Monday 20 February 2012

Corn Bunting At Summer Leys - 20th February 2012

Back to earth today after yesterdays exploits a it's back of coarse the Northants Year List. I forgot to mention in the previous post I saw a Tawny Owl just outside Salcey Forest as I drove through at 3am bringing the year list up to 94. One of the birds that has been floating around for a while but I haven't had the chance to see yet was a Corn Bunting at nearby Summer Leys Nature Reserve. So I met up with another mate of mine in the shape of Pete Bateup and we proceeded to try and find the bird. It has always been seen with a Yellowhammer flock which is about 200 strong so we knew if we found that we had a chance of seeing the Corn Bunting, but our big problem today was once again the weather. We found the flock just south of the double decker hide and started to search through them but the wind was really starting to blow and as the birds were so flighty it started to become very difficult indeed. A few Reed Bunting could be seen in the flock as it moved back and forth from the field to the trees and back again before eventually I finally saw the Corn Bunting half way up a tree along the side of the path - very much a needle in a haystack job!! After a very short while it flew and the obvious size difference could be seen in comparison to the Yellowhammer. An added bonus to was the presence of 6 Grey Partridge in the field next to the reserve bringing the current list up to 96. Unfortunately at 96 it stayed as there was very little else on the reserve and it was getting dark so keeping within tradition as to whenever I find myself birding with Pete we went down the pub for a pint and a chat, and very nice it was too!

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