A cold grey day with a very light easterly. I was just glad to be out birding after a week stuck in the house due to an accumulation of stuff and a funeral in North Wales.
Morton Bagot was the venue and Dave joined me as usual. We tried various options; the hedgerows gave us the usual thrushes etc, the marsh contained just one Common Snipe, the flash field held 15 Lapwings and 37 Teal, and the Kingfisher Pool a Kingfisher appropriately enough.
As we strolled back along the brook Dave suggested we try entering Stapenhill Wood. I took a deep breathe and agreed. Parts of it are almost impenetrable and we soon lost sight of one another. Shortly after I'd freed myself from yet another clump of brambles I heard Dave give a shout. He had flushed a Woodcock. He had evidently made better progress next to the brook than I had in the centre section. I scrambled on, and got a brief view of a Fallow Deer before I found myself approaching the metal barn.
Dave rang to say where he was, and as we discussed the best way of meeting up, the Woodcock flew past me on its way back to the jungle.
Once I finally met up with Dave he had some intriguing news. He had flushed a black bird from the centre of the brook. It was probably just a Blackbird, but he couldn't rule out Dipper. The bird had disappeared silently along the brook. With the whiff of an extraordinary patch tick in my nostrils we returned to where he had seen it, and then walked up and down the course of the Morton Brook, peering through the foliage to no avail.
On the positive side, we did spot a distant Red Kite circling Mars Hill.
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| Red Kite |
In the absence of any potential patch ticks, this sighting was just enough to brighten an otherwise very dull day.
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