Stone Curlew is a bird that I have only ever managed to see when in Spain. We do get the occasional one reported in Sussex but it would be on passage and if it did hang around it would be sure to be the subject of a twitch. To be sure of seeing one I would need to travel further north to its nesting grounds. I know where to find it but I just haven't got round to doing anything about it.
Post Covid I now find myself with a UK life list that has stalled. I don't particularly want to go chasing rarities all over the country but a banker just three hours from home would be a good option to get my life list moving again.
The destination is of course the Brecks and the journey time is just about achievable if the Dartford Tunnel is running smoothly. I have been promising myself I would go for a few years now. It's actually not much further than some of my regular haunts like Dungeness or the New Forest. Its just that anything that requires me to use the Dartford Tunnel somehow gets pushed to the back of the queue.
Until recently the target site would have been Weeting Heath but I was advised that Cavenham Heath was a better prospect for getting pictures. So Wednesday I decided to give it a go. The weather was a bit overcast but at least the traffic through the tunnel was not too heavy.
I was on site at Caveham before eleven and scanning the heath for any sign of the birds. There was no one else there and initially there was no sign of the birds. I was beginning to think I had got the timing wrong but eventually I had one starring back at me through the scope.
I then found another three or four around the same area tucked down in the grass and occasionally stretching or standing for a few minutes.
These are a mostly nocturnal bird so there was very little activity and no flying. There was some interaction with a large flock of Crows but the Stone Curlews did not seem to be fazed by the crows activities and did not move off their chosen territory. I watched for about five hours if I include an after lunch siesta. I am not sure how many Stone Curlews were there but at one point when disturbed by the Crow activity there were nine in view at the same time.
The birds stayed distant at all times. The pictures are taken using a 300mm lens and two times converter and are then heavily cropped. I stayed watching for the five hours in the hope of the sun coming out and giving me better picture opportunities. It did for a few minutes but what I hadn't considered was that these are night feeding birds and bright light just caused most of them to close their eyes.
Are there better shots to be had, possibly. By about four thirty the light levels had reduced and the birds seemed to be becoming more alert and active. Just the opposite of me, I had had enough. It was time for me to move on. I am not sure what time they would start feeding. If the light had been good I may have stayed longer in the hope of the birds moving closer.
A great bird to see but I still can't get used to seeing it in England. For me it will always be a bird of the Mediterranean.
