24th Febuary 2020
This is only my second Salop Snow Bunting after an individual showing a lot better that this one on the Long Mynd over ten years ago.
Yesterday, David Stafford found a 1st winter male Snow Bunting at Titterstone Clee. So this morning I set off just after 08.00 as news came out on shropshire Bird News WhatsApp group that it was still present as I drove towards the highest point in Shropshire. I arrived to find Rob Dowly and who had it first thing this morning, Dave Western, searching for the bunting as it had gone missing. In the next hour more local birders turned up and it was relocated in the car park very close to my car. It proved to be a very flighty bird in the blusty wet conditions and it wasn’t long until it got caught by the wind and was gone. I went in the direction that it had disappeared and refound it on a slope where I could see it was not goin to stick. Sure enough it flew off again, taking by the wind, over the brow of the hill and out of sight. It was now 11.30, the weather had approved to bright spells and my next stop was the ten minutes drive down road to twitch a Black Redstart that was discovered last week.
Snow Bunting is no longer the mega bird it used to be in the county as Titterstone Clee is being more watched now.
After spending 30 minutes at Whitcliffe Common, Ludlow, dipping out on the 2 Hawfinch that were seen a few days ago, I made the short drive to the Clive Arms, Bromfield to see my firth Salop Black Redstart. Birders leaving told me and others that it was just seen by the post office. It was almost an hour later when I could hear it nearby calling and found it on the roofs before it touched the ground very briefly only to disappear again. I called the other birders but we had to wait another twenty minutes when Andy Lathem and I could hear it in the courtyard and this time the ten birders present all connected with it. Not surprising really as the redstart hoped around on the deck for good ten minutes in the courtyard before moving off. That was enough for me and thirty minutes later I was at Horderly Wood where there has been up to 10 Hawfinch regularly seen, including yesterday, in the last month. I didn’t see one and returning home I stopped off at Venus Pool where the only birds of note were a single Brambling and Lesser Redpoll. A quick scan at the River Severn floods at Buildwas produced 2 Oystercatcher and 24 Goosander.
A very confiding Black Redstart that spent most of it’s time while observing it in the shadow of the building despite the sun being out.
Male Brambling and Lesser Redpoll at Venus Pool
I had this Chiffchaff a few days ago at Allscott Sewage Works
Return from Gambia, go to Trench pool the following morning and find thatthe near adult Yellow-legged Gull is still present. There was also an adult on the roofs of Hortonwood.
SCILLYSPIDER 2 