Saturday, November 20, 2010
Combe
Greger chose the location for today's walk, which began in thick fog. I didn't expect much in the birding line so the calls of an unseen raven issuing from the whiteout seemed a bonus; and I was further cheered by views of a marsh tit (identified with the naked eye by Greger - I'd thought it was a great tit!) and a brambling.
Shortly after this came a harsh, nasal sound that was music to my ears. A willow tit! I can't count the times we've walked through these woods, where I know they can be found, and not even heard one! Now I was getting some brief views as well. It was a first in the UK for me, so already the walk had changed from being a birdy no-hoper to something special. But there was more to come!
The fog began to clear. There were loads of redwings and fieldfares flying around, and a buzzard and a calling raven were seen well from a clearing.
Some way ahead a flock of finches flew into the treetops, so we hoped for another sighting of brambling. One bird appeared larger than the others and I thought it might be a woodpecker. A look through the bins showed me a thickset bird with a white wing-bar and what seemed to be a heavy bill, although its head at that point was turned away. I told Greger it might be a hawfinch and clicked off a picture.....
.....unfortunately, in the panic, he never got to view it through the bins. The species has been recorded in this area, so I was hopeful. But the bird was distant and visibility was poor; and it was only when I'd uploaded and cropped the image at home that I knew for sure what we'd seen!
We had no choice but to walk towards it, and it immediately took off with the other birds; but while they skipped about and peeled off to either side the hawfinch seemed to fly strongly on until it was lost to view.
Going up Walbury Hill a bit later I was almost relieved when a tiny bird in the hedgerow turned out to be a goldcrest rather than a firecrest. I'd had quite enough excitement for one day!
// posted by Christine @ 8:31 AM 
