Superb Stone-Curlews in the north of the County.

Saturday 26th March 2022.

One of the 6 Stone-Curlews seen this morning at this undisclosed location. 

I had already made up my mind last night that I was going for the Stone-Curlews in the north of the County of Hampshire and meet up with a lot of the ‘Lazee Birders’ gang there. Though the Bonaparte’s Gull over at Chichester Gravel Pits (still present today, sob!) was a very close second. If it wasn't for the fact that I have not seen a Stone-Curlew for many years, the last being the solitary bird at Martin Down, I would have easily gone into West Sussex today; but our journey to the beautiful countryside of Stockbridge most certainly paid off.

Above, my first Buff Ermine moth of the year by my moth box. Below, my first Hebrew Character of the year, seen by Andy's moth trap. 

Yet again, it was cold overnight, but I put my moth box on nonetheless and was rewarded with a total of 30 moths! Most of which (21) were Common Plume moths, but there was my first Buff Ermine of the year perched nicely on the box and also, an Early Grey, an Angle Shades, two Double-striped Pugs and 3 Beautiful Plume moths. When I got to Andy’s house, his moth box had attracted my first Hebrew Characters and a Small Quaker of the year plus 4 Early Grey and 1 Common Plume.

Above, my first Small Quaker of the year, a species I do not encounter very often and photographed at Andy's house. Below, two Early Grey's in Andy's back garden. 

The drive from Andy’s house in Cowplain to our destination took just a little over an hour (we did pick up some supplies from a nearby garage) and eventually parked up along with a few cars already present. I checked in with Andy House if we were walking in the right direction and then he rang me to say he could see us and so waved out to us. Along this muddy track, we had sightings of Yellowhammer, a pair of Bullfinch, several Long-tailed Tits and at least 2 singing Chiffchaffs. I could hear the distinctive ‘chacking’ of Fieldfares and I think some were in a nearby tree that soon flew out before we could get a proper view. Overhead, both Common Buzzard and Red Kite were abundant in the clear blue sky. The drive up to this neck of the woods produced sightings of Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and a Red-legged Partridge and also a Yellowhammer, which was Andy’s first of the year (Dude!).

Above, a male Yellowhammer in full song and below, our first Corn Bunting of the year seen along the muddy track.

The walk along the dirt track also produced a lot of butterflies which included a Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshells and a few Peacocks, the latter my first of the year and all looking beautiful in the bright sunshine. On the way back to the car, I also saw my first Bee Fly of the year and plants along this path included carpets of Lesser Celandine. Out in the fields, good numbers of Skylarks were fluttering over the fields and I then heard the ‘jangling’ of a singing Corn Bunting somewhere in the distance and I was pretty sure we found the bird perched on a wooden fence over the far side of the field. We needn't be worried as we saw at least two more birds this morning, perching nicely in the sunshine on top of brambles.

Photos of the Stone-Curlews this morning.

We eventually joined all the ‘Lazee’s’ who kindly got us on to the Stone Curlews immediately. Looking through Andy House’s amazing telescope, I could clearly see the bird sat down behind some dark looking scrub roughly about half a mile away, but as the morning wore on, another 5 more birds appeared as if from nowhere and through Andy’s scope, the birds plumage could clearly be seen and even the yellow eye was visible. During our stay here, the birds called occasionally (another first for Andy), though I have heard them call the last time I was in the area many years ago one evening with Mike Wearing and Doug Yelland. We stayed in the same place to view the birds, always keeping a good distance away from the birds so as not to disturb this Schedule 1 species, but we all got good views of the birds while enjoying lots of Kites, Buzzards, Skylarks and Corn Buntings in the area.  

A couple of photos of the 'Lazee's at the site.

While checking the Stone Curlews, Andy House picked up a pair of Grey Partridge that had just flown in and landed in the scrubby area. He quickly got onto the birds through his scope and Andy Fisher had grabbed his fourth ‘year-tick’ of the year! Time was now against me as I had to be home before 2pm and therefore we said our Goodbye’s, however, all the ‘Lazee’s’ decided to call it a day too and so followed us back to the car. As we got back to the muddy path, we checked the field to the north and unbelievably, we found another Stone Curlew sitting on the opposite side of the field! Our sixth bird of the morning. Also in the same field, a Hare was also sat in the field and a single Grey Partridge briefly was walking along the edge of the field before disappearing into the vegetation.

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly enjoying the Dandelion.

Peacock butterfly.

A cracking morning again and with great company too. I am so looking forward to the rest of the year as my year list is now 160 species and we are still only in March! Chiffchaffs, nest-building Long-tailed Tits and plenty more butterflies were seen on the way back to the car as we made our way home.