Christine's walking & birds blog

A peachy wheatear was on the common this morning. It flew from the roof back out over the common and I lost it.

Two swifts and a hobby were hunting, and I heard but never saw a greenshank. A kingfisher and a singing chiffchaff were at the weir.

(Later: seeing a report of a little egret at the wetlands reminded me that I saw two. Not oneupmanship this, but interesting because as they flew about they called, and I think it's the first time I've heard them make any sound at all. It was a growly sort of "Ow".)

Target bird was a whinchat on our round walk from Ashdown, near Lambourn. A wheatear on Weathercock Hill seemed to bode well, although we had only a brief glimpse before it dashed away from us on a strong gust of wind.

The only other notable birds were four yellow wagtails and lots of willow warblers.

At the end of our walk, as the heavens opened, we entered the woodlands for the first time from the north-west side, and Greger suggested he go on to the car where he could read the paper and have a coffee while I did some birding. He set off confidently, and I soon found a large flock containing blue, great, marsh and long-tailed tits, goldcrest, yet another willow warbler and spotted flycatcher.

Eventually realising that quite a lot of time had passed, I guiltily set off for the car park. I came out onto the green ride and walked towards the house only to hear someone call out. I turned round.....

There was something about seeing Greger come striding out of the woods behind me, half an hour after I'd watched him stride off ahead of me, that made me collapse with laughter. He usually knows exactly where he is, but today he "became disorientated". (He means he got lost.)

It was quite nice to have a good laugh, given that the lack of birds on the downs and the fact that we were soaking wet was enough to make anyone cry.