Ring ouzel spend the winter in Europe then migrate to breed in the UK from March to October. Birds are usually seen in my region in the spring (and occasionally autumn) during migration and rarely at other times. Local sightings are at a premium and I often visit Linky Down, part of the Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve located at the top of the Chiltern Hills, to get my annual fix.
Over the weekend I heard that a bird (male) had been found down Peep-O-Day Lane in Abingdon, just beyond the area we'd enjoyed Pallas's warbler in a few months before. I discussed a visit before work with my birding mate, but the arrangements didn't work out - I made for the advertised location alone, just west of Peep-O-Day Lane in the field with the pylon in.
I was in position by 6.45am and scanned up and down the field - magpies, pheasant, a single lapwing, and a couple of blackbirds were all visible but not the rouzel. I reached the south-eastern corner of the field, looked back and within minutes had the bird in my bins. I shot off a few record photos before a buzzard cruised in and decided to land exactly on the spot the ring ouzel has been feeding, flushing my bird into the bushes. Five minutes passed and with the buzzard having departed the rouzel returned. Within a couple of minutes, the bird was again flushed into the bushes, but this time it seemed to go deeper and out of sight.
Happy that I'd seen the bird, I made my way back to the car checking from each vantage point on the off-chance that it was showing again - it wasn't. I listened to very vocal chiffchaff, blackcap and noted three little egrets in rather interesting looking habitat east of the lane. We should drop in here a bit more regularly.
The journey back was slower due to the rush hour getting underway, but I was already in the office by 8.15am - an efficient use of the morning.
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