News broke this morning of a female pine bunting in Shropshire at Venus Pools Nature Reserve. The bird was with a mixed flock of birds, including over 70+ Yellowhammers and 30+ Reed Buntings in a kale field; it sounded a right arse to see. It was too late for me to visit due to the negative news, but it got refound again late afternoon, so I made plans to go in the morning.
Luckily, the reserve is only an hour from where I live, so I left home just before 7am and arrived just after 8am. What a lovely feeling, first twitch of the year and a lie in—it's a first!
On arrival, I was surprised at how few people were on site; there must have been only fifty birders, and to think that this was the first mainland bird since I dipped the last one in 2005 at New Farm, Wadborough, Worcestershire. There was another mainland bird in Cornwall that was seen in Nanjizal Valley in 2009, but this bird was suppressed after being seen on the first day of 2009.
Anyway, on arrival, I joined the line of birders that had gathered in the kale field, and we waited for the sun to rise.
First twitch of the year
It wasn't long before the sun eventually came up and the mixed flock of well over a hundred birds started to move out of the roost in the far bushes beyond the field. This was going to be a nightmare! Thankfully, it didn't take long before the bird was seen sitting out in the kale field. At last, I had connected with this bird; it has absolutely done my head in for years since dipping the 2005 bird; I've had to wait twelve years for my next one! There was no chance of any photographs today as the bird was distant and I only had scope views. This bird was a real ID challenge in the field with so many Yellowhammers, Reed, and Corn Buntings. Congratulations to Simon Davies for one hell of a find. Below are some pictures of the bird linked to Twitter
A GREAT START TO 2017 AND ONE BIG TART'S TICK OUT OF THE WAY!
