Christine's walking & birds blog

I drove to the Lookout and walked down through Swinley Forest to sun-drenched Wishmoor. On the heath I saw stonechats, one woodlark, a pair of redstarts, willow warblers, chiffchaffs and a smart male reed bunting carrying food. I heard cuckoo and tawny owl in the distance, but was unlucky with Dartford warblers.


I always think of this as Greger's Hill, as he's done a lot of stomping up and down it over the years while I bird-watched in the heather.

The redstart was near Lower Star Post. I'd been watching a tree pipit displaying in a clearing when I became aware of a song I didn't know and finally located the redstart - alternately singing and flycatching from the top of a conifer. He was feeding rather than food-gathering so I watched and listened to him for some time. Magical!

There were loads of manic orange butterflies which I couldn't see well enough to identify (probably painted ladies given that many have been sighted on the coast), and a dragonfly which I've since learnt was a broad-bodied chaser.

Quite a few siskins were feeding high in pine trees by Forest Pond.