Waxwings are popular birds and this winter it looked like there would be an influx of them, with several groups seen early on taking a liking to Waitrose car parks (for the berries!) However, this quickly stopped and only a dozen or so groups seemed to remain. One such group was found by Nick Rutter on the 26th January at Balham Waitrose car park, while I was in London at an event (blog coming soon for that too.) That day ended with a dip for me, as I arrived once they'd seemingly gone to roost, as I ended up walking around the roads there in the dark failing to see anything. A single probable call was all I managed. They were seen in the Balham area for about a week after that, although I didn't get a chance to go for them, although they showed well for all those there.
Towards the end of last week the group of 7 were re-found at a small park (coincidentally right by one of my best mates at school's house) in Wimbledon. A few days ago I decided that I was going to give up birding for a while (for a number of reasons having got fed up with it recently) but I thought I may as well end on a good note.
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| Some of the Waxwing twitch |
So yesterday I arrived at Wimbledon just before 4pm, and knew exactly where I was going thanks to Shaun Ferguson's helpful directions on Twitter. I was joined in the park by Alex L and Kabir K, and we waited for a short while hoping for the birds to appear. It was cloudy and miserable but gradually more people with binoculars and kit appeared by about 16:15. While we were watching a Redwing at 16:20 both me and Alex heard a call (easiest way to find them) and everyone walked towards that direction. And at the top of one of the tallest trees in the tiny park were 6 Waxwings - one has been predated/separated/died in the last few days - showing pretty well for the gathering crowd of birders. It was nice to show the birds, in all their glory of silhouette, to some curious families as well. On a personal note, it was the most awkward twitch I've ever been on, with around 30 people in a tiny, family park staring at some birds in a tree. It was quite funny really; I'm used to looking weird, but that was by far the most weird I've felt for a long time. Some things about birding are great...
We watched the birds for a good 15 minutes where they were settled and preening at the top of the tree, while it gradually got gloomier. It was a pretty pleasing bird to finally tick, having heard them around 5 times without a sighting. Although it was hard to make out colours, even the silhouettes were exciting enough! I was pleased my school-friend did turn up to see them as well!
After taking pics and more importantly good views, a m Sparrowhawk spooked them causing them to do a loop and disappear behind some houses distantly. The crowd gradually dispersed, while I had a look around the houses for them after Alex and Kabir left. There was no sign back at the park up till 6pm, but I spent a lot of that time counting Redwings - at least 44 moved through while I was there - and talking to some of the friendlier birders from Surrey and Bucks, some of which sadly arrived minutes late...
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| My school-friend Alex at the twitch - one of my few, awesome, friends at school who don't consistently take the mic about my hobby! |
I'm probably going to stop birding now until after exams finish (except DofE, Morden Hall Park and maybe a Young Birder's walk, but I doubt I'll keep that up!)
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