A Black necked Grebe visits Farmoor 22nd August 2025

                

Farmoor was doing its best to resemble a continental seaside resort today as myself, Phil and Dave promenaded up the causeway on a warm sunlit mid morning, the waters of the reservoir silky smooth, untroubled by any wind.These are the halcyon days of late summer but it will not last forever.

All very nice but the benign conditions presaged very little in the way of birdlife but unusually also little in the way of human presence which was no bad thing.

We made our way to the hide at Thames Water's Pinkhill Reserve by the River Thames but here also there was little to see apart from two teal dabbling in the increasingly shallow water as the summer drought continues. We sat in the hide chatting and looking out on the tranquil aquatic surrounds of the tiny reserve.I always feel a calm come over me when indulging in such an activity if you can call it thus.Often I will come to sit, alone and quiet in this hide and allow my mind and body to free fall into pleasing sensory and physical sensations

That was not for today however as we decided to move on, following the Thames Path, flanked with raggedy hedges of hawthorn and blackthorn shrouded in rampaging brambles, the sprays and runners bearing fists of berries, some black, lustrous and sweet to taste amongst others that were still red and hard and yet to ripen.

Two huge and venerable willows bowered the path further on, the enormous boughs, gigantic and mishapen, aslant across the path, leaning above our heads as if almost too heavy for the tree to bear and presenting curtains of long, green, attenuated leaves that hang almost to the ground so one has to brush them gently aside with the back of a hand to pass under. Every time I see them George Butterworth's  pastoral composition The Banks of Green Willow comes to my mind.

Further along the path we came to the pumphouse where the water is pumped into the reservoir from the adjacent River Thames, the brutalist architecture of the building incongruous amongst its idyllic surrounds, jarring to the eye but for me remains strangely attractive   

During a Thames Water work party here last week, when trimming back the bankside vegetation of the river we discovered a hidden rope attached to the bank and leading to a cage, lying deep in the opaque green water of the river. Curious, we hauled it out to discover it was full of Signal Crayfish, an invasive American rival to our indigenous crayfish. Introduced in 1976 it has colonised most of mainland Britain and rapidly superceded our native crayfish in our rivers due to being a carrier of crayfish plague which is fatal to our native crayfish.

There must have been around twenty in there, gyrating and twisting, waving fearsome looking claws in a vain endeavour to escape. We took one out to photograph it - well when, if ever, do you get such an opportunity? 

They are surprisingly powerful creatures but if held firmly by the body behind their claws cannot harm you. We put the cage and its contents back in the water assuming they belonged to an opportunist local fisherman but learnt later that it was the property of the Environment Agency, presumably doing some research into the crayfish.

Moving on I picked ripe blackberries to swallow and slowly savour from the high hedge by the tarmac track that runs to Lower Whitley Farm but we never found the Spotted Flycatcher that had been seen hereabouts by Paul yesterday.

We took the zigzag path back up to the reservoir and turning onto the perimeter track headed for the causeway. Approaching the causeway Dave's phone rang.It was Paul informing Dave that a friend of his had discovered a Black necked Grebe in the northwest corner of F1 the smaller of the reservoir's two basins and, as luck would have it, right where we were approaching.

The waters were still glass smooth so anything on the water would be obvious. A scattering of Great crested Grebes floated on the benign surface and slightly further out was undeniably another grebe but smaller.

Through binoculars it was confirmed to be the Black necked Grebe, a juvenile in grey and white plumage.

Slowly it swam closer, picking insects from the water's surface and occasionally diving. I chided myself for not bringing my camera but my back has been telling me for weeks that it really needs a break.Dave fortunately had his camera and managed some more than acceptable images as the grebe came quite close.

Black necked Grebes are annual passage migrants at the reservoir in both Spring and Autumn and always good to see but they rarely remain for longer than a day or two.Where they come from and where they are bound for is open to conjecture. Possibly they are from the small breeding population at St Aidans in Yorkshire see here  and are making their way to the Thames Estuary or the south coast of England where the majority spend the winter.

We walked back to the cafe and I decided to ask permission to drive around the reservoir to go and photograph the grebe which had looked content and settled in its corner when we left 

I duly did this but on checking where we had seen the grebe not thirty minutes ago I could find no sign of it and despite checking and re-checking it was definitely not there. I walked the western bank of the basin and half the length of the causeway but still could find no sign. Paul joined me but he could not find it either. We were non plussed and after an hour of fruitless searching with some other birders had to assume it had somehow departed or maybe was somewhere else on the larger basin F2 but that seemed unlikely as it was very busy with yachts and fishermen

I gave up and drove home.

