Dartford Warblers

I met up with Dave today and we headed up to Lavington. It was windy and with squally rain but we were still hopeful of finding birds on the commons. In fact the plantation proved the best location with in excess of a hundred Fieldfares circling the site and coming down to strip the berries off the Rowans. The birds were not easy to photograph as the trees were in heavy shade and the birds were just grabbing a berry and flying, but they were great to watch.

A blurred tail as he tries to balance in the wind

A Red-Nose Day supporter

Later we managed to find some Dartford Warblers. There were at least four but possibly six although we may have double counted the last two. Their behaviour was interesting as well. At least one of the males was singing and two of the males had an ongoing dispute backwards and forwards across the territory for most of the time we were there.

One day I will get that perfect shot of a male sitting out on the gorse but for the moment I will have to settle for a couple more record shots of them.

Dartford Warbler looking for food

and hiding in the shadows at the bottom of a Gorse bush

A second good days birding with some great sightings but only poor record shots to show for our efforts. The standard is starting to drop. Next time out I will be looking to get some good quality pictures even if it is of fairly common birds.