So we were here on one of the hottest days of the year. Walking up to the dyke there wasn't any Turtle Dove singing which was a shame, they have been seen here this spring, but clearly not today.
At the top of the dyke while looking at the Greater Butterfly Orchids a male Yellowhammer sat in one of the hawthorn bushes. Amazingly the first of the year for me.
It moved to another bush which had the perfect background and then sang, even better.
Whitethroat were singing on the far side of the dyke, sitting high on the bushes. Their scratching song being heard everywhere.
The drabber female Yellowhammer.
Walking along the side of the dyke we flushed a pair of Grey Partridge which was another year tick, they flew low across the grass and dropped out of sight.
Almost matching the number of Whitethroat were the Stonechat. Several could be seen feeding juvenile birds.
A walk alongside the wood at the crossroads had Spotted Flycatcher singing and giving brief view, but never enough to warrant a photograph.
The other farmland bird that has avoided me so far this year is the Corn Bunting. As I photographed the Marsh Fritillary I heard the distinctive jangling song behind me and one sat nicely in a bush nearby
A Lesser Whitethroat singing around the ranges avoided us, but as we sat having lunch I picked up the message that a Common Rosefinch had been seen and heard singing at the end of Sillen Lane. We didn't rush, finished our lunch then made our way across the grassland to the spot.
A Skylark showed close to the path singing from an ant hill.
As we arrived we could see two more birders and when we reached them they pointed where it was seen and the fact that it was singing.
Standing on the footpath I could hear it singing, a distinctive song, brief that sounded like "nice to meet you". It was a case of focusing on the song and trying to catch a glimpse in a Field Maple tree. Eventually it moved and I was able to pick it out through the leaves.
It moved out of the Field Maple and sat out in the open. A second calendar male it lacks the pinkish red plumage that gives it the name. It is in fact a rather boring looking bird, greyish brown with a lighter wing bar and streaking on the breast similar to that of the Spotted Flycatcher.
So here it is a lifer for me and only the 4th record for Hampshire, al the others being identified on just song and brief glimpses, so I was chuffed to be able to get the chance to photograph this one even if it looked a little drab.
The Common Rosefinch is about the size of a chaffinch, with
a short, stocky beak and black eyes. Adult males have a bright scarlet head,
breast and rump. However, most sightings again like this one are of young birds
in autumn, which are much plainer. They have an olive-brown back with two
obvious buffy-white bars on each wing.
It then disappeared for a while having flown across the path to the bushes on the other side. But shortly after the song was heard once more a little further along the path. It then showed very well moving through some leafless branches and coming out into the open.
The Common Rosefinch is generally an autumn visitor to the UK, with most
records in September and October. These like this one, are often young birds,
with a fairly plain brown plumage. They are just passing through on their
southward migration. Occasionally, the brightly coloured males are found
singing in spring. There have even been sporadic records of nesting pairs,
mainly in Scotland.
Common rosefinches usually breed in a wide range from
Scandinavia and eastern Europe east to Kamchatka in Russia, though there are
also scattered populations in central Europe. In autumn, they migrate to India,
Southeast Asia and southwest China for the winter.
Finally it came to the top of the branches and sang. The head is thrown backwards like a Yellowhammer or Corn Bunting with the bill wide open.
It sat at the top of the branch nicely for the small few present to photograph it.
It dropped once again and then showed lower down with a nice green background.
We had seen the reports of a White-winged Tern at Titchfield in the morning and were slightly put out at missing that. But catching up with the Rosefinch, that was a lifer full stop more than made up for it
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