Drawing up on my driveway my phone pinged.It was a message from Paul on the Oxon Bird Log announcing he had re-found the grebe half way down the northern bank of F1, feeding happily by the old mussel encrusted filtration cages - now beached and abandoned on the concrete shelving

There was no question. I had to go back to Farmoor and photograph the grebe

I was now into mid afternoon on getting back to the reservoir with the sun blazing down from a cotton wool sky. Costa del Farmoor! Well almost.

A short walk around the smaller basin to half way along the perimeter track brought me to where the grebe was last seen but there was no sign. 

I walked further and a small, dumpy bird surfaced like a bobbing cork, close into the edge of the reservoir. Found it!

Now the problem was how to get a decent photo in the bright and harsh sunlight.My aim was to try and get images showing the demonic red eyes that this grebe retains at all times but it was far from easy and I had to  surrepticiously position myself between the grebe to my left and the sun to my right to get the right angle and without the grebe swimming further out into the reservoir, taking mild alarm at my obvious presence standing on the perimeter track. 

I formed a plan. Every time the grebe dived and was underwater I would move rapidly to where I thought it might re-surface and crouch on the retaining wall thus lowering my profile and becoming less obvious.

For once it worked and I happily took my images in between moving to a new position every time the grebe dived

I spent half an hour with the grebe and then at around 4pm headed back to the car. Happy with what I had achieved.

It had been a long day.

A Mega in Gloucestershire 21st August 2025

c Mike King

In the early evening of Wednesday 20th  I was turning into my driveway, having successfully twitched a Little Stint at Farmoor Reservoir see here when my phone rang. It was Mark (P) who lives in the next village to mine

We going to Frampton then?  he enquired

I had no idea what he was talking about. Obviously it involved a rare bird but what exactly?

Can you elaborate?  I responded

There's a Black winged Kite at Frampton on Severn. Obviously it's too late to go now but we could go early tomorrow.

My response was instant, for if correct this would be only the third record of a Black winged Kite  found in Britain.

When do you want to go ?

How about 7am tomorrow. I will pick you up from yours

See you then

Mark has never seen a Black winged Kite, not anywhere, so this would be a lifer for him and thus it was imperative we should give it a go although I thought we really should try to get to Frampton at dawn but I was desperately tired and a pre dawn start was beyond my capabilities 

Also, if I am honest I was fairly laid back about this third ever for Britain as I was fortunate enough to have seen the second one for Britain really well in Norfolk in July 2023 see here

I checked up on what had occured today and learnt that the kite had been seen in the vicinity of Splatt Bridge which crosses the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal beyond Frampton. It was then reportedly seen to go to roost near the Estuary Tower at Slimbridge WWT about a mile and a half south of Splatt Bridge.

For the Norfolk bird I had arrived before dawn as the roost site was staked out and we waited until it left its roost and saw it well. Ideally this is what we should do for this one too but as my current fatigue did not allow for this we would have to trust to good fortune and get there as soon as possible.

Today at 0637 the kite was reported back at Splatt Bridge and apparently gave a superb fly past for the assembled birders there as it once more headed south towards Slimbridge.

Next morning Mark arrived on the dot of 7am and we set off for Splatt Bridge, although I felt in my bones we really should head for Slimbridge rather than Splatt Bridge as this is where it had been seen heading to this morning but Mark decided we should go to Splatt Bridge and as he was driving I demurred.

The small car park at Splatt Bridge was full so we parked back at the church and walked a quarter of a mile to the bridge which we crossed to join a small group of birders scoping the fields beyond by the River Severn.

It was a relatively cold morning due to a northeast wind and grey skies as we stood huddled by a limited gap in the hedgerow

The birders told us about the kite flying past here towards Slimbridge earlier and said they were waiting for it to possibly fly back in this direction. I was not so sure it would but we stood and dutifully scoped the fields but saw little apart from a Marsh Harrier and a Hobby which shot at high speed across the canal.

Most of our fellow birders who had seen the kite were content to leave it at that and departed back over the bridge towards the village. Looking south down the canal towpath we could see another group of birders further down who seemed to have a better view of the fields from there 

We decided to join them

We duly walked a few hunded metres and joined the birders but they had seen nothing of the kite so far although they remained optimistic they would.

