An Ortolan was an unexpected find for one lucky birder near the Wykeham raptor viewpoint on 11th June. It promptly vanished but was refound on the 15th, seemingly knocking about with a local Yellowhammer. With my car off the road, I hadn't had chance to go and have a look until this morning. It was windy up in the forest and the half a dozen or so birders had not glimpsed it so far. After a bit I had a wander around and picked up one then a pair of Honey Buzzards which provided great views as they came up out of Troutsdale and over the car park to the south.
At about 10.35 the Ortolan showed in the usual spot, but I was elsewhere trying to find the bird, so missed it. Fortunately, an hour later, Alan Swain and myself noticed an orangey bird flick up into a willow, which through the bins proved to be the Ortolan. It remained in the tree for a minute or so, before flicking down onto a pine log, where it sat out in the open for another minute. A surprisingly handsome bird, looking more like a male to me than the female it had been reported as. It didn't have any streaking on the crown or on the upper breast and the malar stripe was the same greeny-grey as the head, with a nice lemony throat and warm orange underparts. After phonescoping a bit of video it dropped back on to the ground and didn't show again in the next hour, though I did hear it call from near the willow at about 12.30pm.
Also seen, several small groups of Crossbills, a couple of Tree Pipits, Willow and Garden Warbler, Whitethroat and Chiffchaff.
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