13:30-14:30: Staines Reservoirs, Surrey (51.447474, -0.488676)
In a howling gale, there could be no worse conditions to locate a small bird, yet no better site to do so. The exposed causeway at Staines has recently played host to what will, subject to a ‘split’, be the first record of an American Horned Lark in the UK. The bird was eventually located on the southern edge of the causeway, an extremely ornate species. Most Horned Larks wintering in Britain do so on the north coast of Norfolk and come from northern Europe; this bird had come a lot farther. 151 species reached.
In a howling gale, there could be no worse conditions to locate a small bird, yet no better site to do so. The exposed causeway at Staines has recently played host to what will, subject to a ‘split’, be the first record of an American Horned Lark in the UK. The bird was eventually located on the southern edge of the causeway, an extremely ornate species. Most Horned Larks wintering in Britain do so on the north coast of Norfolk and come from northern Europe; this bird had come a lot farther. 151 species reached.