Again I was not so sure but could give no rational reason why I felt this way.

Twenty minutes passed and getting bored I consulted one of the twitching WhatsApp groups I am a member of  and saw a message stating the kite was currently being watched near the Cambridge Arms Bridge  which lay further south down the canal in the direction of Slimbridge! So my intuition was correct after all.

What the hell, this required immediate action

Come on Mark follow me.

Why what's up? 

The kite is being watched down there at a place called Cambridge Arms Bridge and I pointed down the towpath

We shouted to a fisherman on the opposite bank of the canal.

 How far is the Cambridge Arms Bridge?

Half a mile he yelled back

We set off at a good pace and most of the other birders around us, aware of this new development followed us

In fact the bridge was more like a mile distant.

Finally getting to the bridge and turning off the towpath we followed a track that led down to Ryall's Farm to our left and carried on further into a field where we joined a small group of birders already standing on the grass and obviously looking at the kite over to their left. Frustration was to follow as when we joined them we were told it had just dropped down behind a line of trees and bushes on the far side of a large field and was out of sight.

Anxiety levels rose and doubt set in.Would we see it or had we missed our opportunity?

It had been on view literally a minute before but there was no time to embrace despondency as a shout went up

It's flying again. Just above the large tree on the left!

I went for my bins, reasoning once I had it in the bins and noted its precise location in the sky I could get it in the scope

I scanned the sky but failed to locate it 

Now flying right! Quite high! came a disembodied shout

I scanned again and there it was just as described, high in the sky but now hovering kestrel style looking down to the ground with yellow legs and feet hanging down. My first impression was of a gull coloured, grey and white bird with a very large black patch on each of its grey upperwings. Mark was ecstatic as he now had his lifer and I too was more than pleased to get my second Black winged Kite for Britain despite all the considerable odds we had faced. I had been far from optimistic as to the outcome when we first set out but now it was done.

Here are two images of the second Black winged Kite to be seen in Britain, taken in Norfolk by a
good friend of mine Adrian Webb

The kite continued to hunt, continually pestered by a couple of crows and slowly moved right, sometimes dropping low and at other times rising to a considerable height in the sky. It was lost to view behind a huge distant tree and did not re-appear on the other side and everyone relaxed.

Well we did until a man, presumably the farmer, on an all terrain vehicle arrived and enquired why we were on his private property. Unaware we were it was explained to him why we were here and what we were looking at. It could have gone either way but he granted us permission to remain, on the proviso we ventured no further into the field.

Five minutes elapsed and then there was another shout

It's flying again! Left of the big tree

The kite appeared in the sky from the Slimbridge direction, carrying a vole tucked under its tail and being much mobbed by two crows which were trying to mug it of its prize. I got it in the scope again and enjoyed some fabulous views as it headed towards us

A late arriving birder, breathless in a minor panic asked me for directions to the kite's whereabouts

Without taking my eyes off the kite I gave him directions

It's over there to the left, fairly high in the sky. See the crow? It's just above it.

Some pedant corrected me stating it was not a crow but a Rook!

Give me strength 

Well how about corvid will that be OK? I remarked rather too loudly

We moved on

The kite again disappeared behind the large tree and failed to re-emerge

Presumably it had perched out of view to consume its prey.

At this point Mark heroically volunteered to walk the almost two miles to collect the car and bring it to the Cambridge Arms Bridge  while I remained to keep an eye on his scope. 

Realising that the kite was not going to be viewable for a little while I walked back up to the towpath as did several others and eventually someone from this more elevated position located the kite perched distantly and another tense and densely packed huddle of birders formed on the towpath to view it through a limited gap in the hedgerow.There was no way I was going to indulge in 'an elbow job'  so walked away and found my own gap and lo there before my very eyes was the kite flying across the sky in front of me. More very pleasing views came and then it was lost behind yet more trees to my right.

Happy with the morning's events I relaxed and stood on the towpath at the commencement of the track down into the farmer's field 

Menawhile quite a scrum of birders had re-formed in the field and judging by the fact they were all looking in one direction off to the right, they were watching the kite, albeit distantly.

