A Return VisIt to the Boat tailed Grackle 15th November 2025

Yesterday it rained all day, non stop and the roads and fields around our village became flooded and I thought better of driving anywhere and remained indoors. The next day promised better weather and I planned to put a pre-arranged birding trip into action.

Earlier in the week I had spoken to Mark a birding friend who lives in a neighbouring village about my visit to see the Boat tailed Grackle that had arrived at Calshot on the south coast of Hampshire on the 2nd November see here and then to everyone's surprise had flown off on the 6th November  only to be re-discovered inland in a garden at nearby Holbury that lies close to the eastern edge of the New Forest.

Mark had expressed a desire to go and see it and provided he was happy to drive I was more than pleased to come along and so we had arranged to go today. I told Mark there was no particular hurry as the grackle was being regularly reported from the same garden in Holbury each day so we would be very unlikely to not see it.

We duly left my house at 9am to make a leisurely drive south to arrive at the garden shortly before 11am.

All went smoothly, well it did on our southbound carriageway of the A34 but there was a nasty crash on the northbound carriageway resulting in a subsequent long tail back of traffic stretching for over a mile. One  could only feel sorry for the people caught up in the tailback, as we serenely drove past the other way for it looked like it would be some time before the road was cleared. We made a coffee stop at Rownham Services on the M27 before turning off the motorway and followed the satnav's instructions as it directed us to Holbury and the specific garden which lay at the junction of two residential roads, Westbourne Avenue and Southbourne Avenue.

We were able to park right outside the house and its garden and found three birders already standing on the pavement looking at the garden but did not appear to be looking at the grackle.

They told us it had been showing ridiculously well minutes ago and they had seen it in the garden where the friendly owners had invited them in to photograph the bird as it fed on their back lawn.

However the grackle had flown off and no one could re-locate it although there was every confidence it was in nearby trees and would re-appear shortly. In the meantime the owners of the house it favoured very kindly invited both of us into their back garden and we stood and chatted to them while we awaited the return of the grackle.

After about fifteen minutes the grackle suddenly landed on their roof and then proceeded to fly down onto the front lawn and wander around examining the short grass and picking up worms. 

It then flew to the back lawn and repeated the exercise before flying onto the garden fence and eventually flying up into a large tree on the opposite side of the road.

Here it remained immobile and virtually hidden from view in the centre of the tree although you could just about see its tail. It remained like this for around thirty minutes while we waited.  

Now, a group of birders with cameras stood on a pavement in an unexceptional residential road is not an everyday  sight so inevitably passing members of the public on foot, on a bike and even in a car stopped to enquire what was going on and we took it in turns to explain about the rare bird from North America that was currently attracting our attention.

Other birders and photographers also joined us until there was a gathering of around twenty stood waiting for something to happen

It was obvious that the grackle favoured perching in the tree when it was not hungry and why not, as it was secure and hidden and out of harms way. Meanwhile we chatted amongst ourselves or to the curious passers by all of whom seemed interested in the bird and how it came to be here and as twitches go this was perhaps one of the most laid back and relaxed of its kind I have experienced.

Finally the grackle left the tree and flew to the top of a telegraph  pole on our side of the road and then dropped into a neighbouring garden to pick up more worms from the grass. It could not have chosen a better place as far as we were concerned as it carefully examined the lawn for food literally feet away whilst everyone lined up on the path and took its photo by looking over a low fence.

There was no pushing, no conflict, no rancour. Everyone smiling and happy with their individual close and personal experience of this strange bird from North America.

A pair of Peregrines passed over, high in the sky and the grackle showed some mild concern, cocking an eye in their direction and pausing for a moment before resuming its feeding.Apart from the Peregrines we saw only one other raptor, a Common Buzzard which was ignored by the grackle.

We left it still on the lawn and being papped and admired by its small audience.There was no photo that had not been taken already and so with neither of us having had any breakfast we made for a nice cafe in nearby Hythe that fitted the bill perfectly.

The debate still persists about this bird and whether it deserves the attention it is getting and.there is much discussion on social media about whether it can be genuinely added to whatever list one holds. Personally I had never seen this species until ten days ago so it is on my world list of birds but I do not count it on my British List although I have met a number of fellow birders who feel differently.

My personal point of view for what it is worth is that the grackle is a genuinely interesting bird, the first time one has been recorded in Britain no less, it looks quite stunning in its iridescent plumage and its presence has precipitated two happy trips to watch and enjoy it with two good firends and that is what matters most to me.

Sometimes we do so complicate matters.Forget the semantics and simply enjoy the experience