Hudsonian Whimbrel Revisited plus a cracking Bonus !!!

Hudsonian Whimbrel at Church Norton.

Last Saturday the 13th June i went for a second look at the Hudsonian Whimbrel in the hope of getting some photo's , i  joined the already assembled birders looking for the target bird , however it was out of sight in the long grass , all i could see was it's striking head pattern , eventually it flew from the grass and the key feature of all dark rump was seen , it flew further out into the estuary so i decided to head to Posbrook in Titchfield for another look at the Greater Yellowlegs ,it's not often you get the chance to see a decent sub species & a mega wader in the same day!!

Greater Yellowlegs .

I was soon on site and eventually reached the scrape at Posbrook , the Greater Yellowlegs was partially hidden by Black Tailed Godwits , (the above photo was from a previous visit) , however eventually they all flew up and landed again with the Greater Yellowlegs out in the open but mainly asleep , just lifting its head up every now and again.

Sleeping Greater Yellowlegs.

I watched this bird for quite awhile then i planned to head to Acres Down in the New Forest in the hope of seeing some raptors plus Wood Warblers etc , however as i was almost back at the car my phoned beeped with the news of a BLACK EARED WHEATEAR .

I than double checked the bird news services , thinking it must be  probably in Norfolk or Yorkshire  , However i could not believe my luck ,  WOW a BLACK EARED WHEATEAR at Acres Down in the New Forest , and i was only 30 mins away and going there anyway , so without haste i wase soon on the road and heading to Acres Down , on route to the Forest there had been no further sign since the first report come out , i reached the car park and a birder said , " Its not been seen for 40 mins" , great just what you want to hear when you turn up for a Mega !!!!

Black Eared Wheatear.

 It must still be here , it's got to be here , please let it be here , i took a slower walk checking the grass bank just in case , then i saw some birders who were clearly watching it !!!!

Taking off.

Needless to say i joined up with them and then had cracking views of this fantastic looking bird , this Black Eared Wheatear  was the Eastern race and in my opinion the better looking race . cracking white plumage contrasting with all black wings and throat patch , white boarded black tail , this was a new bird for my UK list.

On a fence post.

Black Eared Wheatear (Eastern race).

I really enjoyed watching this bird in such a great setting in the forest , i also saw 2 Goshawks and a Tree Pipit , i decided after well over an hour to look for some other birds and i ventured further into the forest seeing several Common Redstarts plus i saw a fantastic Wood Warbler plus a further two birds calling nearby .

Male Common Redstart.

I decided to have another look at the Black Eared Wheatear before ie headed off and once again great views of this top bird were seen.

That evening i went to Lavington Common for Nightjars & Woodcock and i was not disappointed , i saw 2 perched Nightjar's and heard several more plus i had at least 5 Woodcock  "Roding" , other birds seen were Dartford Warbler , Stonechat & Yellowhammer, a truly great days birding.