I had to wait for Mark to return as there would be no parking at the bridge so did not bother to join them but spent the next forty minutes guiding anxiety racked birders coming along the towpath from Slimbridge or across the bridge

Can you see it mate? or Is it showing? were the standard enquiries

Not from here but if you go down the track and join the birders in the field they are all watching it. I would reply

Cheers

You're welcome 

c Mike King

The Black winged Kite was last seen at around 10am in the vicinity of the towpath near the Cambridge Arms Bridge, flying northeast and has not been seen since

My grateful thanks to Mike King, The Gloster Birder, for the use of his images at the top and bottom of this blog, taken on Wednesday 20th August. Please take a look at The Gloster Birder  http://theglosterbirder.co.uk  for daily updates on bird sightings in Gloucestershire

A Good Find at Farmoor 21st August 2025

My usual Wednesday 10am meeting with Phil at Farmoor Reservoir had to be delayed due to a morning visit from BT to my home, which predictably was highly stressful and ultimately unsatisfactory.

I called Phil once BT had departed, having left the Urquhart household in mental disarray. An arrangement with Phil to meet in the cafe at Farmoor at noon had to be cancelled due to the cafe being overwhelmed with the many kids from the various sailing schools that are now a feature of the reservoir, all wanting lunch at the same time resulting in predictable chaos in the cafe.

Phil suggested I come to his house for a coffee and in passing mentioned that on his walk around the reservoir with Dave and Alison, Dave had discovered a small wader on the causeway that he thought was a Little Stint. I called Dave who said he was fairly certain it was one but was not entirely sure.

This put me in a dilemna but in the end I rang Phil and told him I was going to Farmoor to seek out  Dave's mystery wader and would come to his home after checking on the wader's identity. I was fairly confident the wader would still be there as Little Stints if indeed it was one, whenever they arrive on the reservoir, are often confiding and not troubled by the constant passing of humankind along the causeway

Half an hour later I had walked the entire length and back of the causeway but failed to find any wader of any sort wandering along by the water.

A Ringed Plover called from the sky on the walk back and a late Swift flickered in a grey and windy sky amongst a scattering of House and Sand Martins, their cheery calls a counterpoint to my disappointment. 

I drove to Phil's and we had a coffee and Dave sent me an image of the wader he had photographed. There was no doubt. It was a juvenile Little Stint. A very good bird to see at Farmoor. I put the news out on the Oxon Bird Log  that a Little Stint had been seen and photographed at the reservoir but there was now no sign of it. Maybe it was still on the reservoir for someone to refind somewhere, as there are three miles of concrete edge for it to choose from!

I made for home in a not very good frame of mind as I now had the daunting prospect of resuming battle with not only BT but Sky as well, to try and sort out the mess from this morning. More phone calls ended in yet more frustration and stress as the combined efforts of all three of us failed to get anywhere.I slumped in mute despair on the sofa, mentally worn down and resigned to accepting that nothing was going to get resolved in the state I was now in.

In the end I could take no more so we settled for an engineer to come out the following week which might have been the best course of action in the first place. At least it was over for now.    

My phone pinged with a message from the Oxon Bird Log

The Litte Stint was back on the causeway at Farmoor!

In landlocked Oxfordshire Little Stints are unusual, by no means annual and virtually all that  are seen occur at Farmoor, so this latest bird was a must see if possible. The last Little Stint I saw was two years ago and not at Farmoor. It was an adult on the Isle of Arran in Scotland, migrating north, the first there for twenty two years see here

I grabbed my bins and camera and headed out the door. At least this would divert my concerns about BT and the minor disaster they had inflicted but had now promised to sort out.

Rush hour traffic did not help my equanimity on the thirty minute drive to Farmoor nor did the roadworks requiring four way traffic control and a consequent long delay on the approach road to the reservoir  but finally I drove in the reservoir gates, parked the car and made haste for the central causeway.

The causeway runs from east to west and the sun was shining from the west straight down the causeway as I walked up making it  impossible to make out if any birders were further along to give me a clue if the stint was still around. The last news had said the stint was about half way along the causeway near the hide. It wasn't but I could see two familiar figures sat on the causeway wall, Thomas and Steve. They seemed relaxed but were not looking at anything.

My heart sank

Not again surely. 

Had the stint given me the slip for a second time?

But no, they pointed a bit further and there was the Little Stint fussing along, feeding non stop at the water's edge.

I duly took my photos, trying to get a sun behind me that was still shining blindingly bright, straight and true, down the length of the causeway

The bird itself never once ceased in its quest for food, picking indiscernible items from the wet slimy concrete.

Being a juvenile it was in a pristine plumage of pleasingly, neatly patterned, black centred, chestnut coverts with two prominent white lines. so called braces, at either side of its mantle.

