Dartford Warblers (again)

The post should have been titled Great Grey Shrike but things rarely go to plan. I had managed to get a couple of hours birding on a Saturday. An unusual occurrence, brought about by the wife having to attending a course and leaving me with the afternoon free. The plan was to head up to Iping Common to see the Shrike and I did eventually get to see it but not before being waylaid by an obliging Dartford Warbler.

I had been searching for the shrike for about an hour without any luck and without really seeing any birds at all. I stopped to consider what to do next but then saw a dark flash as a small bird disappeared into the gorse bush in front of me. That's usually all you see but this time the bird popped out on top of the bush and sat looking at me.

And it stayed to have its picture taken..... a good few times

I like the little white flash over the left eye. It will be interesting to see if I can spot it again later in the year.

Refreshed by having found a decent bird I set off in search of the Shrike again. There was no sign of it in its usual dead Birch Tree but I eventually found it flying three or for hundred metres to the south west of the car park. This is not a bird that is easy to approach, so I settle for a couple of distant record shots and left it in peace.

Poor framing but it was the only flight shot with the whole of the bird in picture

The light was going but I thought it was worth taking a small detour to see if the Little Owl was visible in its usual tree at Stapleash Farm. For anyone who does not know the location of the usual tree, see my blog of  January 2013, but be aware that one of the trees in the picture has now blown down.

This is a bird that really does not like to co-operate. At the first sign of anyone watching it runs along the branch into cover. This time I did not even get to see that, as it was already well concealed when I arrived.

An enjoyable afternoons birding with a few additions to the year list which is ticking along nicely.

Dartford Warblers

Having had a disappointing days birding yesterday we decided to head inland today and visit Iping Common. Yesterday had been ruined by a weather forecast that had got it completely wrong. The promised day of sunshine and clear skies through to late afternoon had in fact lasted to about ten in the morning when a cold wind, dark skies, and a general air of gloom settled over us.

Today's forecast had changed from strong winds and storms to yet again a promise of clear skies and sun. We were sceptical, with some justification as it turned out, but decided to give the birding a go anyway.

On arriving at the common we headed up to the north west corner where a large birch tree covered in bracket fungus is located. The target was the reported Great Grey Shrike and the tree is a perch that has been favoured by previous Shrikes visiting the common.

Our initial search did not locate the Shrike but we were quickly sidetracked by a small flock of Goldcrests and then by a Dartford Warbler that Dave managed to locate. The shrike eventually returned to the Birch tree and we had good if distant views of the bird.

Great Grey Shrike

A walk around the common gave us some of the usual birds and then another pair of Dartford Warblers. It also signalled the onset of another overcast sky and eventually of rain. The score so far is BBC weather forecasters  0 , the weather  2.

The Dartford Warblers are always difficult to photograph. They are fast moving and tend to stay in cover but they are a beautiful looking bird and a great prize for the photographer who gets a clear shot.

Dartford Warbler

We had plenty of sightings over a period of about an hour but there were few good picture opportunities. The birds would stop and look at us and when they moved out of the Gorse into the Birch saplings you had some reasonable views but there were usually twigs or small branches obstructing the views. It was all very frustrating but eventually I managed a clear shot.

Dartford Warbler

Still not perfect but easily my best shot of a Dartford Warbler to date.