Little Bunting at Great Barford

13th February 2017

When a Little Bunting was found along the Great Ouse at Great Barford it was both mobile and skittish and therefore very difficult to track down and get good views. However, over the last couple of days an area next to the cover crop was cleared and seed put down, which had the advantage of at least concentrating it in one area. Therefore instead of working hard to relocate it, the task now was to wait for it to appear (about every 45 minutes) with the flock of Reed Buntings that were also enjoying the free meal.

Luckily whilst waiting for the bird to appear we were entertained by a strong supporting task including a fly-past by some of the Willington Barnacle Geese, and a lone Brambling that occasionally appeared on the seed. Other than that there were only a dozen or so Reed Buntings to search through for the rare guest.

Eventually, the Little Bunting did put in an appearance, but never for long as it and the other birds were frequently spooked and flew into the copse for cover.

Well, what a great find and thank you to the Beds Bird Club for putting down the seed and making the bird more accessible to the steady stream of visitors.