A Grand Day Out, 20th April 2021

A rare day off work warranted a change of scene. My recent trip to the Tenby Walrus had been a relative success, but it felt rather like unfinished business; great views of it in the water but it had steadfastly refused to haul out, so we hadn't seen it's full glory.

So another early-ish start, setting off at 5.30 with Paul Baker. It was a glorious morning and the 4 hour journey flew by, lightened by the odd Red Kite, and we arrived without incident at 9.30 and strolled through down the high street to the harbour and now famous RNLI lifeboat station. It was of course immediately apparent and thankfully hauled out. Over the next 1:45hrs we soaked in the spectacular beast as it loafed and lazed, rolling on it's side and back, then shuffling further up the ramp was the rising tide lapped it's substantial rear-end. Compared to photos taken a few weeks ago when it first appeared, he (or she, the jury seems to be out) had clearly put on a substantial amount of weight. In fact he/she looked positively rotund. A good thing for sure and hopefully it will manage the long journey back home, presumably to Greenland.

Footnote - 20th September 2021. The walrus has been photographed in Iceland today, identified as the same animal due to distinctive marks and grazes on each front flipper.

Whilst the walrus napped, scanning offshore on the flat calm sea revealed a handful of feeding Gannets, Manx Shearwaters, Razorbills and Guillemots. It was good to hear and see Sandwich Terns and 5 Whimbrels flew past, my first of either species this year.

By late morning we had filled our boots and it was time to move on the the second part of the day. After a quick stop in the souvenir shop (Walrus mugs all round), we set-off west joining the M4, crossing the Severn Bridge and arriving on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire around 3.30. The famous Plan is an area I'd never visited and always felt like a hole in my personal experiences of the UKs region. Like many of our rarer habitats, Salisbury Plain has survived the ravages of modern agriculture as it's an MoD training area. Military presence is evident everywhere. 

The reason for our visit was naturally unrelated to tanks, but to witness the fledgling but expanding reintroduced Great Bustards. The https://greatbustard.org/ has done  a superb job and despite numerous set backs and constant financial shortages, there are now roughly 100 bustards living and breeding in the wild. Releases ceased in 2019, having been annual since 2003. It was always going to be a long process to establish a population of this massive bird with a complex social structure. The group now believes that they are now self-sustaining and apparently a paper is in preparation. Many birders remain cynical of this, or the long term viability of the project, and it seems premature to declare success but I sincerely hope the birds flourish. There hasn't been a vagrant Great Bustard in the UK since 1987 (and I still regret missing those Norfolk birds), but many now believe they originated from a German reintroduction project anyway. Regardless, we weren't here to tick, just to enjoy. I suspect it'll be many years before the BOU accepts the self-sustaining argument but hopefully one day this amazing conservation project will also benefit my list. 

Arriving on the Plain we followed the directions down wide dirt tracks, somehow failing to notice the red flags initially, but noone was around. The Plain is spectacularly open, with big skies and massive grasslands creating a sense of an African savannah rather than middle England. 

Corn Buntings rattled everywhere, such a rare site these days watching them sing was a pleasure. Skylarks were also abundant. 

As we neared the lek area, our first Great Bustard flew across the road in front of us, or more lumbered, dropping in the the field we had directions too. More birds were immediately on view, seventeen in total. Adult and sub-adult males strutted in a bare field, with multiple much smaller females mostly remaining in the adjacent Plantain field. Regardless of their current status, they were impressive and fascinating to watch. The males would periodically display, tuning themselves in to giant fluff balls, but the females ignored them. One male in particular seemed larger and more dominant, big daddy bustard no doubt.

Somewhat naively, we had paid no attention to the red flags flying, assuming that here on the public access track we were fine, but apparently not and after an hour or so we were politely moved away by people in uniform. So we decided to head to another spot up the road for another southern grassland specialist; we’d been given an easy site for Stone Curlew and we were soon watching four birds in an area set aside from them. Two Northern Wheatears, Stonechats and Yellowhammers also enriched the experience.

We then headed back for a bit more bustard action, choosing not to see the red flags this time. The birds continued their performance in the evening sunshine and very pleasant it was too.

Brown Hares, Roe Deer and Red Deer all seemed common, and a Barn Owl hunted around a farmyard in the early evening.

A good, if long, day out.