Waxwings - South Park Gardens, Wimbledon, 2nd March 2019

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. 

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... 

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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