They are tiny birds no more than 13-14cms, the size of a House Sparrow but unlike that sedentary species they are world champion migrants, flying phenomenal distances, up to 12000 kms, from their breeding grounds in the Arctic Circle to their winter home in South Africa. 

Years ago I found one feeding on the midden of a safari camp we were staying at on Lake Kariba in landlocked Zimbabwe, presumably making its way overland to the South African coast.

Steve departed and Thomas left soon afterwards and it was now myself and the stint with not another person on the causeway. Un-noticed the sun had slipped lower in the sky and that golden time commenced when the light is less intense and gentler on the eyes.

I glanced for one last time at the tiny crouched form still feeding avidly along the edge of the water, reluctant to depart, for who knows when I will see another Little Stint. I stood imagining myself somewhere nicer involving water, a beach in Africa perchance which is possibly where the current focus of my attention was bound.

Never mind, Farmoor Reservoir would have to do for both of us in the meantime. 

Postscript

Another juvenile Little Stint arrived on the reservoir on the 23rd and was seen in the company of a juvenile Little Ringed Plover on the 24/25/26th August when it was joined by another juvenile.

I Went to the Woods 18th August 2025

Monday and after a restless night with sleep evading me I left the house early, departing into a grey and still dawn and headed south towards where Oxfordshire almost meets the adjoining county of Berkshire.

Various aspects in my life are troubling me at the moment and solace, if indeed that was to be found, was for me at the Warburg Reserve near Bix, another of BBOWT's (Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust) wonderful reserves, in this case one that lies deep in a wooded valley and is accessed by a tortuous road, the kind of road that goes on for so long into apparently nowhere, you wonder if you have taken the wrong direction.

I have been here before but usually to see  rare orchids in early summer or search out fungi in autumn for which the reserve is well known. However, today I had another plan and that was to sit in the tiny bird hide that is hidden away in the trees at the very bottom of the valley.

Arriving in the car park at shortly after 7am, all was calm personified. Here in the sheltered valley any wind was absent. The tranquil quiet as I walked amongst the silent trees put me at ease but I still harboured a mild anxiety about the hide and its limited capacity.Would it, like yesterday be full of people? 

Normally the hide is hardly occupied. maybe a passing curious walker or casual visitor to the reserve will look in  but lately the presence of Hawfinches has been noted and this has inevitably attracted more people than usual to come and try to see this most elusive of finches. The hide itself can accommodate four people at a squeeze, who can then peer out through three viewing slats at a shallow, much vegetated pond in front of the hide where the birds  reassured by the security provided by the trees that surround the pond and hide come to drink and bathe, utilising branches either fallen or strategically placed in and over the water.

The view from the hide

The hide's viewing slats are almost at ground level and give a fabulous view of the birds coming to the water, currently a scarce resource, so is especially desirable and attractive to wildlife in this year of drought. As a consequence there is an almost continuous presence of many species of woodland birds.

My foreboding about the hide proved groundless as there was no one inside its stygian depths.Yesterday I was told that it had been standing room only but that was a sunny Sunday whereas today it was a grey Monday.

Opening the viewing slats brought some light into the dark interior and I selected a chair and settled in a  corner away from the door and awaited whatever would come to refresh itself at the pond.

Obviously it would be nice to see a Hawfinch but there was a good variety of other bird species visiting. Their constant comings and goings plus a very entertaining Bank Vole ensured the time never passed slowly for, as always distracted by the natural world, my world slowly pieced itself back together and all was well.

Below are some of the avian visitors that came and went in what turned out to be an enjoyable marathon nine hours of contemplation, photography, idle chat and quiet reminiscences with the few other visitors that came and went from the hide throughout the day.

Bank Vole

Having intimated this blog is mainly about birds I could not possibly ignore mentioning the Bank Vole that entertained one and all with its high speed antics, literally feet and even at times inches from the hide's windows, feeding on seed put out for the birds. It was present for virtually the whole time I was there, its entire world existing in the debris of a few square metres of grass, fallen branches and leaves either scurrying through the grass or dashing out from under a rock to seize some seed and then retreating at high speed back under cover. Its actions and reactions were so incredibly fast it was difficult to follow it at times as any slight movement or sound would send the tiny creature scurrying at high speed for cover, in fear of its life which considering the amount of predators it has was entirely justified.

