8/03/14
The good thing about having some free time on a weekend is you can guarantee that a good thrash of the patch is in order!
And it was with the intention of early migrants I headed out in the hope of some early migrants. Sadly however, it was more of the 'old' than the new. A good number of winter visitors were still hanging on, with a good party of 18 Lapwing, and both Redwing and Fieldfare still in evidence on the riverside fields. Additionally to these, 2 Goosander and 4 Mandarin remained on the river.
It was however, fairly quiet, so later in the morning i headed over to Stanklyn Lane, where the wintering flock of Corn Bunting was still in evidence! With some patience and some cover behind an oak tree along the road, i was eventually treated to stunning views as they were flushed down the field by dog walkers. At a few points, I was surrounded by the whole flock, a number of which were singing constantly!
After a little while, a number of the birds started dropping down and started feeding among the plowed soils of the field, giving brilliant, and prolonged views!
Many people may look at these birds and think 'yet another LBJ- Or little brown job to the folks that don't have the grasp on the birding lingo'.
To me however, the sound of singing Corn Bunting, and its family relative, the Yellowhammer are two sounds that are synonymous with a picture of British farmland, and it really is such a shame to witness numbers dropping so quickly!
9/03/14
Following some survey work at a variety of undisclosed sites, I decided to drop into Postemplain, and i soon heard at least 2 TWO-BARRED CROSSBILL calling, but rather than investigating further decided to head off and do some more survey work!
MB
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