In our ongoing search for a great grey shrike, Kevin Heath and I met and made for Pig Bush in the New Forest (near Brockenhurst Hampshire.) This area is known for moorland and forest trails starting at the Pig Bush car park, passing through the trees of Rowbarrow. The shrike we were targeting had been reported on previous days along the edge of the Rowbarrow trees - we planned to get there not long after 8.00am and walk down to the spot.
It wasn't difficult to find the car park or the path we had to follow. Soon we could see a line of birders around the area we were due to visit - they were all looking in the same direction which is always a bonus, perhaps suggesting the bird had been seen. We hooked up with a local on our walk down and he mentioned that he'd missed the bird a couple of days before - hopefully we'd all be lucky, Kev and I having missed a GGS at Black Down West Sussex a couple of weeks ago.
We joined the assembled birders and were told that they had recently seen the bird as it perched on the back side of a bush and that it had flown over them, stopped briefly on an oak tree, and then departed to the trees a few hundred metres ahead, then lost. Apparently, this was similar to the bird’s behaviour the previous day and when it hadn't returned to this spot for the rest of the day, presumably feeding elsewhere. We'd missed the bird by 20 minutes ...
Kev was recognised by one of the other birders (Jeremy McClements @jeremymcclemen1) - their visits to see the whiskered tern earlier in the year had coincided - we'd seen some nice pictures of the bird he'd posted, and also some of the white-winged tern at Longham Lakes too.
We scanned and waited for what must have been nearly an hour when someone mentioned that the bird had been reported on the other side of the trees the previous afternoon but not reported on BirdGuides - around eight of us decided to make for there, leaving a handful of people to stand guard. We crossed the rail bridge and along the paths, running parallel to the stream and spotted various goldcrests, green and greater-spotted woodpeckers, and more … but no shrike. Nice though the walk was we then returned to the original location and scanned the area - Jeremy said that a snow bunting had been reported at Milford-on-Sea and that he was off to see that. Kev and I had split up but when we met again, we decided to follow suit and get something out of the day - there was no certainty that the shrike would show again and rain was forecast by late lunchtime.
We arrived in Milford-on-Sea and parked beside the Needles Eye Café - stepping out of the car we were surprised at quite how windy it was and how many stones had been thrown into the car park from the beach. We paid for our parking and made our way towards some birders almost directly outside the entrance of the café. They appeared to be focused almost at their feet on the side of the path. As we approached, they started to disperse, having had a couple pass by walking a dog - we met Jeremy again and he said we'd missed the bird by 20 seconds (it had been flushed by the proximity of the dog). We followed him round to the park on the other side of the café finding the bunting on a grass mound - we managed to take a couple of record shots before a child and mother started running up and down right beside where the bird was feeding - it alighted again and flew back to the other side. We followed and found that the bird was very confiding and gave us great views.
We decided to repair to the café for lunch - excellent sausage baguettes - the rain had started as a light drizzle. We finished up and noted the bunting had relocated so went to have a look out over the sea, spotting a passing kittiwake. We stopped to talk to a young birder and his girlfriend (also a birder) who was scanning the sea with a scope - he mentioned that a sea eagle had been reported over Normandy Marshes and we decided that we'd now head there.
The rain had stopped but the wind was still very much present. We dropped the car and made our way towards the sea wall, noting eight pintails and as many red-breasted mergansers on the lagoon. We bumped into a birder on a bicycle on the path below who told us that the eagle had only been visible for a couple of minutes and had departed north and not returned. Rather oddly he asked if he knew us, and when we looked confused he then asked if we had met him at Eldernell for the short-eared owls. Yes, we had! - an absolutely amazing occurrence to have bumped into him considering the previous occasion was 3½hrs and 180 miles north. We worried why we might appear so memorable ...
We found a spotted sandpiper amongst the waders before moving to the sea wall itself. Kev was just about to drop down to the lower path when I called him back to look at various ducks on the sea - before long we'd picked out a Slavonian grebe and 72 pintails, then an eider duck. We moved along adding brent geese, six avocets and then spotted a second Slavonian grebe. We pointed out the grebes to a passing birder who appeared grateful - he had also missed the eagle. Numbers of meadow pipits passed over as did flocks of dunlin - we were stunned as they almost passed between us - magical.
The rain started to fall again, still as a drizzle, so we turned and made our way back now on the lower path - with continued departures of dunlin in small flocks. Little egrets fed on the edge of the lagoon. A few dunlin were feeding close and we could really appreciate just how diminutive they are. We enjoyed several stonechats on the fences and a single greenshank on our return to the car. On the way we met the young couple from Milford who had also travelled to the Marshes and were now standing with their hoods pulled up to protect from the rain. They'd already found the greenshank, so we relayed the rest of our sightings and bid farewell.
What a great day's birding we'd had – we just need to find a great grey shrike somewhere soon.
Year List: 228
BirdTrack Record: Pig Bush: https://app.bto.org/birdtrack/pubcon/shared?subId=SUB46245194
Milford-on-Sea: https://app.bto.org/birdtrack/pubcon/shared?subId=SUB46245195
Normandy Marshes: https://app.bto.org/birdtrack/pubcon/shared?subId=SUB46245196
Good day out even without the Shrike. You'll get one eventually.
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