Christine's walking & birds blog

My walk with Greger yesterday was about nine miles; and today I covered much of the same ground. Crows had replaced ravens, but I heard and saw three Dartford warblers.

I almost missed the goldcrests; they looked incredibly tiny on the ground and were much the same colour as the puddle.

Half a dozen fieldfares were on Wishmoor Bottom, but there was no sign of the shrike here or on the high Surrey heaths.

We walked down through Swinley Forest to the Surrey ridge above Wishmoor, where we had lunch on the fallen pine. An unseen raven called twice then flew past us and landed on a tree beyond the power lines.

We headed out towards Bagshot Heath looking for the shrike, but there was no sign of it. There were lots of young soldiers in the area on an orienteering exercise, who greeted us politely as they ran past. This lovely little slow worm was on the track. Greger said that in Sweden this is known as the copper snake - which is a nicer name than slow worm, if just as misleading.

The raven/s, like the ring ouzels, gave me a Wishmoor/Swinley tick: a tick for one of the many lists I do not actually keep.

Another warm and sunny day on the heaths, with five or so swallows hunting overhead making it feel like summer. As I ate lunch on a handy fallen pine, a field grasshopper landed a few feet away; possibly a female laying eggs. No doubt this would be an acceptable snack for the great grey shrike.....

.....chasing or being mobbed by half a dozen small birds (possibly goldfinches). I had a brief view through my bins of the shrike flying upwards like a cross against the blue sky, with the small birds skipping round excitedly and scolding it. A Dartford warbler was heard nearby.

A flock of siskins and redpolls was a nice sight near the stream; and a mistle thrush on top of a pine tree suddenly burst into fluting song - and just as suddenly stopped.

(Subsequent research: the shrike catches small birds, apparently, by flying up from below them and grabbing them by the leg; so presumably that's what this one was trying to do. I don't think it was successful. BWP states "predation on birds is rather exceptional" as it's not a particularly speedy flier.)

Wishmoor

After much circulating and swearing I finally managed to park at the crowded Lookout on Nine Mile Ride, and walked down through Swinley Forest to sun-drenched Wishmoor. It was a gorgeous day - perfect for exploring this area of heathland and gravelly ridges.

Across the heath near the oak trees, a long-tailed white bird perched on the top of a dead pine. I crept closer and confirmed that it was a great grey shrike - a nice surprise, though not strictly self-found. I learnt of Wishmoor as a wintering site for shrikes some years ago, having twitched one here via Birdline Southeast. 

I sat on the "horse jump" and ate my sandwiches. The shrike meanwhile disappeared and then returned to the tree with something slightly less appetising. (Possibly a wireworm - Click Beetle larva).

As I wiped my mouth with my hand and the shrike wiped its bill on the tree, it seemed a bit mean to keep the find to myself, so despite my retirement I called it in and continued with my walk.

Over the border in Surrey I was passing a lonesome pine when I heard from within it a kind of repeated "chack" that didn't sound right for the stonechat I was hoping for. I then saw the silhouette of what I thought was a blackbird, got the bins onto it - and realised from the silvery wing that it was a ring ouzel!

As I stood there hardly daring to move, an answering call came from up the hill and a second bird came flying strongly towards me and swooped into the now not-so-lonesome pine.

North of Lambourn

The promised brightness after a dull start never materialised today, and we walked almost eleven miles in a gusty though warmish wind with the views enveloped in a grey mist. My target bird was stonechat.

We had lunch on the grassy fort ramparts at Uffington, with a dozen of so meadow pipits to watch and singing skylarks to listen to. Later we took afternoon coffee at our usual lunch-place at the top of Whit Coombe.....

......while on the rail of the gallops, it was probably a Berkshire whinchat.....

We enjoyed the walk. It gave us some much-needed exercise and blew the cobwebs away. And although there was no stonechat, I'm always happy to see whinchats and wheatears. They give rise to thoughts of moors and mountains and keep the summer going just a little bit longer.