Autumnal Chat

 

Just finished going through the last couple of images from Thursley Common, which included this smart late-autumn male Stonechat. A real poser, not afraid to fly up close and investigate an idiot walking around aimlessly after a Shrike. No fieldcraft needed for this one...

 

Woodlark

Wahey! The big 200th blog post, how's about a few shots of Woodlark (an unexpected surprise on a return visit back to Thursley Common) to celebrate it with.

These particular birds, under the Biodiversity Action Plan due to national declines in breeding range, were a nightmare to photograph, constantly feeding within the heather in small, extremely alert groups. I tried the classic approach of waiting for the birds to come to me, which they did on numerous occasions, but half the time all I could see in the viewfinder was part of a beak, or an eye, as they skulked about, extremely well camouflaged.

On rare occasions, when the flock moved on, one or two birds would occasionally fly up and perch on a nearby branch or vantage point, allowing for slightly better views, before dipping straight back down to feed...
 

 

After accepting the fact that the Woodlarks weren't going to play ball, I made my way back to the car park, bumping into the Great Grey Shrike along the way; which showed nicely for a while, as well as a distant Raven and several fly over Crossbills...

 

 

Shriking it Lucky

 

Day off work? Report of a Great Grey Shrike on Thursley Common back in the week? Yes please. 

 

In recent years, this heath has become one of the most reliable spots in England for holding wintering Shrikes, although for one reason of another I've never (until now) taken the small trek down the A3 to see one. This season's wintering bird has been reported on and off since late October, and on this occasion, was surprisingly hassle free to find when I headed down yesterday afternoon, flying across the bridleway and perching out in the open near the main boardwalk, a few paces from the car park. Beginner's luck?

 

For the next hour or so, it happily caught and ate a Wren in front of me, perching at close range for long periods of time whilst it digested the meal. Hard to believe these birds are about the size of a small Starling!

It was a remarkably efficient killer, at one point diving down into a bush, and re-emerging with a Wren. An hour later, it dived into a reedbed and came up with a vole...

The light was pretty rubbish, so the photos aren't all that. Will definitely have to return when the sun comes out, and when the wind decides to die down a bit.

More Scilly Stuff

It's not all about rare birds on Scilly... I turned down a Solitary Sandpiper on Bryher to spend an afternoon in the company of Turnstones down by St. Mary's harbour, and do I regret it? Yes, a lot. Not really. Below are some of the commoner species to hit the camera...

Rock Pipit...

White Wagtail...

Common Redstart, an exhausted migrant which gave very little notice to passers by on the coastal path to Porth Hellick...

Wheatear, 1 of 500,000,000,000 on the islands during my stay...

Song Thushes are ridiculously tame on Scilly for some reason. You could walk over one and it would carry on doing... well, whatever it is Song Thushes do...

Same goes for Blackbirds on the islands, this one catching some rays on St. Agnes...