This bird has been present for over a week in a quarry area overlooking one of the nicest views in Britain, across from the Brecon Beacons, no wonder it has stayed so long. It had been found by a birder looking for passage Ring Ouzel`s, I bet he had a shock when he found this male Rock Thrush. One of our team needed to see this bird to add to his British list, so a trip was organised with Steve B driving, myself and Kevin C. We left a windy, wet Rochdale at 6-30am and were soon heading south on the M6, M5 & M50. About this time a got a call from a fellow birder, Jeff S, telling me that the bird was still present and showing well. As we got onto the A40 past Monmouth we left the road and began heading along a farm track, in the wrong direction, a local farmer had to direct us back onto the correct route. It was no surprise to me that we had got a little lost as we did almost the same when we visited Blorenge for the Marmora`s Warbler a few years ago!
As we began to gain altitude along a mountain pass, the pub we were trying to find, The Lamb & Fox came into view. Around 25 cars were parked near to the narrow road and a few birders could be seen heading out over the moorland. It was very windy along the disused tramway path that led towards the quarry with not one bird being seen in the 15 minute walk. A few birders happy faces told us that the bird was showing really well. Upon arrival the bird was soon seen and what followed in the next hour and a half was really good. The Rock Thrush would sit on the quarry rock face for a while then come down onto the ground, about 5 yards away and begin to feed on beetles and some mealworms provided by the local birders. It was quite a show from this well marked individual, it also had a couple of Wheatear`s for company, that it tried to chase away. We also met Phil R and Rob C from Greater Manchester/ Bolton birding area, who also enjoyed the bird. I then met my South Wales friend Jeff S and we had a good catch up about life & birds. We had first met in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt a few years ago whilst out birding and have kept in touch ever since, great to catch up again Jeff. We made our way back over the wind swept moorland and as we arrived at the car it began to rain.
We headed back along the correct route out of Wales and apart from a 30 minutes delay on the M6, which Steve B really enjoyed, all reached home by 5-30pm. Apart from a little trepidation about the trip initially, we all really enjoyed the experience of visiting a cracking bird in fabulous surroundings.
