After a sit on the sea wall for a while I decided to try a walk along the embankment aiming for Chambers Wall as a pick up point. Small numbers of Corn Bunting were at the stables as I made my way past, occasionally perching right at the top of the highest branches.
A Brambling flew west as I made my way along the embankment followed a short while later by a couple of Siskin west. Small flocks of Chaffinch continued to fly west. A Small White Butterfly was busy drinking nectar and a couple of Migrant Hawkers were on the wing. I will really miss the insect life as the season progresses.
I could hear a Ring Ouzel calling and stopped to see if I could manage to see it. After a little while I was lucky enough for it to appear in the open before flying towards me and after passing me it settled briefly on the grass embankment before flying on to a berry bush and disappearing inside. Overhead another Brambling flew west.
 |
| Ring Ouzel |
 |
| Ring Ouzel |
 |
| Ring Ouzel |
 |
| Ring Ouzel |
 |
| Ring Ouzel |
Nearing Chamber's Wall I met another birdwatcher and while letting him know about the Ring Ouzel he said that there was a Pallas's Warbler at Chambers Wall. I found myself wondering could I have made a mistake yesterday with identifying the Yellow-browed, confidence in my ability never having been a strong point. Whichever way I looked at it, however, though the views yesterday had been brief and I didn't hear the bird call, they were good and I was as sure as I could be that I had identified it correctly. But the presence of a Pallas's there today couldn't but help make me wonder. At Chambers Wall there were quite a few birdwatchers strung along the track but it had not been seen for a little while. I found an empty spot and had a scan and after a while I couldn't believe it when a small bird flew across and landed in amongst some ivy and there was a stunning Pallas's Warbler working its way through. What an absolute beauty. I waved at the next birder along to alert him and he passed the message on and joined me. We were treated to some super, if brief, views as it made its way rapidly through the bush. It really was an absolute jewel of a wingbarred warbler sporting a very strong and bright crown stripe and supercilium and very dark eye stripe. And it certainly put my mind at rest as this was a completely different bird to yesterdays. Everything I saw was perfect for Pallas's just as the bird yesterday had been perfect for Yellow-browed. We were lucky enough for it to give brief views several times as it reappeared at various intervals along the hedgerow. I did not manage to see its rump but other birders there had seen the pale yellow and I could not manage a photo at any point but just enjoyed watching an absolute jewel of a bird.
Heading for the pick up point I really did not think it was possible for the day to get any better but it still held one more surprise. Further along the road I could see a couple of birdwatchers pointing up and sideways but being on the short side I could not see over the hedgerow to see what they had seen. Another birder jogged past me saying that a White-tailed Eagle had been seen at Reculver and was going past. A hedgerow has never seemed so long and by the time I finally managed to clear it the eagle had moved rapidly through but I could still see it spiralling in the distance. I tried for some photos and they are really bad but they give me some memory shots of a bird that I never thought I would be lucky enough to see. The birders there reckoned that the eagle was presumably one of the Isle of Wight's re-introduced birds but I must admit that for me it was still a stunning sight and one I will never forget. I have never seen a bird in real life with a wing span that big, never having seen any type of eagle before. I would love to have seen it closer but I felt so lucky to have seen it at all. Update: Apparently the White-tailed Eagle is now thought not to be one of the Isle of Wight's re-introduced birds and is thought to be a continental bird. Not a bird I thought I would ever get the chance to see.
 |
| White-tailed Eagle |
 |
| White-tailed Eagle |
 |
| White-tailed Eagle |
And that brought a day filled with some superb birds to a close.
Birds seen this visit included: 1 juvenile Masked Shrike, 3 Common Buzzard, Skylarks, 9 Blue Tit, 4 Cetti's Warbler, 7 Chiffchaff, 4 Wren, 6 Stonechat, 4 Goldfinch, 3 Grey Heron, 6 Meadow Pipit, 15 Goldcrest, 16 Redwing, 1 Mistle Thrush, 11 Swallow, 8 Corn Bunting, 5 Fieldfare, 86 Chaffinch west, 4 Magpie, 6 Pied Wagtail, Starlings, House Sparrows, 10 Robin, 6 Blackbird, 2 Dunnock, 1 Blackcap, 12 Turnstone, 8 Sanderling, Carrion Crows, 2 Brambling west, 2 Siskin west, 5 Mute Swan, 2 Little Grebe, 5 Moorhen, 1 Ring Ouzel, 2 Great Tit, 115 Golden Plover, 2 Mallard, 1 Pallas's Warbler, 1 White-tailed Eagle
No comments:
Post a Comment