After all the trials and tribulations of the last year, the start of April came as a blessed relief. We were finally allowed out for more than our basic Boris-granted exercise in our local area. My birding, and hence the number of times I have updated my blog, have both suffered. To be honest, from around late Autumn I've not really been very far from home.
So, it was with sense of excitement that I planned my first real birding trip. I was going to start the day with a trip to see a very old friend - Colin the cuckoo. This stalwart of the British birding scene has been spending at least the last 7 summers at Thursley common near Guildford. Over that time he has become incredibly tame, tempted in by copious amounts of mealworms delivered daily by a crowd of admiring fans. Many of those are photographers who fill their boots with point-blank range shots of a normally shy bird. It can be a bit of circus at times, and creates a degree of controversy, but the trick is to get there early before the crowd builds-up.
So, I got to the car-park about 7.30 and had a 20 minute walk to his favoured area of the common. I was treated to singing willow warblers on the way, themselves fresh in from Africa. In the field, 3 other birders were setting up, baiting a large log with wriggling live mealworms. We formed a socially-distanced semi-circle and set down to wait. For the first half-hour the main man didn't turn up, but we were treated to a stunning male redstart taking advantage of Colins breakfast!
He was using Colins perch to declare his territory to all-comers! After another few minutes we heard the distinctive call coming from the woods behind us - "cuckoo, cuckoo". Colin was eyeing up whether there were enough mealworms to warrant a visit!
Deciding it was up to standard he flew down and stated to hoover up his breakfast.
He spent about 5 minutes before flying off in search of other delights! Having seen him many times before I didn't hang around as the crowd started to grow, by now up to about 15 people, and I set off after another local speciality, the Dartford warbler. They are pretty common here and in Spring the males are very vocal, declaring their territories like Colin.
It took me only a short walk before I found a stunning male right beside one of the main paths.
He combined singing with hunting for insects in the gorse. Eventually he flew off over the gorse so I left the site, walking past Colins field where there must have been 30 people now in attendance.
My next stop was in Sussex for a ring-necked duck. Not a rare bird, the sort you get every year but have to twitch for, and this was female so a dull brown duck. Still, it would be year tick. The lake was next to a housing estate and rather urban and I had just got onto the bird when my phone bleeped at me - "Northern mockingbird at Pulborough Brooks". Now this is a mega - a very rare North American bird which had been in residence in Devon for a couple of months. With lockdown I hadn't been for it though lots of others had. Then, the day before, it had disappeared from the back garden where it been in residence. I presumed my chance of it had gone. Now it was only about 40 minutes away. Quick decision - pick up my gear and jog-trot back to the car. Postcode into the satnav and off we go. The phone kept bleeping as I drove and one long set of roadworks allowed me to see it was still "showing well". I eventually got to the car park which was small and rammed. One space appeared though and I grabbed it. Lots of birders were around to put me in the right direction, which was only a 5 minute walk to a river bank where 50 or so people were set up with 'scopes and cameras. A quick chat ascertained it was still there but not showing. I only had to wait a nervous 5 minutes before it popped up on a bush.
I've seen them many times in the USA, where they are a back-garden type of bird. A bit thrush-like and dull grey, it was still a thrill to see it. My first lifer for almost a year and a very rare one at that. It spent the next 30 minutes flitting up and down, feeding in a ditch then sunning itself on the top of the bushes.
The crowd was growing as news got out of its presence, a combination of hardcore birders with very expensive gear and curious locals with dogs and children! I finally left it to its admirers as I had a long drive home. Drives after connecting with a lifer are always much sweeter. To add to my luck, there was no show the following day as it had moved on again. A great start to the new year, albeit one starting in April!
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