Rediscovering the Joys of Birding
• Wednesday, April 2, 2008 - Hawfinches & a Great Grey Shrike
Today was another of my fortnightly mornings off to go birding. I had decided that I wanted to upgrade my 30 year old bins so I devised an itinerary that would include dropping in at Sherwoods in Moran Bagot in Warwickshire. I decided to have one more crack at the Blenheim Palace hawfinches (a potential lifer) before there are too many leaves on the trees, then on to the long-staying great grey shrike at Half Moon Plantation in Gloucestershire, next to Sherwoods and then back home, stopping off at Hillesden in Bucks for the wader scrapes to try for wheatear, yellow wagtail, Little Ringed Plover and Green Sandpiper all of which I need on my year list still.
I got up reassuringly early at 6am and headed off to Blenheim Palace grounds once again. The weather was quite mild and calm but it was rather overcast. I wasted no time in going to the target area, pausing only to see a buzzard sitting on a post at close range and a lingering redwing in a tree. The grass was rather wet underfoot and my shoes are not as waterproof as they once were leaving my feet rather wet and cold. I remembered that I had found this last time I came and wondered why I'd not learnt from this experience and brought my wellies! Anyway, I'd sought advice on the hawfinches since my last visit and narrowed down my search to a much smaller area. The tactics now were more about waiting around scanning a group of tall trees. A greenfinch and a chaffinch gave a couple of false alarms and I was left waiting and watching the blue tits squabbling nearby. Then I noticed a couple of strange finches in the tree tops and got my bins to my eyes just long enough to see them in profile before they flew. There was not much mistaking a bill of that size and though it had been a very brief view they were my first hawfinches. An excellent start to the day as to be honest I'd been expecting another blank.
Next back to the car and with the heating set to full blast directed at my feet to dry them out I set off for darkest Gloucestershire. I'd not ventured this way much before so it was interesting to pass through the Cotswold villages and their lovely sandstone colours. Turning off the main road to find the Half Moon Plantation I found myself in wonderful farmland country with plenty of scrubby bushes around. Driving slowly I managed to see a yellowhammer in a bush on the way before locating the crossroads and parking. I was not sure what I was expecting but the plantation was a coniferous one and didn't look very "shrikey" so I concentrated instead on the disused quarry on the other side of the road. Nothing was immediately visible so I walked down the side road, scanning the tops of the bushes - it's fortunate that shrikes tend to like sitting somewhere prominent! After about 50 yards I saw a grey blob on a bush top in the distance and quickly confirmed that it was indeed the bird in question. I even got out my scope to have a go at digiscoping but the results were not very impressive. After a while the shrike dipped out of sight so I thought that I would wander around to see what else I could see. I found some more yellow hammers and heard a lesser spotted woodpecker calling from somewhere nearby in the plantation. As I walked back to the car the shrike flew across the field and to my astonishment actually started hovering like a kestrel for about a minute before flying on. I didn't realise that they did this. As I got back into the car to drive off I spotted a larger than average crow-like bird in the opposite field. As it flew off I got a view of it through the bins and it confirmed my suspicions that it was in fact a raven - another tick for the year list.
Next on the Moran Bagot, getting only briefly lost amongst the back roads though I did manage to see my first swallow of the year sitting in classic pose on a telegraph wire. As far as the bins were concerned I was going to buy the Opticron Verano's and needed to decide between the 8x42's and the 10x42's. Unusually, the field of view and weight were almost identical for the two so I was tempted by the 10's. At Sherwoods they have a rather nice garden full of bird feeders so there's always plenty to look at. Whilst I was testing out the bins I noticed to my surprise that there was a Marsh Tit coming to one of the feeders. I was most pleased about this as I'd been trying to see one all year. As far as the bins were concerned in the end I chose the 8's because the image was better: there seemed to be too much chromatic aberration when viewing sharp edges against the sky in the 10's.
I set off back for home down the motorway. As I got to my turn-off I was in two minds whether to press on for Hillesdon or to go straight home as it was getting late and I was feeling tired from my early start. I started off for Hillesdon while I thought about it and was in fact nearly there when I looked at the petrol gauge and realised that I was almost out. I didn't want to be stranded in the middle of no where without petrol so I turned round and headed for home, stopping off to refuel on the way.
A surprisingly good day out with one lifer and 5 new year ticks. I also had a Willow Warbler on the Meadow earlier in the week as another year tick. I do realise that compared to seasoned birders my year list is woefully inadequate but I console myself with the knowledge that my excursions are rather restricted at present what with family and child-care commitments so I can't be out twitching all the time. My target for the year is 150 - if I can get that then I will be well pleased.
112 Willow Warbler
113 Hawfinch (LIFER)
114 Great Grey Shrike
115 Raven
116 Swallow
117 Marsh Tit |
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