Chosely Drying Barns 9th May 2016
Dotterel at Chosely Drying Barns
I had heard reference to Chosely Drying Barns which is up a lane from Titchwell village so obviously quite close to where we have been staying. Historically this has apparently been a great site for all sorts of birds including Ring Ouzel, Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer, Wryneck and even the birds thar we were looking for, migrant Dotterel.
It turned out that we were not the only ones interested and we soon found some other birders. Parking on the lane was not easy but people were coming and going so we eventually found a spot. We looked over a ploughed field that had some stubble on it and eventually we located one – then another, and another. When the birds were spooked by something and they all rose up together it was clear that there was a flock of about eighteen.
We went further up the lane which would take us a bit closer to the – very mobile – birds and they came out of the long stubble and into some shorter stuff giving good binned views but even better scoped views. I even managed to get pictures of some of these elegant birds. We had previously only seen this species at a distance up Cairngorm and then only the one bird. Here we were spoiled. To add to the scene a female Marsh Harrier glided slowly over the fields but that did not seem to bother the Dotterel. There were also some Red-legged Partridge and Pheasant in the surrounding fields.
The situation with smaller birds was not so good, probably due to a fairly strong wind. After a rather long period looking at the Dotterel we decided to move on and on our next drive we were able to add Red Kite to the list for the day.
Year Tick : Dotterel
Chosely Drying Barns
Bird Sightings : 9th May Chosely Drying Barns
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Red-legged Partridge | 10 |
| Common Pheasant | 2 |
| Eurasian Marsh Harrier | 1 |
| Red Kite | 1 |
| Eurasian Dotterel | 18 |