Day 1 of a 3-day Winter Birds, Brecks & Goshawks tour. It was cold overnight and still chilly in the morning, slow to warm up today. The early low cloud/mist was meant to burn back as the sun came up but, in places, lingered through the morning. Only later in the afternoon did the sunshine finally come out properly. We spent the day down in the Brecks.
As we drove down, we passed through patches of sunshine and blue skies and then back into the low cloud. It was sunny as we got to an area where some Woodlarks had been singing earlier in the week so we stopped to see if we could hear them. As we got out of the minibus, a male Yellowhammer was perched on a nearby gorse bush singing.
The Skylarks were in fine voice, several singing around us, although they were not gaining any great height in the cold morning air. More Yellowhammers flew round calling. Little groups of Linnets perched up on the bushes in the early sunshine. A couple of Red Kites flew up beyond.
There was no sign of any Woodlarks though, so we drove on a little further and opened the windows. Two Common Buzzards were sunning themselves in an oak tree and a pair of Stonechats flicked up onto the dry bracken below.
We decided to try another regular site for Woodlark further into the forest. Walking in along the ride, we could hear a Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming and a Green Woodpecker called in the distance, but apart from those it was eerily quiet. There were no tits singing in the trees and no finches flying in and out either. A Kestrel was perched on a small tree in the sun. The other side of the road was even quieter, so when a Common Buzzard started to circle up, we moved on to see if we catch up with a Goshawk instead.
There was a surprisingly large crowd gathered at the regular Goshawk site this morning. With high pressure over the UK, we were forecast little or no wind over the next few days, probably the worst conditions for raptor watching. Not helped this morning, as we had driven back into patchy low cloud now and it was struggling to warm up here. When we got out of the minibus, there were very few birds of prey up.
We stood and watched. From time to time, two or three Common Buzzards circled up into the sky but others we could see just perched in the tops of the trees, showing no signs of moving. On a good day, there can be a dozen or more Buzzards in the sky here. A couple of times, when the sun was on the trees, we spotted a Sparrowhawk circling up. The Red Kites were slow to appear too, though eventually we saw at least 2-3 from here. The Goshawks were obviously around – a couple of times we saw all the Woodpigeons erupt from the woods, but the Goshawks were presumably just hunting through the trees. In the absence of any warmth or wind, there was no great impetus for them to display.
There were other birds to see here. A Mistle Thrush perched on the top of a tree singing and a flock of Redwings flew up into some nearby bare branches. There were a few Pied Wagtails in the muddy pig field in front of us, and one or two Meadow Pipits. Two Shelducks were standing by a dirty pool in the bottom of the field and four more flew in and circled over. Several Skylarks flew round singing but the Woodlark which had apparently come up briefly before we arrived remained quiet now. There were still lots of Red-legged Partridges in all fields all around us, despite the shooting season being over now. Either they had released too many, or they weren’t very good shots here!
Some of the people who had been here for a while started to leave and the crowd thinned out. We were planning to give up too, but we thought we would give it another ten minutes. Jokingly, we remarked that, when everyone leaves, that is when the Goshawks show. We were still surprised though when we looked back over the trees to see a female Goshawk circling up. With white undertail coverts puffed out, she started to display, with exaggerated deep wingbeats. After circling up for a minute or so, never gaining much height, the Goshawk turned and flew slowly low over the tops of the trees in front of us before dropping down out of view.
Relief! Even on the quiet days, you can normally see a Goshawk if you put in enough time. They had properly kept us waiting today though. It was time for lunch, so we drove round to Lynford Arboretum and made use of the picnic tables in the car park.
The Hawfinches have been erratic recently in their appearances here. On some days, one or two have been coming to feed down at the gate, but speaking to people this morning it sounded like there had been no sign of any today. After lunch, we walked down to the gate and that seemed to be confirmed by the people already there.
We stood and watched for a while. A photographer was in the small hide at the back and had poured a lot of seed on the ground there. Most of the birds were now coming down to that – Blue Tits and Great Tits, a Nuthatch and Chaffinches. Eventually a female Brambling appeared too. They have been in very short supply this winter, with fewer than normal coming over here from Scandinavia. A Great Spotted Woodpecker dropped down through the branches and onto the fat ball feeder at the front. A Coal Tit flew down into the leaves in front of the pool a couple of times.
We walked on down to the bridge. On our way, we stopped to scan the fir trees where the sun was catching the tops and found a Jay clambering through the branches and a couple of Goldcrests. There was already some seed mix put out on the bridge pillars, but we added a couple of handfuls of black sunflower seeds too. At first, just Blue Tits and Great Tits came in and out but we didn’t have to wait too long before a Marsh Tit appeared. It would fly in and out several times in succession, grabbing a seed each time and taking it back to a nearby tree. Then it would disappear back into the trees for a while, before reappearing again. There were a few Siskins in the alders beyond the bridge too.
The Little Grebes were in fine voice this afternoon, at least two laughing at us madly from the lake beyond the bridge. We walked down beside the path beside the lake but couldn’t see them in the reeds. On the open water, we found a pair of Gadwall with the Mallard and a couple of Canada Geese swam over to see if we had any food with us.
Some more seed was on the pillars of the bridge at the far end of the lake too. Another Marsh Tit was coming down here. We had a short walk in through the firs and box bushes, as this can be a good area for Firecrest, but all was very quiet here this afternoon.
Scanning the trees in the paddocks as we continued round along the far side, there was no sign of any Hawfinches. In fact there were no finches at all – it seems like perhaps the trees here failed to set any significant amount of seed last year, as nothing seems to be feeding here this year.
Back round to the other side of the paddocks, we scanned the tops of the tall fir trees behind. We could see some shapes in the branches now and another couple of birds landed with them. Quickly, we got the scopes on them and confirmed our suspicions, they were Hawfinches. We had good views of two which were perched in the very tops of two different firs. Some more were better hidden, lower down in another tree further along. Turning the scopes on that tree, we counted at least seven here, though there could well have been more as some were hidden in the needles and impossible to see until they moved. At least nine – a very good total for this winter here.
The Hawfinches started to drop down lower into the fir trees, out of view. Before they all disappeared though, the sun came out and we had great views of the last three or four in the sunlight before they too flew down.
We walked back up to the Shepherd’s Baa coffee shop. The loo had been out of service at lunchtime but had since been fixed, so there was a sudden rush to use it. While we waited, several of the group took advantage to have a hot chocolate. The sun had already gone from the trees in the car park when we got back and all was quiet again.
As we drove back north though, the sun was still on the fields. We swung round via a couple of the sites we had tried for Woodlark earlier to see if we might find anything there feeding. Even the Skylarks had disappeared, but we did have compensation in the form of a big mixed flock of thrushes feeding beside the road. We pulled up and had good views of both Fieldfare and Redwing quite close from the minibus.
It had been a productive day in the Brecks today, even if we had to work hard for it at times. It was time to head back for tea and cake. We would have another go tomorrow.
