Monday 24 October 2011

Sound analysis (above) and sound recording of Richard's Pipit here - http://www.zshare.net/audio/951130535a414820/


Quality sure made up for quantity on the Great Orme this morning. As I arrived a single Reed Bunting dropped into the gorse at the north end - a promising start. Soon after that, two Tree Sparrows, my first of the autumn, flew over head amongst a small but steady passage of finches. The odd Brambling, Redpoll and Siskin amongst them too. Two Snow Buntings and four Wheatears were at the cairn, a nice mix of summer and winter meeting. A familiar yet unusual call had me straining my ears and as it got closer my suspiscions that a Woodlark was around was confirmed, its beautiful yodelling call echoing across the limestone pavements. I picked the bird up flying in from the north and making its way south towards the summit. Its stubby short tail and broad wings giving it a unique appearance as it continued its journey. A single Snipe and a couple of Goldcrest were grounded as were a small number of Redwing and a single Mistle Thrush. As I was returning to the car and chatting to Pete Alderson, a Richard's Pipit gave away its presence by call and flying past us with four Meadow pipits, landing by the small hill to the east of the car part. A quick walk in that direction and the bird was seen at close quarters before flying off back to the sheep fields crying out its loud 'sschreeep' call. All in all not a bad morning.

1 comment:

  1. Well done Marc/Peter - some nice birds!

    The Great Orme has got to be one of the best sites for Richard's Pipit in the whole of Wales?

    All the best

    Andrew

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