I got to bed after my workplace's Christmas "lunch" which drew to an end at 11.15pm on Friday night - having had a few drinks through the day, Kevin Heath (@kev07713) offered to drive and said that Dylan Parry-Davies (@DPDNature) would be joining us. He asked if I had a target bird or location, but we agreed he should pick. So, it was at 6.30am in the freezing cold of Saturday morning when I was bundled into the back of the car and we set off on a 'mystery tour' - I had no idea where we were going or what we planned to see. I watched as we headed through town and eventually along the Bloxham Road and out towards Chipping Norton - it appeared we were heading towards South Wales, Bristol, Somerset or beyond. I heard mention of olive-backed pipit and scanning through Birdguides found that one had been showing in Phear Park, Exmouth in recent days. My suspicions were confirmed.
We were being careful on the road given the freezing conditions and were happy to see a tawny owl ahead of us. We stopped for breakfast at Sedgemoor Services and as we took our food to the table, we were joined by Kev's sister Karen (@hobbylovinglife) and her partner in crime Dean Reeves (@worlebirder). After breakfast we made our way out to the cars and checking Birdguides we found that the pipit had been reported in the last 10 minutes. Dean led the way and as we reached the border between Somerset and Devon Dylan mentioned that a rosy starling had been reported not far from our current location – no we would keep going. We continued to follow Dean until we were almost there and then parted as we looked for parking - completely missing that there was a car park in the Park itself ...
Kev was very good and didn't once mention that we'd parked much further away than we had to ... we passed Nick Truby's car in the main car park - Kev suggested he'd ask Nick for a lift back to our car later. A couple of birders passed as they came in the opposite direction, confirming the bird was still showing well and was not far ahead.
There were about 25-30 birders standing and concentrating on the ground beside the path - worryingly a dog was running around just beyond. We reached the edge of the birders and almost immediately picked out the bird in the grassy spots around a large tree (life tick!), creeping about like a mouse. We found Karen and Dean and then when the pipit ventured beyond and behind the tree, we joined Dylan, Dean and Karen on the far side. We were then joined by Nick and Anne Truby (@old_caley) - we all congratulated Nick as for him it was 'Mission Accomplished'; the olive-backed pipit was his 300th bird species of the year, and a lifer!
We had great views of the bird then started taking videos and photos - annoyingly my lens has still been stuck in customs as it is slowly returned by Nikon Repair - perhaps delivery by Tuesday next week.
Eventually the bird was flushed by the proximity of a dog and flew to a tree about 75m away and from there to another over 100m away. We decided that we'd had great views and that distant views atop a tree weren't going to be any better - as it turned out the bird later dropped down onto the frozen water in a pond and gave some good views for those that stayed. For us though we couldn't resist trying for the rosy starling - Kev and I have never seen one - it was reported as a juvenile, but a tick is a tick! We made our way back to the car dropping Nick and Anne off at theirs on the way. From the car we looked back and admired the view between the houses.
We arrived in Wiveliscombe and found the car park identified by Dylan. We set out having consulted a map in the car park but turned to follow some starlings moving off to our right and then up a lane to where a flock was moving around feeding in a garden. We entered a gate and stood opposite the garden watching as handfuls of starlings came and went at frequent intervals - we talked with the woman mucking out the stables behind and asked if it was OK for us to stand here - she said it was fine. After about half an hour Dylan suggested we make for the street mentioned in a Twitter post and as we arrived, we could see the rooftops featured in the photos.
We scanned the area and bumped into a couple who dragged Dylan away to see a potential footpath and group of trees - much further than he was expecting. I followed some of the way and spotted handfuls of starlings but none were the rosy. Kev stood guard but without his phone (left in the car) would be out of contact. Dylan and I eventually met back up with Kev and almost immediately another birder arrived and mentioned that he'd read that a few locals had seen the bird around No.1. We were standing right there.
We walked back up the slope and started scanning the rooves and trees - it was less than 5 minutes until our new best friend picked the rosy starling out in a tree to our left - result! The bird was obscured as it was deep in the tree and had a dense collection of branches between us and it. Through bins it was possible to identify it - not so easy for a photo!
We watched until eventually the bird appeared to go even further back, and even further from view. At this point we'd been joined by another couple of local birders, and they suggested they knew how to get to a point on the other side where we might get better but more distant views - I wasn't sure about this but followed the crowd - it would turn out that I made the right decision.
We made our way down a slope between terraced houses where Dylan and I stopped to talk to a woman at her door - she had seen the starling in her back garden and noted this on an RSPB site. Quite a garden tick! Kev called on us and said the bird was visible as had been hoped and we rushed round to get what were much better views. Photos were still challenging though.
It was only minutes later that the bird finished preening and left, stage right. We searched around but couldn't relocate it. We'd seen the bird and decided to make for the car and home, stopping only to pick up sandwiches at the local Co-op shop.
To complete our sightings for the day we added a barn owl on the way home and diverted back through Hempton and Deddington to avoid the Christmas tractor run causing delays along the road as we headed for Bloxham. A grand day out and two life ticks.
Year List: 232
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