Reed Bunting spending their time in deep foliage and mainly only giving partial views in poor overcast winter light!
On my first trip down last Wednesday I was limited to a couple of hours on site and only got fleeting views of both birds. I saw the Rustic a couple of times in deep cover and I saw ever feature of the Little but not all at the same time – I think the most I saw at once was about 25% of the bird! I also did not manage to get the camera on either bird. The Rustic gave me my life tick but it left me wanting more so I resolved to return for the whole day today for a second look. This time there seemed to be even more Reed Buntings which were frantically coming and going driven by some unknown urgency. I must have looked at several hundred of them through my bins but did get some slightly better views of the Rustic and even managed to get a picture of it showing most of its defining features although it was sat well back in a bush.
I turned around at one point and noticed a Great Grey Shrike that had been previously reported as being in the area sitting briefly on a distant branch allowing a few record shots before it flew off on its merry way. I was also entertained by a flock of Redpoll feeding in the same scrub that the Buntings were in and a few Common Crossbill prising open fir cones on top of a fir tree using their specialist tools of the trade which gives them their name. At one point a small flock of Woodlark flew overhead showing their, in my opinion anyway, rather comic stunted tails. With hindsight, I realised that I have never seen a flock of Woodlark before, only individual birds singing their delightful spring song – there are benefits to winter birding! When I got home I somewhat surprisingly realised that both the Shrike and Redpolls were year ticks for me.
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| Great Grey Shrike |
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| Common Crossbill |
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| Redpoll |
The other trip I have done in the past week was much closer to home, some 20 or so miles to see an American vagrant Pied-billed Grebe, another UK life tick for me. This chap rates as a two star Collins rarity but has the pleasing habit of often staying put on the same stretch of water for extended periods once settled. In appearance it resembles a large heavily built Little Grebe with, you’ll never guess from the name, a distinctive black stripe on its bill in summer plumage – no sh*t Sherlock! Luckily I had taken my new scope with me as this chap was again very distant on the far shore of the reservoir. A great Northern Diver was also present but, surprise surprise, that was also very distant! There is
While its been such a ghastly year in many ways, without doubt I think the worst I can remember by far in my 65 years to date on earth, it has actually been, somewhat perversely, a very good year in the UK for rare birds. While my UK year list stands at a comparatively modest 218, I’ve actually managed to add 25 new birds to my UK life list.
At home I’ve spent the last week or so unpacking the remaining boxes in our garage and creating my man cave in it with all my tools now hanging neatly on racks and all the gardening and DIY stuff neatly stored in new racking leaving almost nothing on the floor. I’m determined to keep it that way this time – honest (Carolyn’s giving in a few months at best before it’s a mess again – oh ye of little faith!!)
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