I grew rather fond of it over the time I was in the hide, well who wouldn't as they do look very cute.I can see Chris Packham rolling his eyes even as I admit to this but sometimes sentiment can live alongside objective science.

Male Bullfinch

Juvenile Bullfinch

Female Bullfinch

Bullfinches were regular visitors, coming to drink and especially to bathe in the shallow water. After becoming familiar with the mainly brown and subdued colours of most of the other birds, the male  Bullfinch's shock of salmon pink underparts and contrasting shiny black cap shone like a beacon and when they arrived was always a cause of excitement with other occupants in the hide .They are shy birds but here they felt emboldened to lose that innate shyness and showed up fairly frequently. It was impossible to ascertain if they were the same individuals that came each time but I do not think so and over the day there must have been ten or so, a mixture of juveniles, females and males, visiting.

Juvenile Green Woodpecker

It was around mid morning when a large bird, no more than an impression swooped low through the trees beyond the pond and disappeared. A clue as to its identity came, when soon after a familiar maniacal cry issued from the same trees. It was of course the call (yaffle) of a Green Woodpecker and shortly afterwards its powerful form swooped down to a low branch just above the pond. From its plumage of subdued green and grey, with charcoal grizzled face and mottled underparts I could see it was a juvenile.

They are large birds and the other smaller birds present scattered in alarm as the woodpecker dropped further onto a log where it remained stood upright and very much on the alert to any possible danger. Being on the ground is not natural to a woodpecker even one such as a Green Woodpecker which feeds on ants in short grass. For quite some time it stood unmoving with head raised, the epitomy of nervous volatility,its white eye enhancing the impression of an unpredictable alien presence

Satisfied all was well, it cautiously moved via laboured hops down to the water's edge and began to assuage its thirst. Filling its bill with water, it then tilted its head back and upright so its bill pointed skywards to allow the water to run down its throat. For all the world it looked like a connoisseur savouring every last drop of some hugely expensive elixir and it remained thus, sipping and swallowing for a considerable amount of time before with a suddeness that brought a shock of surprise, it took off heavily and in a bounding flight that was both fast and low, fled back to the trees.

Spotted Flycatcher

A pleasant surprise was to discover at least a half dozen Spotted Flycatchers coming to the pond throughout the day. They were mainly juveniles of various ages some having divested themselves of their early spottiness whilst others were still in their initial fledging plumage of buff spots and streaks.

Self effacing birds they kept very much a low profile, only coming to the pond when it was less busy. As always when watching them now, I cannot but feel a great regret that this once common woodland bird has become so scarce that its individual presence is something of note and to see half a dozen is now something to be remarked upon.

Still I enjoyed seeing them so close and in a less than usual circumstance and activity

Marsh Tit

Marsh Tits were present throughout my time in the hide, constantly coming and going.They are on the decline and since 2022 have been placed on the Red List as a UK Bird of Conservation Concern but here they were anything but and how many individual birds were involved is impossible to say. Different birds come at different times of the day so any number could be involved although always small.

A wooden post right outside the viewing window proved a favourite and a Marsh Tit would often perch there before descending to the seed spread out below

There were three visits from Hawfinches during my time in the hide, these birds being without doubt the stars of the show. They arrive in a whirrr of wings and without ceremony, unseen and dropping out of the trees into the open and there is always that element of delightful surprise at their sudden appearance

One arrived just before 8am and remained for a minute or two drinking from the pond before flying back into the trees. Another arrived around 11am.Remarkably it perched on a long branch artificially placed for the birds and remained here for almost five minutes apparently quite content and doing very little apart from occasionally looking around. Finally it flew down to the water to drink but took flight when there was a general alarm amongst the other birds. Half an hour later it or another returned for a brief spell of drinking and once it had departed I saw no more of these celebrated Hawfinches.

More used to the briefest of views of what is a notoriously secretive bird it was the definite highlight of the day to see them so well and in one case for such an extended period in the open. Hawfinches just do not do this! It was only when watching the individual perched for so long and complacently on its branch that I realised just how big they are compared to other finches. Definitely the king of british finches.

I can recall mentioning to a fellow occupant of the hide it reminded me of a miniature parrot, big of bill and short of tail, as it perched in splendid isolation on its branch

There was of course a supporting cast and the pond was rarely devoid of birds. Here are some of the other species that graced the pond and its surrounds throughout the day

Garden Warbler

Female Blackcap

 Male Blackcap 

Goldcrest

Common Chiffchaff