approx 40 thrush possibly mistle thrush in the trees of the slopes of ogden res,
approx 40 meadow pipits on musbury tops, and 2 wheatear,
100's of hering gulls, b h gulls and lbbg's flying over with some of them stoping off at the res for a bit,
i saw 2 birds which i assumed were juvenile stonechats yet one of the birds was black-ish all over - there was definitely no red on the body and i did nt really see much of the tail. could it be a pair of black redstarts?
i forgot to add the female kestrel and heard but did nt see 2 lapwings.
the thrushes i heard were making that trill/drill sound. they were not field fares which wont be migrating yet i guess.
and what would be the likelihood of them birds being black redstarts? having looked at photos of them they do match them more. unles sof course juvenile stonechats have blacker bodies?
the pair was spotted at the far side of the reservoir near the sand coloured stone buildin before ogden.
Do you mean the water treatment building at the top of Holden Wood, just below the dam of Ogden? If so, I seem to recall, that is a regular spot for Stonechat in the past, so I'd lean more towards young Stonechats than Black Redstarts.
yes there. there used to be wheaters there but a further up and dont seem to be there anymore.
the bird i saw was definitely a dull black coloured bird yet not a blackbird or ring ouzel and smaller for sure. i did see the bird quite clearly and i could have got a pic of it yet i just assumed it would be young stone chat yet i saw a famiy of young stonechat and they were much different.
does anyone have a photo for young stone chat? i have seen black redstart pics and i guess it ciould very easily be that or a similar bird.
