It was a bit of a murky afternoon but brightening. The temperature warmed from the chill of the February morning where ice had to be scraped off the vehicles. I climbed into the car and managed to avoid the traffic works by driving in the opposite direction. There was a clear run through to my friends house. His cat was sitting on the wall as I arrived giving me a disdainful look. I approached to greet the cat who seemed to have a change of mind towards me and was coming in close when I moved nearer he became startled and scurried off.
On the drive over we chatted and the time passed quickly. Neither of us were familiar with our destination but we found it easily enough. We parked near a sign which was a little off-putting as it stated that there was no parking at the end of the road as it was for turning. It was the middle of the day and not very busy so I decided to park away from the end and tucked the car in to not be a bother to other drivers.
After a small discussion involving the digital Ordnance Survey map we headed up a public footpath by the side of the romantically named Honeysuckle Bottom! The ground underfoot was varied with chalky parts and mud. The further up the hill we ascended it became slimy green underfoot revealing its Greensand nature. The water from recent rains had collected in small pockets making progress slippery.
As we ascended the hill we approached a small arched bridge that was out of place in the landscape. Initially it looked like it wasn’t functional in any way. Not being marked on the map made this intriguing. A path did go over the top of the bridge. On the other side of the bridge which acted like a small tunnel was a plaque which read:
Reading later it transpired that there was a trail which included other bridges, one of which we saw an example of on another part of the walk.
Both of us had heard that goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) were in the area and my friend had heard that there was a viewing area and a pond. We somehow missed the pond – although we did see a large pool which wasn’t the one on the trail guide. Consulting the map we noted where the contours ended with the higher metre readings and so deduced that it was likely that the viewing area was somewhere in that locale. A man approached us with binoculars around his neck and excitedly told us that the goshawks had not long been showing and that the sighting was a lifer. This is nothing to do with any kind of criminal activity. It’s a term used by birdwatchers to convey that this is the first time a particular species of bird has been seen by them. Not only had he seen one but he had seen two. He proceeded to give us directions which were confirmed by another man who was leaving the site.
A lifer in birding is a bird that a person has successfully sighted and identified for the first time in their life. Subsequent sightings of the same bird species by the same birder are no longer counted as lifers. A lifer in birding is derived from seeing a bird the first time, once in a lifetime.
birdingoutdoors.com
Thankfully there were only four other gentlemen when we arrived. We were bracing ourselves for a large crowd, which was not preferable, thankfully we were not overwhelmed.
On the way there we heard a crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) fly over and there were a number of siskins (Spinus spinus) feeding around the tops of the trees which were not immediately apparent until they flew. One of the first birds we were treated to on arriving was the marsh tit (Poecile palustris). In fact there were more than one and they were calling and singing. I find whenever a bird is being very vocal and I haven’t heard it for some years it stirs my soul.
Marsh tit audio
They are not particularly colourful birds but they have character and charm to make up for it.
Another bird which was quite distant but relatively easy to pick out using binoculars was the hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes). Yet again another bird that is not that common in this country. This is a stocky finch, larger than the more common finches we see (Although saying that greenfinch (Chloris chloris) and chaffinch (Fringila coelebs) which were once common especially when I was younger are a lot less common). It has a short tail compared to those two finches and a really chunky bill which is used for crushing cherry stones (pips, centres).
There was a rather comical moment or I should say ironic moment. Here we all were looking over the valley with the mixed woodland below and the coniferous trees on the other side. Looking towards the open expanse when suddenly all six of us see it at the same time – or so it seemed but with different reactions. A large, male hawk came from behind us in a long rapid descending glide with yellow legs hanging down. The back of it was to my mind clearly slatey blue and the underside I would say was not distinct – an overall greyish brown affect. Due to its bulk I didn’t have a doubt that it was a goshawk. Some of the other guys were not so sure. One of those moments of peer pressure making me doubt what I had seen. All happened in a moment.
Both my friend and I were convinced that we heard one calling with a strong kek-kek-kek not long after the flyover.
Later on our way back via a more circuitous route, we clearly saw another over the tops of the trees which was very pale and long necked. When I say another I mean goshawk. It flew with the less rapid wing beats of a sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) and again looked bulky or chunky and I would say buzzard sized. Not long after seeing it we did see and hear a pair of buzzards (Buteo buteo) flying low over the woodland. A crossbill called flying over and landing in a Spruce top obscured from view.
The sun had begun to break through in front of us as the cloud began to move away revealing a blue sky. The beautiful lighting of a late winter afternoon with the promise of spring on its way. A lovely end to a pleasant walk.
James Aldred’s book Goshawk Summer goes into more detail about goshawks and how he spent 2020 filming a pair in the New Forest in Dorset. The book is written like a diary yet is poetic and includes lots of natural history.