Today I finally succumbed to the lure of a little bustard in the UK. I'd resisted the temptation to twitch the New Years Day bird near Bridlington a few years back for reasons I can't remember, but probably because I was under the influence at the time, and I dismissed all thought of travelling to see a male at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire earlier this year because I didn't want to see just a distant head in the long grass through a shimmering heat haze. Other opportunities have been few and far between, often one day birds in remote corners of the UK and little bustard remained a bird which was high on my most wanted list. Yesterdays news of a summer plumage adult at Mickletown Ings near Castleford was just too much to resist.
It's a bird I've seen well in Portugal and not so well in Spain and it's always a major target species when I visit those countries, but it's eluded my British list until today. Yes it would involve an after work drive of 90 minutes in the direction of home and then the same back to Boston where I am based this week, but it was either that or go back for another evening at Frampton Marsh or Freiston Shore. There's always tomorrow for those places I told myself and off I went, 40 miles on the A17 and then 50 miles on the A1 and all of the time knowing that I would have to do the same return journey later. Great stuff....
What a stunner! I've heard lots of reports of previous little bustards disappearing deep into crops or tall grass, leaving only the bird's head visible for short periods. This bird was walking around in full view, or near enough full view most of the time. I honestly don't think I've ever seen little bustard this well even in Portugal, where I've seen them displaying. I was surprised at how small it was, not much bigger than a woodpigeon or a crow and I bet if there had been a coot standing next to it there wouldn't be a lot in it.
A blurry flight photo from a hand held phone up against a telescope on 60x magnification which captures the terror and confusion of the moment when the little bustard realised that it was in mortal danger as a peregrine rocketed towards it from high up in the heavens. The bird must have recognised it’s peril right at the last moment because the peregrine missed it by 20cm at the most. In a state of blind panic the bustard flew towards us and then right past us with the peregrine in hot pursuit, before it dropped down into some scrub and the falcon banked off to the right and flew away high over the lake.
Even so we weren’t sure if the bustard had been injured or had survived the attack because it was a close call, literally centimeters in it, and perhaps the falcon had hit it but not been able to hold it causing the bustard to drop like that. However after about 10 minutes we saw the bustard flying back from behind us and it landed back in it's usual field, almost hovering for a minute before it landed. Amazing how loyal birds can be to the same area even after such a scare. It didn’t look entirely happy though, when it was in flight we could clearly see that it now had a missing primary feather and when it landed it scurried away into deep vegetation and remained there until I left. A real heart stopping moment. In flight the bird was very distinctive with lots of white in the wings, a really beautiful bird.
Afternote: the bustard changed its habits following the peregrine attack and was much more elusive and was seen less frequently, to the extent that I spoke to one birder who a day or two later had to spend four hours on site for just the briefest view of the top of its head. The bird had apparently been present for around a month but it disappeared three days after the attack.
The little bustard brings back memories of the white-billed diver on the river at Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire in 2017. "You've got to see this bird" they told me, so I went and they were right. Well this is similar, this little bustard is definitely in the "You've got to see this bird" category.
I'm assuming that this and the Slimbridge bird are one and the same. Rumour has it that it's been present here for around a month, which is probably about the time that the bustard at Slimbridge went missing.
My third new species in the UK this year following Blyth's reed warbler and black-headed bunting. My UK list now stands at 429.
All of these photos are hand held phone-scoped and it was quite a challenge to get the bird anywhere near in focus with the grass and fence in front of it. I'm happy enough with them, I've not seen many much better so far.
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