Gone birding

Wednesday 11th January 2012

Keen blogwatchers will notice that today's sunrise pics are not taken from my farm. Today I went birding. The first pic was taken through the car windscreen as we were driving, as I thought that would be my only chance for a sunrise pic. However, as we pulled up in the beach car park I ran past the beach huts and managed to snap the sun just as it was emerging over the horizon.

Warning, this page contains birdy stuff...all birdy stuff!

El Gorrion (or El Sparro Hispaniolo)

Anyway, here's how it all started. On Tuesday evening my pager wailed excitedly at me, carrying news of a Spanish Sparrow found in Calshot, Hampshire. A MEGA ALERT rudely informs the twitcher fraternity of a very, very rare bird in the country...anywhere in the country. Spanish Sparrows come from South and South-East Europe and are not supposed to be in the U.K. In fact, this was only the 8th ever. The last was in Cornwall, but could muster only a one day stay. Previous to that, a lost waif took up residence in Cumbria from 1996 until 1998. However, this was before I took up my obsessive hobby, so this bird could end a 14 year wait.

A few phone calls later and it was arranged - I would leave at 3.30 in the morning, meeting two friends half way down the A1 and another fresh off the sleeper train from Edinburgh.

So it was that we pulled up into the beach car park at sunrise, meeting up with dozens of fellow twitchers from all corners of the country. Not many of the old timers were present as they'd all seen the Cumbria bird in 1996 or even the bird which graced North Ronaldsay in 1993. But anyone who joined the hobby this century would surely be making the pilgrimage some time over the next week.

As we strolled up to the assembled group of birders, it was clear they were watching the bird in a nearby hedge. It was tucked up and half obscured, so my first view was through a mate's telescope.
LIFER! The first of 2012.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2085127/All-twitter-Hampshire-Police-prepare-crowd-control-birdwatchers-flock-rare-SPARROW.html


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-16515456


The stress was over and we spent awhile savouring the Spanish Saprrow before enjoying the rest of the day in the New Forest. We took the opportunity to view birds such as Woodlarks, Crossbills and Dartford Warblers, all specialist birds only found in very specific habitats. A distant Great Grey Shrike perched in birches looking to plunge down onto any unsuspecting prey. These butcher birds are a scarce winter visitor to this country's heathlands.
More unusual was a Dark-eyed Junco which had turned up in a forest clearing a couple of weeks ago. A sparrow-sized bird all the way from America, this was only the third I had ever seen in the UK.
I arrived back home early evening, fell asleep and didn't wake up again till 2 o'clock. Only 6 hours till sunrise!