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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 holiday I have to say but, heigh-ho, each to their own I guess! Brean Down is an attractive coastal headland owned by the National Trust. I gave up my membership of the National Trust many years ago when I disagreed with their policy on the Army using their land. It’s so long ago that, to be honest, I’ve forgotten the details! The Black Redstarts are usually found in a rocky area on the beach below the headland. Although there is no cover on the beach, they can still be very confiding. I suspect they have become habituated to photographers feeding them. The disadvantage of this location lies in the disturbance from dog walkers and holiday makers with small children but they have as much right to be there as I do so you just have to work around them. There was initially no sign of the Redstart so I amused myself watching and taking pictures of the Rock Pipits but after 15 minutes or so I spotted it distantly on the rocks slowly making its way towards me.


 

  
Rock Pipit

The Black Redstart is a widespread breeder in south and central Europe through to Asia and north-west Africa.  In the UK it is most commonly seen as a passage and winter visitor with only 20 or so birds breeding here. It was originally a bird of mountains and cliffs but after the second world war it spread to bomb sites and is now often seen in industrial areas such as power stations and water works. A few years back we had a lovely autumn holiday staying with “Spanish” friends who live in a small mountain village in the Basque region. They would be upset, however, to hear me call them Spanish, the inhabitants of this region consider themselves to be Catalonians and are fiercely supportive of independence from Spain. In the village the Black Redstarts were ubiquitous, often being spotted on the house roof tops and gardens.

   




First winter male black Redstart

Befitting a bird with such a large range, there is considerable geographic variation in their plumage and hence it is assigned a number of subspecies.  In general, the adult male is overall dark grey to black on the upperparts and with a black breast. The lower rump and tail are orange red, with the two central tail feathers dark red brown. In the western species the belly and undertail are blackish grey while the more eastern species are more orange red on the belly. There are a few records of the attractive eastern species from the UK but they are still on my UK wish list.

 

The first winter male slowly made its way towards me in a hop, stop and check manner until it was only 20 meters or so from me. There it stood for a few minutes staring intently at me so much as to say “I know the game with you photographers – where are my meal worms matey!” before a noisy youngster ran by and scared in off. This was clearly its modus operandi as it would repeat this process every 20 minutes or so as long as it wasn’t disturbed. It had a number of preferred perches which it used on each journey. Whether these were natural or man-made I’m not sure but this did make for good photo opportunities.

    



An adult male taken at the same site a few years back for comparison

Come lunch time I has an almost full memory card of photos so I decided to decamp to the comparatively nearby Greylake RSPB reserve for a couple of hours. Greylake was still hosting the rare drake Baikal Teal that I went to see recently, see here, but I was actually hoping to see a rather stunning adult male Hen Harrier that had occasionally been spotted there. As it turned out the Baikal Teal had been flushed by a Marsh Harrier and the Hen Harrier was nowhere to be seen so I amused myself without success trying to find a Jack Snipe in amongst the many Common Snipe present.

 

Come mid afternoon I departed to do battle with the Friday afternoon traffic feeling most contented and uplifted by my encounter with my newfound friend, the charismatic little Black Redstart.

 

 

 

Footnote – my blogs are posted with sometimes rather imaginative spelling and grammar due to my extreme dyslexia!   

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