Taken on 07/09/2018
Juv along Beacon Lane at around 8:30am. We continued down to Beacon Lane but only the locals could be found with a few Great Tit and Blue Tits in the hedges. We then headed along Beacon Lane and although we could see birders in the distance checking the hedged we decided to persist with our search. At first we saw nothing as per usual but just after about 30 meters of passing the gate a warbler flicked out of the right hand bush and dived into cover on the left about 20 meters away and upon closer inspection we could see that it was in fact a Common Whitethroat. A Willow Warbler soon did a similar thing but landing on top of the bush and showing extremely well. Whilst I was watching the Willow George all of a sudden said that there was a Common Rosefinch showing in the same bush and sure enough there was a Juvenile Grotfinch. It was literally about 10 meters in front of us and was feasting on Blackberries not taking any notice of us at all. We then radioed the news out just as it decided to take flight and it flew North towards the Northern Edge of the Breach. About a minute or two later and it flew back over heading towards Church Field followed by a Sparrowhawk. Honestly that bird alone was worth getting out of bed for this morning, however I am not too sure it will be refound anytime soon. It’s also interesting to think what can pop out even when an area is well watched and the fact that 2 or 3 people were ahead of us and didn’t see it shows that it could have just crept over from the other side of the hedge. It was a truly magical moment and something I have been waiting this whole trip for. It was also a lifer for all 3 of us which made it even better.
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